Migration to the Cloud - Part 2
In Part One of Migrating
to the Cloud was about Migration Planning where I discussed some various
aspects regard: Cloud Migration Phases, Transition Assessment, Migration Plan,
Migration Strategies, and Timing. There are a variety of activities (Migration
Planning, Migration Execution, Deployment Testing and Validation, Cloud
Agility, Planning for Program, etc.) that are involved with cloud migration,
and it is imperative that most, if not all these activities must be carefully
considered to successfully migrate to the cloud. That said, this Part Two blog
is about Cloud Agility, where I am going to focus my attentions on the three
following aspects: Development and Testing, and Cloud Agility.
Deployment Testing and
Validation:
1.
Testing Types –
executing a test before the launch of any project is a must. Many of us have
carry-out some forms of testing in our lifetime whether it be before during the
planning stage to assist with any applications (database, server, or
application) being moved to the cloud, subnetting a network IP address, or segmenting
a network into more than one network, to ensure that it will perform
accordingly as expected. In a cloud computing environment, testing is usually
carried out “by cloning the resource or environment into the cloud and then
running tests on this temporary copy.” On the other hand, such an approach will
permit (allowed) you to experiment with the transformation to resources that
are being tested and try out various CSPs (Cloud Service Providers) to figure
out the one that is committed to working best for you. However, “on the
downside, the cloned resource is not synced with its source data and might not
have live data streams to work with.” With that said, there are many different
testing methods that can be utilized to explore a new deployment which include the
following:
a. Functional
Testing – according to West, “Functional testing ensures that predefined system
requirements are met.” What this means basically is that the process verifies
that everything will perform accordingly as it is expected to. Both module and
component testing are two important approaches for functional testing of a
single component. Furthermore, other functional testing that’s associated with
initial “checks during development, called smoke testing – that’s based on the saying
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire”, (“implies a small problem early on cloud
cause a serious issue later”).
b. Performance
Testing – migrating to the cloud is not as easy as many may think. Compatibility
is the answer to a successful cloud migration or failure. Not all applications
are cloud compatible, therefore checking for “compatibility issues, especially
for any programs that rely heavily on each other to perform complex tasks.”
Cloud Agility:
1.
Project Management -
Project management is the implementation of understanding, skills, tools, and
methods to project activities and to meet the requirements of the project.
Project management can be achieved or accomplish through the appropriate
implementation and “integration of the 42 logically grouped project management
process comprising the 5 Process Groups” which are: Initiating, Planning,
Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. There are various project
management certifications available and one or more can be an assistance in feathering
a career in the IT industry. An example could be a well skillful project
management and cloud computing. Let’s turn our attention now to some critical
project management key skills:
a. Communication –
to be successful in today digital world, you must have an excellent
communication technical skill, and this especially “for an industry built upon
the need for communication technology, IT professionals sometime lack in this so-called
soft skill.” Communication is often seen as the top skill that most if not all
employers seek as a potential skill that they require from their employees,
especially for new hire. Proper communication is imperative. For example, when it
comes managing a project that involved many different people, many different
levels of activities, proper communication become even more critical to achieve
the goal. Regular and idea communication is a must because it helps with good
decision making “in specific scenarios” where “communication channels” are utilized
like through social media, emails, online conferencing, and face-to-face
meetings (conversation).
b. Negotiation –
proper negotiation will lead to success more often than none, especially when
dealing with vendors. Negotiation with vendors is important because it helps in
various of ways to establish opportunities for expending and feathering the
limited to a budget.” Knowing how to write good RFPs (requests for proposal)
and negotiate favorable contractual terms will help protect your organization
not if, but when, something goes wrong during a project (West. 2023, p. 101).
Do not assume that
everything is sound and well after a successful migration to the cloud because development,
testing, and troubleshooting the deployment process never end. There are always
going to be development, testing, and troubleshooting procedures involved
throughout the existence of your cloud operation.
Reference:
West, Jill. (2023).
CompTIA Cloud+ Guide to Cloud Computing (p. 96 & 101). Kindle Edition. Retrieved:
September 28, 2023.
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