3 Tips For Your Cloud Migration

 The cloud is no longer a trend—it’s the standard. If your organization hasn’t migrated by now, you’re at the least researching the overall impact to your organization. Of course, change can be hard, and technology migrations can be one of the most difficult forms of change. If you’re concerned about the amount of effort required to move to the cloud, you aren’t alone. Nearly 63% of businesses moving to the cloud rated the final transition as one that required significant effort.

What makes this process so challenging?

Ah, time. Yes, the time involved in choosing a platform, preparing the network, managing the 100+ site project, training end-users, among many, many other things. It can be a daunting task to coordinate all of this while also trying to maintain and grow your business. That’s why it’s so important to work with a migration partner—one that’s skilled in the intricacies of the process and understands how to manage each decision efficiently and without interruptions to your day-to-day work. At Optus, we’ve helped hundreds (maybe thousands) of customers navigate partial, full, and hybrid cloud migrations with ease. In this blog, we’ll look at some of the important considerations for companies considering a cloud migration, such as:

• Network assessment
• Financial analysis
• Platform Evaluation

Network Assessment

First, ask yourself if your current infrastructure can support voice in the cloud. Frequently, the network conjures a go/no-go decision. In instances where businesses refresh their infrastructure, the return on investment lengthens.

Second, if your cabling is adequate, you need to decide if you want to converge voice and data or separate the two. The most economical option is to combine voice and data, as there will be no added expense for connectivity. To help answer these questions, take advantage of a network readiness assessment. Assessments help identify overall network performance, capacity, and deficiencies. Reviewing your network will help uncover gaps early in the process, before beginning the implementation phase of a cloud rollout.

Financial Analysis

More than 65% of IT expenditures go toward ordinary, everyday tasks that do nothing to move a business forward. Having said that, when organizations decide to invest in new technology, financial justification is necessary. Steps you should take to determine your financial situation include:

• Determine the entire cost of your current system
• Gather the cost of your existing phone and internet bills
• Identify all main lines, fax lines, and 800 numbers
• Decide how many softphones and desk phones are required

Sounds simple, right? Producing an accurate return on investment (ROI) is very time-consuming when you have hundreds of locations. Identifying the phone and fax lines can be a project within itself. The best advice we can give you is to find an IT solutions partner who is willing to take the lead in providing you a detailed ROI. 

Platform Evaluation

The list of hosted and VoIP providers is growing larger each day. Currently, G2 Crowd lists over 80 platform providers. As more and more providers are entering the market, the pricing per seat is decreasing. Price is significant, however, we have found that ease of use and software integrations seal the deal for most businesses. When a platform is easy to use, manage, and integrates with other business tools, organizations start to reap the not-so-tangible benefits of efficiency and productivity. Optus starts by using a systematic approach when advising our clients which hosted platform would benefit their organization the most. We want you to utilize our platform decision matrix to help you with the process of wading through each platform’s details.

Call Optus to Help with Cloud Migration

You don’t want to be one of the 63% that has difficulty migrating to the cloud—let us help. We offer a wide range of consultative, project management, and implementation services for every level of cloud migration. Contact us today and discover how we can help your business!

Additional Resources

• Multi-Site Business: UCaaS Unique Benefits
• A Guide to Successful UCaaS Deployment
• Simplify Business Technology with an Optus Advisor