Technology and the way we interact with it are advancing rapidly to such a scale that only keeping up with it has become a daunting task. The faster you implement cloud integration and collaboration, the more chances you have to succeed. Those who have lagged have done so because of this very reason.

Here are vital steps that you need to take for successful Cloud implementation and toward a successful future.

1.    Lock Your Goals

It would help if you had a clear target when implementing Cloud integration for your company. Then, you need to articulate what sub-goals you need to achieve to make the process as smooth as possible. It is not just about cloud integration; you have to assess which aspects of your business and company can go on to the cloud.

You can start with online collaboration and documentation while everything else, such as finances and marketing, can follow suit.

2.    Build a Baseline Such as a Landing Zone Setup

Online cloud services such as Azure help you set up a hub of sorts where you bring all your tools and APIs to smooth out the process. Landing Zone gives you the framework and guidelines to start the migration process.

With each step defined, you can focus on one aspect, ensure everyone knows who manages what and how, and slowly build on it. Once one aspect’s process is streamlined, you can work on the connecting aspects and start working on those.

3.    Formulate and Adopt a Strategy for Adoption

You and your team need to know how well they integrate their JDs into the cloud. You need to train them about the codes and ethics of converting to the cloud and how it works as a Service setup.

Once they understand how their day-to-day tasks are implemented and performed, you can build on the previous step and start attaching different personnel to different teams and let them train others.

4.    Choosing the Right Partner

You cannot easily convert to a cloud-based workflow if you aren’t working with the cloud services partner. No matter the partner, such as Azure, AWS, etc, you choose, it's their job to guide you each step of the way, both morally and technically.

The sooner you have clear goals and a landing zone established, the faster you can pull in a migration partner. This will help you successfully implement the cloud migration, and your employees won't be burnt out as fast.

5.    Choosing the Right Cloud Environment

There are three types of environments you can migrate your workflow into private or public, and then there is a hybrid cloud work environment. Each of these environments has its pros and cons, which you need to asses according to your company and work.

For example, when choosing a private environment, you have a more secure workflow that is managed with cloud servers on-site or on the partner’s side. This environment allows you to keep your data and communication more secure. But the issue comes with remote work. Either you need to list each IP your team is working from or integrate a VPN they need to install as a secure gateway.

Similar benefits and issues come along with the other two environments, which you need to take care of well in advance.

6.    Start With a Few Apps to Manage Risks and Security

Keep some of the processes and apps off the cloud until you have fully implemented the previous steps on starting aspects. Once different tools and apps have migrated to the cloud successfully, you can start one by one with others.

Cloud workflow and integration will massively improve your productivity, but if the communication isn’t secure, you can lose a lot more. There will be more breaches and attacks that can have a detrimental effect on everything.

7.    App and Tool Modernization

Apps and tools that your workflow uses are designed to work as intended, but they will be missing many vital integrations and APIs to work properly on the cloud. Each app that your office utilizes will need to be rebuilt, or it will have to go through rearchitecting.

The migration partner that you chose will have alternatives to these tools. You can either use those tools and apps instead of your legacy ones or convert their APIs to work with your apps for seamless migration.

Each time an app needs to go on to the cloud, it will require essential and innovative features to work correctly.

8.    Automate Your Process as Much As You Can

The best thing about going online is that communication between the apps and tools becomes easy. Everything communicates through a single cloud server, and the communication is within seconds. The best course of action, then, is to automate most of the menial or mechanical tasks.

Though it does require new code lines and working with the migration partner, there are some aspects that you must iron out first. You should at least automate your infrastructure management and configuration process first. Once they are smooth, move on to the following critical function.

9.    Monitoring and Optimization

Now that you have gone through multiple steps, you need to monitor every step diligently. Monitoring and implementing go hand in hand with each incremental step. Keep on adding more features and tools, yet keep on monitoring.

If your IT department needs to retract some work just to add more better configurations, let them do it. Every goal and tool needs to be optimized to move on to the next step.

10. Finalize the Migration Process

Once everything is online and optimized, you can do a complete and thorough check of each system. You must ensure that all the vulnerabilities are taken care of, and everything is monitored. Furthermore, you need to install special protocols well in advance as a proactive approach to all your work.

Final Words

Cloud migration isn't an easy task, but if you clearly define each goal and segregate every step into minuscule steps, you can achieve your goals more efficiently.