From the course: Career Essentials in System Administration by Microsoft and LinkedIn

Preparing for a cloud environment

From the course: Career Essentials in System Administration by Microsoft and LinkedIn

Preparing for a cloud environment

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- There's lots of great advantages to migrating to cloud computing, such as increased productivity, faster product development, scalability and security. But how does a CIS admin prepare for a cloud environment when all resources are currently on premises? Step one is to conduct a readiness survey. This may be the longest part of your migration because there's so many pieces to put in place. You need to check with finance that you have the budget for the move and compare costs to running on-premises. In some cases, the cost is more or less than what you're paying now. You need to check in with the stakeholders, such as department heads, management and the IT department to make sure everyone is on board and understands the potential downtime. For instance, you wouldn't want to migrate in an accounting firm during busy season. Next, you'll need to assess what the new environment will look like. In some cases, it will be seamless to the user as in the case of online file storage. But in other cases, the entire UI may change and users may need to be trained and ready for this type of change. Also, will the applications be web-based, containers or traditional applications installed on cloud virtual machines. This will affect cost, speed and availability. You'll need to determine priorities. Your entire infrastructure isn't going to move all at once but you may have some resources that need to be moved sooner than others due to hardware obsolescence, software that can no longer be used on the latest OS you're using, security or other issues. Move those priority resources first and then migrate the rest over a planned timeframe. Your internet speed will likely need to be upgraded. This could mean you upgrade using your existing ISP or you may find new technologies from other providers, such as fiber instead of cable or other old fashioned types of connections. For example, you may want to move to newer internet technologies instead of using traditional site-to-site VPNs. You should consider redundant internet providers and set up border gateway protocol, also known as BGP. This allows you to have multiple inbound connections to your location from multiple ISPs in case any one service is down or not operating at an optimal speed. Lastly, don't get stuck in the way your current applications are being delivered. Speak with developers to find out if moving to containers, serverless computing or some other form of content delivery may be the smart way to go for security and redundancy. The move to cloud computing may be the last big move you ever have to do. There's no more hardware to replace, and in some cases, no more updates needed, such as with exchange online email. Be sure to pick your cloud provider carefully with the thought of providing excellent service, not just today, but for many years down the road.

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