The cloud market has moved incredibly fast over the last few years, delivering several benefits to businesses, from cost savings and flexibility to scalability and high performance. It’s moved beyond the public versus private debate that went on during early cloud adoption and has evolved into something that addresses organisational appetite for innovation and technology solutions that are fit for purpose.

But in making cloud the first port of call for all hosting deployments and broadening adoption, are there any best practices that businesses need to consider? When it comes to technology there are always best practices and proven approaches that help businesses get the most from it and learn from other more mature adopters.

The same is true with cloud; to optimise your cloud environment you need a planned and structured approach to migration. Whether you’re adopting more cloud, such as AWS, or migrating to AWS for the first time, you need to take a step back and assess how you’re using cloud already and how you’re planning to use it before embarking on a transformation or consolidation strategy.

The objectives of this assessment include:

• A thorough review of your cloud platform, systems and operational processes
• A technical assessment aligning to vendor best practices, extensive experience and globally recognised benchmarks
• A security and compliance analysis of risks
• An assessment of budgets and capability estimates to help avoid overspending and optimise user experience
• A recommendation that provides a clear report of findings and expert guidance to drive identified efficiencies

Based on our years of experience in the cloud and managed hosting market, especially as an AWS Managed Service Provider and Advanced Consulting Partner, we’ve put together a list of things to consider:

1. Look at your drivers for cloud transformation or consolidation: These could be optimising cost savings, improving performance and productivity of your technology (and ultimately your staff), and enhancing your operational efficiency.
2. Discovery: We can help you take a look at your AWS environment, looking at elements such as whether your servers, storage and network can support your requirements. We also look at your operational and cost issues to ensure that you’re using the right suppliers to meet your needs.
3. Data collection: Once discovery is completed, we conduct a detailed technical audit of your AWS environment, using a host of tools if needed. This raw data is gathered and packaged for analysis in the next stage.
4. Analysis: We analyse the raw data to build up a comprehensive picture of your AWS infrastructure and how you are using it. We compare this to your requirements and produce a set of recommendations that allow you to realise your cloud goals.
5. Report: Our findings will be fully documented in a comprehensive report, focused on technical assessment but including cost, performance, security, business continuity, and operational processes. The report will highlight areas for immediate concern, areas to investigate, and opportunities for improvement, and provides the blueprint for a business-case justification if further action is required.

Once you’ve considered these steps and gone through the process, why should you work with the Pulsant team on deploying or optimising your AWS infrastructure?

Experience, know-how and reputation

With more than 20 years of experience in the cloud, colocation and managed hosting market we are well placed to deliver the most efficient and effective AWS cloud infrastructure to suit your unique business requirements. We understand the industry in which you operate, the challenges you face and your need to be more efficient, save money, improve agility and optimise your AWS performance.

By working with us you receive access to a wealth of AWS knowledge, as well as cloud expertise in general. We have the resources and skills it takes to deliver an AWS Managed Services solution that meets your needs and drives business value.

With us, you get the best in management, from infrastructure monitoring, access control, to maintenance and security.

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More and more businesses are migrating to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for their technology resources. As a cost-effective, high-performance, scalable and secure cloud platform, AWS offers numerous services for database management and cloud storage. It also supports newer technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning.

Unfortunately, there is an important question that too often goes unasked, let alone answered, when organisations are considering adopting AWS – are you fully prepared and ready?

There is a great deal of work to be done to put everything in place before making the move to cloud. The good news is that you can avoid the potential pitfalls simply by going through the proper process. The key here is taking a business approach, rather than an IT approach.

Further questions that you need to be able to answer include; do you have the required policies and procedures to operate in the cloud? Do you have the skill sets, the business processes, and know-how to lock the environment down? You must be confident that you have all the checks and balances in place.

But where do you actually start? One of the best places is by using a framework to guide you.

Use the Cloud Adoption Framework

There are a host of companies who can guide you through the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) as the first step on your journey into the cloud. The CAF was created to help organisations design and travel an accelerated path to successful cloud adoption. Similar to an audit, you’ll answer a list of questions, such as do you have processes for ordering new servers on-premise and is there a process for ordering new software?

The guidance and best practices provided by the framework will help you build a comprehensive approach to cloud computing across your organisation, and throughout your IT lifecycle. By using the CAF and having these processes in place you should be able to quickly achieve the business benefits you want from cloud adoption with less risk, avoiding any potential friction when you go into the cloud.

To smooth your transition, even more, consider working with a trusted partner to not only help you go through the adoption framework but assist with migration and optimisation going forward.

Why Pulsant Managed AWS?

As a certified AWS Managed Service Provider and Advanced Consulting Partner, Pulsant offers access to a wealth of cloud expertise, AWS and other cloud knowledge. Our Managed AWS solution is designed by our experienced and expert team of architects and engineers to enhance your business and drive value by meeting your specific requirements.

Working with the right partner who has the experience and tools to understand your business and customise your journey is the way to ensure the best chance of success with AWS.

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Since the advent of cloud, vendors have been waxing lyrical about the benefits of the technology. But as we move further down the adoption curve — where cloud is a given — it’s worth taking another look at those benefits to ensure that your business is realising them.

We all know there needs to be a compelling reason to move to cloud in the first place, whether that’s a data centre that’s run out of space, replacing legacy servers or taking something off-premise. It can be used for different things as well, like hosting your email, software development, big data analytics or disaster recovery.

Whatever the reason, are you getting all you can out of your cloud infrastructure?

Looking specifically at AWS, the benefits include agility and elasticity, cost savings, and ease of deployment.

Flexibility is key — being able to scale up or down as you need to i cost-effectively means you can meet the changing needs of your business without breaking the bank or committing to infrastructure that you don’t need.

Costs are cut — if your infrastructure is managed correctly, there are significant cost benefits of using AWS. The obvious benefit is the fact you’re moving to a service model instead of investing in hardware, but there are other savings associated with adoption as well, like the fact you’re only paying for what you’re using and can enjoy lower prices due to economies of scale.

Speed to market — with so many services, APIs and systems already designed for the cloud, getting set and started is quick and easy. From an AWS perspective, this is especially true considering the company has global infrastructure so your deployed applications will always be close to the end-user, which reduced latency and boosts the experience.

The Pulsant benefit

At Pulsant we design, deploy and manage intelligent cloud platforms that enable your growth, spur innovation and support your success. All while remaining secure and compliant. We have a wealth of expertise in cloud and managed hosting, with high-performance infrastructure to match. Our team of AWS solution architects will understand your business and IT challenges and is well placed to work with you to make sure you’re getting the most value from your AWS deployment.

Our Managed AWS service monitors and manages your infrastructure, using next-generation cloud tools. This includes managing access control and identity management for security and traceability; backup services; and carrying out preventative maintenance, as well as preventative security maintenance.

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