Cloud has become an important tool for addressing top business priorities and to help organisations move faster, be more resilient and adaptable to change, and strengthen security postures. And yet, while organisations recognise the value and power of the cloud, getting started migrating to the cloud and modernizing resources can feel challenging.

Here are the top things to consider before you start on this journey:

1. Cloud migration is an opportunity to reduce technical debt; sometimes it may seem cheaper to lift-and-shift an application but there may be ramifications long-term.
2. Developing a business case for cloud migration and then revisiting it later on is vital to ongoing success.
3. Organisational change management is a critical element of your cloud migration strategy.
4. Approval processes must fit the pace of cloud innovation; traditional project management approval cycles may slow the pace of your migration.
5. Don’t forget about data migration. After all, you can’t move apps without moving data.
6. Highly-complex apps may require an initial lift-and-shift; a portfolio exercise can help determine when this is the case.
7. Cloud-smart has replaced cloud-first. Not everything belongs in the public cloud, at least initially.
8. Workload portability requires a balance of cloud native and cloud agnostic.
9. Incremental wins sustain stakeholder commitment. Don’t be afraid to take it slow.
10. Cloud cost optimisation toolsets can help track costs and lead to better rightsizing of solutions.

Migrating to the cloud is a complex journey, but with the right approach, it can drive significant business growth and innovation. Once you consider these 10 key points—from building a strong business case to optimizing cloud costs—you’ll be well-prepared to navigate the challenges of cloud migration. At ANS, we understand these complexities and are here to support you every step of the way. Whether you choose to migrate to Azure, AWS or our very own eCloud VPC, our team of experts is ready to guide you on your cloud migration journey, ensuring a seamless transition and long-term success.