Cloud readiness assessments are vital for organizations to confirm they're cloud-ready. Find out how the LeanIX EAM can support you in completing your assessment.
Cloud readiness assessment testing is key for your cloud migration strategy. Starting a migration initiative before an assessment has shown you're ready can lead to an expensive failure.
On the other hand, with full understanding of your IT landscape, you can know exactly what steps you need to take before you start in order to make your cloud migration a success. Building that overview of your application portfolio requires a software tool designed to do just that.
That's just one of the use cases for the LeanIX EAM. To find out more, see our product page:
LeanIX EAM: Manage The Transformation And Risk Of Your IT Landscape
Meanwhile, to back-up your cloud migration strategy and its business case with hard data, let's explore further how you can perform a cloud readiness assessment using our EAM.
Why Move To The Cloud?
Cloud readiness assessments tell you how close your cloud migration strategy is to implementation. This isn't just about finding your place on the timeline, but determining whether you should move to the cloud at all.
There are a variety of reasons to migrate your application portfolio:
- lower hosting costs for cloud servers
- enhanced business continuity from decentralization
- innovative software capabilities that require cloud access
- better connectivity to partner systems
- the ability to scale operations up or down as needed
These are all fantastic reasons to move to the cloud, but they might not justify a migration. As well as benefits, there are also challenges:
- Regulations can prohibit hosting certain information in the cloud
- Cyber security regulations are far easier to comply with when your data is stored within your own premises
- The initial outlay for migration can be significant, meaning return on investment can take some time
- When your data is held on-site, it's readily available at any time, but accessing cloud data requires a fast and stable data connection
For these reasons, some companies are holding off on cloud migrations, while others prefer a hybrid option. Some organizations are even returning to on-premise solutions after their migrations.
Knowing whether to migrate, stay on-premise, or go for a hybrid option requires a cloud readiness assessment. Let's look at exactly what the assessment will involve
What Is A Cloud Readiness Assessment?
A cloud readiness assessment is a templated checklist to help you determine whether moving to the cloud is the right decision. If you stand to benefit from a migration, the assessment also tells you what you need to do before you can start.
There are a variety of assessments available to you through various providers:
- Capgemini
- Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft
- ...and many more...
Which one you choose to leverage isn't as important as the validity of the data you're using to fill it in.
However, there are nine specific data sets that you need to catalog for any cloud readiness assessment:
1 The Business Objective Of The Migration
The key metric of the migration will make a difference to your overall strategy and what data is relevant to your assessment. If you're looking to reduce hosting costs, then value is more important than security; but if you're looking to take advantage of innovative technology, you need all the features and connectivity you can get.
2 Current Network Load And Dependencies
Understanding your network load is crucial. If your cloud provider isn't able to balance the strain that your on-premise servers can, then your cloud migration could be disastrous. Not to mention, you need to know what apps are reliant on other software. Be sure to assess your current requirements and those of your new hosting service.
3 Mission-Critical Applications That Must Not Face Downtime
The migration process will inevitably lead to downtime for key applications while they are transitioned to the new host. This will be less of an issue with certain applications than others and you should be prepared for that in advance.
4 Cloud Compatibility Of Each Application
Some applications were designed for the cloud, but others have been around for far longer than that was an option. If one of your applications is not capable of making the migration, you need to find a replacement and transition to it before you begin your switch to the cloud. This means you'll need to confirm the completion of an application rationalization initiative before your migration.
LeanIX USE CASE: Application Rationalization
5 Compliance With Cloud Regulation
Cyber security regulation is different for cloud servers, so you'll need to make sure you're compliant before you transfer. This can be a particular challenge as you need to abide by the regulation in the regions where your data is stored, as well as where you do business.
6 Freedom Of Data Transition To New System
Not all data is formatted in the same way. Often, before a cloud migration can be completed, data needs to be reformatted and synergised. This is usually the bulk of the effort in any cloud migration initiative and it needs to be completed before your applications are ready to pull data from the cloud.
7 Migration Strategy And Timeline
From the above, you can see that your cloud migration is just one part of a larger process. Before you can migrate, you need to conduct both an application rationalization and an application modernization process, as well as a data standardization round. All of this needs to be planned and timed to ensure success.
LeanIX USE CASE: Application Modernization and Cloud Migration
8 Stakeholder Buy-In
Each of the applications you're migrating will have an owner, and that owner will need to agree to the migration before it can proceed. Stakeholder approval for your plans needs to be included in your assessment.
9 The Budget Required
Cloud migration is an expensive process. The budget you need to do it right needs to be secured before you can sign off your migration to proceed.
The LeanIX EAM For Cloud Readiness Assessment
Gathering all the information listed above and everything else you'll need to prepare for your cloud readiness assessment is easier said than done. This is why you need the right tool to catalog and analyze your application portfolio and data landscape to offer this information at your fingertips.
The LeanIX EAM tracks complete information about your entire application portfolio and IT landscape. This includes:
- business objectives
- application descriptions and dependencies
- application performance
- the owner of each application and stakeholders
- where each application pulls its data from
- contract terms and spend
- obsolescence and best-of-breed application alternatives
- your roadmap and timeline for transformation
To find out more about the LeanIX EAM, see our product page:
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