High visibility
Data centre migrations can be challenging but rewarding projects for enterprises and service providers looking to save money, a better fit with their supplier or flexibility their current provider can’t offer.
Data centre migrations involve considerable planning and coordination between multiple teams, including network, security, application, server, storage, facilities and compliance teams.
Migrations are high-visibility, strategic projects that are conducted with cost savings first and foremost in mind. The tradeoff is that such efforts also impact business operations, service level agreements, and performance availability of applications.
For most enterprises, the migration will be the most complex IT project undertaken because potentially every system, including compute, network, and storage, are involved. Migrations aren’t easy projects to execute, but measurable gains are achievable with proper planning and execution.
Poor planning, don't get caught out
Poor planning is the biggest risk to successful migrations, according to tech consultancy Gartner Group. Launching into migration plans headfirst brings with it the risk of operational outages. That means some mission-critical applications or services may be unavailable leading to a loss of revenue, productivity, and reputation. These are avoidable outcomes though.
To mitigate risk, organisations often take longer than expected to complete the migration or spend more than originally planned. An organisations network and the strength of its security are of paramount importance, which means organisations will take the steps needed to safeguard data and ensure uptime even if the project takes longer to complete than planned.
Collaboration is essential if migrations are to succeed
Data centre migrations will change the way people collaborate at work if only temporarily, often causing delays given the need for coordination among cross-functional teams.
