Start with the Why: Know What You Want from the Cloud
Summit has completed countless cloud migrations. And while technical challenges exist, the biggest blocker we see isn’t infrastructure — it’s poor planning.
The real key to cloud success? Knowing what your business needs from the cloud in the first place. Before you get dazzled by the tech, get clear on your goals.
How to Build a Cloud Migration Plan Everyone Can Follow
A good cloud migration plan is simple. To keep things running smoothly:
- Establish a clear leader.
Appoint a project owner with the authority to execute and communicate across teams. - Build a runbook.
Document the full process and share it widely, so everyone is on the same page. - Schedule check-ins.
Meetings, calls, emails — doesn’t matter how, as long as communication is consistent.
Why Every Department Needs a Seat at the Table
Here’s a scenario we see often:
- IT moves email to the cloud.
- Compliance realizes sensitive data is being transmitted via a public cloud.
- Panic ensues. A switch to private cloud is rushed through to avoid a compliance breach.
Looping in the right stakeholders early could have prevented the mess. Over 50% of cloud migrations exceed budget or cause disruption, according to research from Gartner, Forrester, IDC, and 451 Research.
This is avoidable. With the right plan, nothing should be a surprise.
Identify What, Who, Where, and How
The What: What Are You Actually Moving?
Start by identifying the apps and workloads you’re moving — not just the obvious ones. You’ll be surprised how many are missed.
Questions to ask:
- What are you moving?
- What are the RPO/RTOs?
- What are the security/compliance needs?
- Who owns each app?
- Where do they live?
- How are they connected?
The Who: Who Owns the Apps?
Find the managers behind every application slated to move. Identify who uses them and who can flag risks. Don’t let migration break something critical because no one asked the right person.
The Where: Know the Infrastructure Footprint
Now's the time to shed aging hardware. Figure out:
- Where apps live
- How much capacity they actually use
- What can be rightsized
Many businesses unknowingly replicate waste in the cloud, leading to 10x cost overruns. Don’t let that be you.
The How: Understand Interdependencies
Before migration, trace the relationships between systems. Know what apps are:
- Built for high availability
- Dependent on other infrastructure
- Susceptible to downtime
It’s far easier to mitigate issues when you know what breaks what.
Validating Your Cloud Migration Plan
Risk mitigation is key. That’s why we run test migrations first.
We recommend:
- Declaring a maintenance window
- Powering down all infrastructure
- Testing how quickly everything can come back online
Use real-world data from your test to fine-tune the plan and minimize surprises.
One oddly critical step: equipment cool-downs. Many customers learn (the hard way) that old hardware doesn’t always reboot cleanly. Find out before you migrate.
Bonus tip: start by migrating your backup environment to the cloud. It gives your team real data to work with — and uncovers hidden issues.
Choosing a Partner That’s Been There
Most companies don’t have the in-house resources or experience to manage a major cloud migration. That’s okay. That’s why we exist.
Summit has done this hundreds of times. We know the traps — and how to avoid them. According to industry research, over 60% of companies delay migrations after planning due to lack of resources or experience. Don’t be one of them.
Let’s build your cloud migration plan — and execute it — the right way.
Summit Team
We're the Summit team – cloud geeks, tech tinkerers, and security sleuths on a mission to keep your business running smoothly in and out of the cloud.
