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Today’s data-hungry organizations face a growing range of management and migration challenges as their use of on-prem storage evolves and their consumption of cloud services continues to climb. Public cloud providers are rapidly increasing the capabilities of their file storage options in addition to their object storage offerings. The file storage options include a mixture of cloud-hosted traditional vendor options as well as native file services offered by the provider themselves. Organizations that are looking to re-platform legacy applications at a cloud provider have to consider how they will migrate their data.
For instance, successfully implementing private and hybrid cloud solutions or adopting public cloud services is increasingly dependent on technology partnerships that continuously bring innovative solutions to the table. Data migration – especially at scale – between platforms and service providers requires effective planning backed by implementation experience.
Working in an environment that lacks access to high-quality service and support can easily knock data migration or protection projects off course, cause delays, and even doom them to failure. In building project plans, businesses need to focus on a number of priorities:
1. Understand the technology options
From a technology perspective, managing data is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach. Part of the challenge organizations face in choosing an approach to suit their particular needs is that they have an overwhelming number of options to store or protect their data. This can create a complex decision-making process around which environment a company should utilize. It can also increase the risk of siloed technology investments that might work well for specific requirements but cause integration problems down the line.
This process isn’t just a matter of comparing the specification and pricing of a solution shortlist. Ideally, organizations should begin by analyzing their source system and data to build a detailed intelligence report that profiles their data, so they can make informed Data Management decisions.
For instance, organizations with petabytes of data may initially find it difficult to identify which datasets are classified as business-critical. Business-critical data will look different depending on the industry; generally, it’s any data absolutely needed to continue running the business.
But, careful analysis will identify, for example, what data to migrate, when, and to where, and place IT teams in an ideal position to move forward, confident in the knowledge that technologies can be selected that meet current and future needs.
2. Insist on expert support
The need for “support” in and of itself may not be the first thought that comes to mind when searching for a Data Management solution. However, the availability of timely, expert guidance can make or break a data migration or data protection effort. In any complex data-led project, having direct access to help from experienced industry experts can deliver vital advice at the exact moment it is needed. Organizations should be wary of embarking on any strategy that doesn’t enable them to call on support of the vendor or other solution partners at any point in the process. This also means that support and operations teams should be available in all the geographies where users are located. In contrast, support routed through chatbots, low-level resources in call centers, or even blog-based support can fall short if the help required is for a more complex problem or extremely urgent.
3. Build agility into Data Strategy
The last few years have seen massive developments in the underlying technologies driving the management, migration, and protection of data. For instance, cross-platform data mobility capabilities have become increasingly important as organizations refine their cloud and on-premises infrastructure strategies and look to benefit by moving between platforms as services are continually enhanced.
As a result, building agility into any Data Management, migration and protection investment is key. In the ever-changing world of enterprise IT, what’s important now might not be the same six months from now, and organizations must guard against vendor lock-in and infrastructure inflexibility if they are to give themselves the ability to adapt as new challenges and opportunities emerge.
By putting solid foundations in place, organizations can put themselves in a strong position to build effective Data Management, migration, and protection strategies. In doing so, they can optimize their investment in cloud technologies, while making maximum use of their valuable datasets over the short and long term. The ultimate goal is to have the right data, in the right location, at the right time.