Migrating to Azure Cloud - A Quick Guide

Launched in 2010 Microsoft Azure Cloud is the internationally recommended Cloud system for your growing business. The cloud is an interconnection of remote servers over the web and migrating to Azure Cloud services would bring some strong advantages which would not exist with on-premises servers. Migrating to Azure from your on-premise servers would ensure increased productivity, better agility and decreased costs among other things. However, the approach to take when migrating to Cloud services seems daunting and here, at Dolphin IT Solutions, we are able to help a smooth transition and make sure you map out the journey towards migration for better efficiency overall.

Why Migrate

For any business, ageing hardware, frequent IT failures and too much time spent on non-essential IT maintenance can be the trigger point to evaluate another option where agility, scalability and enhanced productivity are the new metrics. The exorbitant cost of on-premise local servers and the responsibility involved in its installation and maintenance (the need for a climate-controlled room and a dedicated IT staff) forces businesses to re-evaluate their server strategy. Cloud systems help reduce costs as there is no need for physical space for the servers. A skeleton IT staff can be deployed in businesses.

The agility with which resources can be scaled up is also another important advantage of the Azure Cloud server. With Microsoft Azure you only pay as you go and scale resources up or down as demands fluctuate.

Universal access to data is especially useful when staff are geographically dispersed or are on the move. Azure provides the user with a stable and familiar user experience running on a centrally managed platform that you control. Data is accessible anywhere, anytime.

Moreover, data is highly secure in the multiple Microsoft data centres, as 24/7 security is ensured. Regarding storage, your data is stored in at least three separate nodes for maximum efficiency. We can work with you to decide on the backup schedule in terms of extent and frequency.

The smooth transition to virtual machines is made within minutes as the Azure hosting services built-in integration works seamlessly with the Windows virtual environment for a quick and painless backup.

Azure's Versatility

Azure b2b (business to business) is versatile. It offers a large collection of services - around 600 - and you’re bound to find the right service to benefit your business. It is a rich ecosystem of apps and devices. By migrating to Azure, you'll gain powerful yet cost-effective Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service options. Azure handles the lesser-level IT measures such as your IaaS Servers, Storage, Identity, Security, Networking, and Compliance, freeing your team to focus on higher-level initiatives.

A highly efficient and polished disaster recovery solution is offered by Azure Cloud Services. Users can replicate physical machines and virtual machines to a different Azure region from within their Azure console.

Azure can integrate smoothly with Windows products and offers a fully integrated development with third-party software. Moreover, the hybrid model with some on-premise servers holding sensitive data alongside Cloud servers is also possible to set up, with minimum hassle for migration.

What To Consider For A Successful Migration

Before any migration is deployed we would like you to identify and define your on-premises resources e.g. applications and workloads in order to understand the migration point. A detailed analysis of your business processes and functions and performance metrics would enable us to better understand your business and its pain points. We recommend you setting up a cross-functional team made up of IT, finance, and business owners for a better and holistic analysis of the existing infrastructure and a comparable on-premises deployment of digital technologies.

Once the analysis has been made we will ensure the migration is carried out fast and with clever Cloud migration tools for maximum efficiency. We want to optimise the Cloud’s execution, versatility and cost-effectiveness.

Websites On Azure Cloud

Microsoft Azure is a wonderful place to provide web hosting too as it offers a secure, budget-friendly and user-friendly environment to use, with the ultimate possibility of scaling the website. Moreover, websites benefit most from the speed of Azure data centres, elasticity of the storage, processing power and memory. Sites can be kept responsive even during peak demand.

Here, at Dolphin IT Solutions, we are Azure Cloud consultants and would be happy to have a chat with you regarding your next move if you’re thinking about migrating your servers to Azure and creating a digital transformation for your business. For more information, please contact us today:

• +44 (0) 20 3695 2848
• enquiries@consultdolphin.com