Migration pros and cons

What is it about your current environment that you want to change?

Perhaps you want to give your business an injection of new technology or your aging systems have reached the end of their productivity. Perhaps you are looking for an environment that supports your legacy applications while also responding aggressively to changing business conditions. Or perhaps you just want a more simple, unified infrastructure that allows you to do more with less. More than likely, several of these factors are behind your decision to migrate.

How do you ensure success?

With so much to be gained, it's tempting to overlook all the important questions to be asked when you are considering migration. The primary objective is to find a target environment in which your business can succeed. The next is keeping a handle on the costs and schedule. Real cost is not just initial up-front investment but cost of ownership over the long term. So too, your migration process has to stay within a timeframe where it will not disrupt the rest of your organization and your day-to-day business operations. Finally comes the real issue ? will it deliver the real business value that drove you to migration in the first place?

The best way to help realize the benefits and reduce the costs is by first prioritizing your migration objectives and then by defining the environment that will support your requirements. The next step is to plot a detailed migration roadmap that will take you from where you are to where to want to be, a roadmap that will be thoroughly validated before your migration even begins.