Cloud Migration: How to Mind the Gap

It’s a challenge for teams with complex IT infrastructure and processes to keep their organizations competitive. It’s an even bigger task when you can’t see everything you manage. Cloud computing has done wonders for application access and storage but it has created a blind spot that organizations are struggling to handle. According to research by IDC, cloud computing will only accelerate in the next three years particularly impacting industries such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and retail. Adding further complexity to the charge, businesses are banking on digital transformation to defend and strengthen their competitive position.

Visibility only decreases with increased cloud migration and hybrid-cloud applications. The inability to understand dynamic application chains puts virtualization and cloud strategies at risk—increasing the chance of penalties in time, cost, sub-par user experience, and the inability to achieve desired business outcomes. The rise of machine learning and stream analytics is a key contributor to a transformative, 360-degree view of the end-to-end, hybrid infrastructure supporting business growth.

So how do you address this visibility gap? By giving IT teams access to innovative monitoring capabilities beyond traditional network performance management (NPM) tools.

Cloudy Skies
The reality with cloud migration is that most businesses are in the same boat. The first challenge is virtualization. While its benefits are well recognized, its implementation and integration can lead to significant disruption.

For a business accustomed to handling physical servers in a controlled, private data center, it can be a challenging shift.  Virtualization increases complexity in the network and application stack, and resources which may have been allocated on premise, now reside in the cloud. Team now need to monitor machines that are invisible -  they can’t physically see them.

But that’s not the only challenge. For enterprises, cloud migration and the integration of SaaS applications also require a cultural change. IT teams often work in silos, independent from one another. This division of labor seems logical but when it comes to managing the cloud, fragmentation and silos won’t work. IT teams need to work together to have an end-to-end view of their enterprise network. Teams must adopt a shared responsibility approach across teams and departments. This allows for a “single source of truth.”

The Silver Lining
Fear of the unknown doesn’t have to be an obstacle to adoption. Even though traditional monitoring tools don’t provide visibility over a virtual, cloud infrastructure, unified performance management solutions do. However, it is important to adopt one that is “infrastructure agnostic” – meaning it can be used to monitor any part of the enterprise - legacy or virtual. It also must complement the portfolio of other network and application monitoring tools. As the cloud creates a dependence between networks and applications, silos and fragmentation will be significantly reduced as IT teams will need visibility across the organization. An infrastructure agnostic tool can cross IT departments and layers of the application and network chain. Businesses can now reap optimal value from their digital assets allowing them to maximize ROI and drive resource efficiency. It’s smart performance led management that will further drive the alignment of technology investments and operational priorities. Every business can benefit from turning broader insights into improved business processes.

Overcoming Complexity with Simplicity
A complex problem doesn’t always result in a complex answer. When it comes to application monitoring, enterprises’ fears can be solved with visibility everywhere tool. Gone are the days of traditional monitoring tools that provide passive, reactive insights. Today’s digital and agile enterprises require proactivity, based on real-time and predictive analytics that will guide decision making. It is this extra insight that will prove to be the guiding light in the darkness of the application chain. Otherwise, your cloud migration will turn into exactly what is feared – an unknown.

Edited by Maurice Nagle