For one reason or another, most businesses will likely need to consider a data center migration at some point during the operational years of their IT environment. Data center migrations are complicated – if not managed properly, it could cause more problems than it solves. If you are considering a datacenter migration, it might be good to have look at the following tips that need to be considered before migrating.
Know why you are migrating
Businesses have different reasons for migrating. Understanding the status and purpose of each application in your data center is essential. Which business applications are important for your business? What configurations are required for the current applications?
Business services rely on IT and migration can expose businesses to significant risks. Migration of data centers is a complex project and impacts IT operations, costs, applications, and service levels. Therefore, it is necessary to make a perfect plan for smooth migration. The steps in this process must be described as detailed as possible – understanding what the risks are during a migration.
Know what you are migrating
After understanding the business needs – a datacenter migration is the right time to clear out older equipment and make an inventory. A migration offers you the opportunity to look critically at the efficiency of your environment and to determine what does and doesn’t work properly.
It’s essential that you create a checklist, understand the environment that you are working on and specify the smallest details. You need to know how the IT infrastructure works.
Determine who will perform the migration and when
IT is expected to be available 24/7, downtime needs to be minimized. Plan the migration after working hours so daily operation will not be affected. To have a smooth data center migration, it’s important to engage with all involved people and vendors to ensure that everyone knows what is expected during the migration.
Testing after completing migration
After completing the migration process, it’s time to start testing. Are all inventories at its place without any misplacement and are all systems running correctly? It’s important to think about the simplest things – Is there someone to guide you at the new location? Are network cables present? It might sound simple, but it is not difficult to have a failed migration when certain things are not taken care of.
When IPCOM was selecting a colocation facility, at the top of their list was: cost efficiency, day to day reliability and technical support. Find out how ColoHouse fulfilled all of IPCOM’s business requirements to create a long-term partnership.
Do you want to know more about data center migration or are you considering colocation? Check out our Colocation guide. Discuss a migration project in detail? Please contact us at sales@colohouse.com or +1 305-731-2225. Our experts are happy to think along with you!
