// Connect · moving to the cloud
Cloud migration for businesses
A move rarely fails on the technology. It fails on what nobody checked beforehand. We settle the prerequisites, fix the sequence and cut over in stages.
// Readiness check
What has to be settled before the first step
We work through these points together before anything is copied. If one of them fails, we postpone the stage — not the outcome.
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Applications and what they depend on
Which programs call each other, which need a fixed link back into the building, which only run on a particular version.
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The line and a fallback route
Without a connection you can rely on, every remote service becomes a test of patience. We check the existing line and settle what happens if it drops.
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Accounts, roles and handovers
Who gets access to what, which shared accounts have to disappear, who is allowed to decide on the cut-over day.
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A backup of the starting state
Before the first step there is a verified backup of the old environment. Without that point we do not begin.
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What deliberately stays behind
Legacy data, dead shares and services without users get sorted out beforehand instead of being dragged along.
// Experience
Where moves actually get stuck
Transferring the data is the unremarkable part. The effort sits at the edges: with the business application that expects a fixed address. With the printer that was only ever reachable from one particular network. With the mailbox that has been used as a filing system for years.
You do not find cases like that in documentation. You find them in conversation with the people who work with it daily. So before every stage we talk to the departments, not only to the management.
The second common source of trouble is pace. Anyone who switches everything over in a single weekend has no reserve when something goes wrong. So we cut the move into sections that can each be reversed on their own, even though that takes longer overall.
// Route
Four stages up to sign-off
Every stage ends in a state where people can work — not on a half-finished building site.
Stock and assessment
Applications, data, accounts and contracts are recorded and assessed: bring along, replace, archive or keep in the building.
Decide the order
We determine which group moves first. Usually a small department with manageable dependencies — a real trial run with real users.
Window and way back
The switch happens in the agreed window, with named contacts on both sides and an old environment that stays reachable until sign-off.
Sign-off and clear-up
After one or two quiet working weeks we dismantle the old side, document the final state and hand over to operations.
// Responsibilities
Who does what on cut-over day
The most frequent cause of delay is an open question nobody owns. So this is settled in writing beforehand.
// Migration questions
What gets asked most often before a move
01 How long does a cloud migration take?
Mostly it depends on the volume of data and on how many applications come along. It becomes properly plannable only after the inventory — before that any figure would be a guess. What we can set early is the sequence.
02 Does the business have to stop during the switch?
As a rule, no. We move in stages and cut over each stage in an agreed window, usually in the evening or at the weekend. For the cut-over day it is settled in advance who is available and how we will know it worked.
03 What if something does not work after the switch?
That is what the way back is for. Until a stage has been signed off, the old environment stays reachable and the data exists in both places. Only when daily work throws up nothing further do we dismantle the old side.
04 Can we bring older business software with us?
Some of it, yes; some of it, no. In the readiness check we look at whether an application will actually behave when run remotely. If it will not, it stays in the building for now — properly connected, rather than forced across.
05 Who handles moving the data?
We do. You supply the decision about what comes along and what gets archived — that sorting is not something anyone can take off your hands. Transfer, reconciliation and checking for completeness are ours.
06 How much of our own time will the migration cost?
The preparation costs the most: naming contacts, sorting out legacy data, providing test users. During the cut-over itself what we mainly need is somebody with authority to decide at short notice.
Related
Check first, then move.
We look at your applications, your line and your data and tell you what can move without further work, what needs preparation and what is better kept in the building.