SEACOM East Africa - Afrikan Heroes

How to Achieve a Successful Cloud Migration

May 21, 2021

By Francis Wainaina

Migrating to the cloud can seem like a daunting task for businesses that are still at the start of their digital transformation journeys, but the costs of delaying this decision can be far greater than the initial challenges of cloud adoption.

In a survey by World Wide Worx, 31% of Kenyan businesses reported spending between 51% and 75% of their IT budgets on cloud services in 2020, and 68% intend to increase their cloud spend in 2021. With so many businesses moving to the cloud, you can’t afford to be left behind.

Francis Wainaina is Senior Product Manager at SEACOM East Africa — **Francis Wainaina, Senior Product Manager at SEACOM East Africa**

The pandemic has doubtlessly accelerated this shift toward cloud environments, and more organisations are beginning to capitalise on the various innovations that cloud can offer. If your business is about to undertake this digital migration, there are a few steps you don’t want to miss.

Develop a clear cloud strategy

Cloud migration may seem like a journey of a thousand miles, but with a clear hybrid strategy, it can be made manageable with smaller, calculated steps. Developing a cloud strategy should always come first, and in a way that prioritises business objectives above implementing new technology for innovation’s sake.

Start by defining the purpose for migration by evaluating your requirements and use cases for cloud. Know your workload priorities: are you going to move in phases, starting with the least critical workloads? Or is a new technology or your competition making migration a matter of urgency? It’s important to know what your plan is, why you’re doing it, and how you’re going to get there.

Capturing baseline metrics for your on-premise IT infrastructure can help establish key performance indicators when planning for a successful migration. Measurements such as CPU and memory usage, disk performance, network latency, and load balancing can tell you how well your applications and services are running and establish success criteria for areas that need improvement. Also consider the maintenance costs, access speeds, and scalability of your on-premise applications: are legacy systems costing you more, for less versatility?

Identify the right applications and services

Some applications that are not cloud-native might not use resources as efficiently in the cloud as they do on-premise. This makes it important to assess which applications, assets, and services you want to move. Certain applications might need minor adjustments while others need in-depth code changes to function optimally.

You also need to know which applications work better in public, private, or hybrid environments in terms of performance, functionality, or security requirements. Whether you need to share resources with other companies via a public cloud, use a private cloud to avoid public network overloads affecting crucial business processes, or use a hybrid cloud for a bit of both, there’s an environment for every business requirement.

Maintain data integrity and operational continuity

Before conducting a complete digital overhaul of your business, it is crucial to manage the risks of cloud migration and ensure operational continuity. Moving mission-critical processes and applications without downtime harming your business is certainly possible, especially with more ‘lift and shift’ platforms becoming available that replicate network environments. But this process still requires careful planning and analysis.

When valuable business data is being moved, the integrity of the information needs to remain intact, and there should always be a backup system in place. There is also the matter of security standards and regulatory compliance to consider, as well as potential software licencing issues when extending on-premise proprietary software to the cloud. But businesses don’t need to navigate these challenges on their own; this is where service providers come into the picture.

Choose the right cloud provider

Once you know which applications and cloud environments can bring more value to your business, you can determine whether you need to take a single or multi-cloud approach to fulfil all of your essential requirements.

Many business owners are not aware of the fact that a cloud provider with proven experience can handle most of the complexities of cloud migration. Having managed cloud services allows for a more seamless transition toward digital innovation while businesses can focus on their core offerings.

Cloud services have certainly revolutionised the way we do business, offering various benefits such as cost-effective access to computing power, on-demand applications and services, remote collaboration, and greater network security. Cloud migration is not a journey that happens overnight, but it is ultimately essential for those who wish to thrive in today’s digital age.

Francis Wainaina is Senior Product Manager at SEACOM East Africa

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

The Future of Cloud Computing: Moving at the Speed of Business By Patrick Ndegwa

September 1, 2020

There’s been a definite shift around the discussion about the cloud in Africa. Businesses now accept that the future of organising, processing and presenting their data is in the cloud. And with services like cloud-based email, many companies are already using this innovative technology – whether they realise it or not. The conversation has changed from asking ‘what is cloud technology?’ to look at how it can be harnessed to achieve business success.

***Patrick Ndegwa, Business Sales Lead for SEACOM East Africa***

Organisations need to be able to adapt at the same speed as this new technology and take advantage of the opportunities it presents. This will ensure business continuity and resilience in the long term. So what’s next for the cloud?

The future of cloud computing: opportunities for Africa

The Internet of Things is set to become even more prominent, with companies able to automate and optimise more processes as connected ‘smart’ machines are used. Interconnected systems mean that business processes and actual equipment will be linked to ensure ease of access and optimisation. This has the power to significantly improve efficiency for businesses that can get it right. This could include inventory systems that automatically order more stock when levels are low; smart machines that notify you before a part needs to be replaced; or logistics tracking that optimises routes and delivery based on orders and current traffic congestion. As we progress into this digital world of work, systems will become more interlinked and intertwined, providing opportunities for companies that are ready to take advantage.

Furthermore, the cloud enables remote working and service provision, regardless of where employees or organisations are located. This opens up business opportunities as distance from customers and clients is no longer a stumbling block. African companies can offer their services to a wider market – and in turn use additional services – as a result of a digitally connected world. The same applies to workers; employees can search for jobs nationally and internationally, as opposed to simply searching for opportunities in their immediate area.

Business flexibility and scalability will be key to enabling growth while reducing unnecessary costs as a result of more streamlined operating systems and access to more markets and a wider range of service providers.

Ensuring the safety and security of the business

The importance of security in this new cloud-connected world cannot be stressed enough. As more data is moved to a cloud environment, businesses that don’t take security seriously become more susceptible to data breaches.

User rights need to be properly managed and the relevant software put into place to prevent cyberattacks and data leaks. In addition to this, each individual accessing a system affects the safety of the wider network, so employee training is vital. Accessing and managing data remotely will need to become a priority. The constant influx of data that is being collected and stored needs to be organised and used strategically. Regular backups are crucial in ensuring that information is safe and easily accessible should the original data be deemed at risk. This will ensure business continuity and reduce downtime. Companies that stand to win will be those that partner with cloud providers that can help them put the right security measures in place.

Adapting to a cloud-driven world of business

Research indicates that by 2025, all of the world’s data is expected to increase by five times. This data is estimated to be worth around 123.2 billion USD. In addition to this, the mobile cloud services market will be worth an estimated 95 billion USD by 2024. This trend also applies to Africa.

As Internet usage in Africa grows, so does the amount of data created – as well as the value of that data. Accessing these huge amounts of data won’t be the biggest challenge – making sense of it will be. Companies that can collect, collate and analyse the sheer volume of data generated every day by their customers, employees and other stakeholders stand to gain a lot. If you aren’t organising your data and using it strategically, you will be left behind.

As we look to the future, the importance of partnering with a provider that can assist your business in meeting its operational needs to remain a top priority. A forward-thinking cloud partner can help your business plan for the future, while making the most of the latest innovative technology.

Patrick Ndegwa is Business Sales Lead for SEACOM East Africa