Mitigating the Risk of Cloud Migration
Cloud Migration
It’s quite likely by now that you’ve had some sort of top level directive to migrate your infrastructure to the cloud. To the CEO, this might sound like a simple straightforward task. But you know the risks, the complications and the dangers to the business. Get it wrong and the consequences could be catastrophic.
Clearly it is necessary to begin a gap analysis initiative, though this can be easier said than done. Understanding a new architecture, which will look so radically different to the one currently in operation, is no mean feat.
Painting a Picture of the Cloud
Designing a future state is a tricky task at the best of times, and when moving the entire location of your infrastructure it throws up an extensive set of challenges: Will everything run as it did before? What will happen to your costing models? Do IT staff need retraining? Will other applications need to be onboarded?
Enterprise architecture depicts both the desired future state and the organization’s current iteration. Effectively implemented it streamlines cloud migration and manages all stages of its adoption, including strategically collating information about the as-is state, right through to defining the overarching goal and vision.
Modeling activities underpin these projects and map out different stages to establish links, facilitate gap analysis and demonstrate the impact of change. The richer the picture of nodes and relations, the more business analysts are able to manage risk. Put another way, the organization can use these diagrams to retake control of change initiatives as it considers how services should be architected in the cloud.
Ensuring the accuracy of these models necessitates a repository, which stores objects and artifacts, halting the practice of creating disparate diagrams with incorrect relationships, whereby solutions won’t be identified, and opportunities for reusing technology and sharing services are missed. With the repository, by contrast, enterprise architects gain accurate insight into the future state cloud architecture and can reuse the information created in diagrams to render reports. Acting as a single source of truth, the repository enables multiple users to view the same content and collaborate on models, diagrams, catalogs and documentation.
The iServer Solution
iServer includes a solution, which provides organizations with better insight into cloud infrastructure and architecture as they migrate away from on-premise content. The preconfigured metamodel is mapped to standards such as TOGAF and ArchiMate, ensuring objects are reusable and related according to the industry standard. This lowers the amount of manual effort required, reducing errors and safeguarding compliance.
The solution also consists of a template with a set of objects and relationships for easy diagramming, a metamodel which is mapped to TOGAF and ArchiMate, as well as a definition for the relationships between nodes.
The repository is supported by a diagram approval mechanism for peer reviews and project sign-off, ensuring traceable accountability and enhanced collaboration. Moreover, a relationships rule engine ensures that objects are related to the industry standard. For cloud architects, this means less time spent on drawing diagrams without context, fewer mistakes and better insight into the future state infrastructure and architecture.
Ultimately, cloud is here to stay and senior stakeholders realize this. However, despite the haste to migrate, the right foundations must be put in place. iServer’s AWS solution ensures a smooth transition, enabling the business to mitigate risk and engage digital transformation initiatives without fear; meeting the demands of top level directors.