How to Speed Up Your Migration to the Cloud with DevOps

DevOps is a key driver in cloud migration

The exponential growth of data in the world arouses the problem of its sufficient organization, sourcing, storage, usage, value and implementation. When mentioning Big Data one should keep in mind that it includes all existing data, from personal to global. A great deal of information content is created by individual users, but the overall responsibility for its storage and management lies with specialized enterprises.

It’s quite obvious that one day it will become almost impossible to govern such amount of data by yourself. That’s why cloud computing comes in handy and in cooperation with DevOps as part of DataOps is rightly seen as the data science future.

Data-driven business companies seek the universal formula to get business value from data as soon as possible, that means sooner than their competitors. That is the moment to opt for clouds and DevOps strategies.

To migrate the platform to the cloud quickly, remember to plan the main steps:

How to choose the right cloud deployment model?

Business enterprises, from small companies to large-scale corporations, must clearly realize their necessity of cloud migration. Data specialists have to evaluate the available computing resources, analyze reliable and open tools, predict possible outcomes and failures and conclude how the enterprise can really benefit from moving to the cloud. There are 3 types of cloud deployment models:

Private (cloud data is exclusively accessible within an organization);
Public (cloud data is reposited by a third-party service provider);
Hybrid (combines the benefits of on-prem and public storage).

Around 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020, according to Forbes. These companies expect to enhance security, mitigate risks, decrease expenses, improve collaboration and, all in all, capitalize on the sustainable platform. It is high time to think to yourself, if you are ready to be in this 83%.

How to Speed Up Your Migration to the Cloud with DevOps

Cloud service providers: Which one to opt for?

There is a broad variety of cloud servers providing the capabilities that can meet the most demanding customer needs. Among the major vendors that offer cloud migration solutions are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, IBM Cloud, Digital Ocean, Rackspace, etc. Each of them has a unique paradigm of delivering business and data approach, the core essence of which is to provide agile, flexible, reliable, automated, long-term, yet quick services. The DevOps-fueled service type is expected to experience the most rapid growth in 2018-2022 as this model combines the high-level data orchestration and consistent teamwork.

According to the world’s leading research and advisory company Gartner, the cloud adoption rate is increasing, that’s why the global investments in the cloud services market are expected to skyrocket up to $383 billion in 2020. So, in response to growing competition all top cloud providers keep on working on developing the best services for their customers.

What type of cloud services is right for your business?

In a word, three main cloud service models can be shown as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS) – consume it.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) – build on it.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – migrate to it..

Depending on the enterprise needs, you are free to choose the most actionable approach and leverage its advantages.

At the same time, using clouds turns out to be more economic here by reducing your own hardware usage. Cloud solutions imply renting their servers for reasonable prices and providing software maintenance. Here everyone chooses the most effective way to go.

Tapping into the DevOps practices

Moving to the cloud still requires careful steps and deep understanding of the process. Data can be migrated in sets, and then approbation is recommended. If everything goes well, the process continues until the complete migration or otherwise can be declined if it turns out not to be efficient enough. Oftentimes, a specialized guidance of platform architects, operational and developer resources is needed for getting fruitful results.

The adoption of the DevOps-backed practices from the very beginning enables successful execution of cloud migration. The strategy permits to lower deployment risks, ensure far-going business benefits and improve operational worth. Along with this, introducing DevOps enables to take advantage over competitors, develop velocity, strategy and execution.

Getting more control over data in cloud with DevOps

The DevOps model effectively results in better control functions based on shared responsibility and potential. Data specialists (developers, operators, analytics, experts, engineers, scientists) can handle cloud data-related projects on the ground of AI, Machine and Deep Learning, Agile methodology, etc. Data-driven companies easily monitor data flows and market demand. Once having migrated to a cloud server, enterprises enable themselves to leverage software integration, development efficiency and quality assurance.

Getting your business data to the cloud is not as easy as it seems. This process evolves numerous challenges from human resources to technological tools. Among the most common fears enterprises may encounter while migrating to the cloud are as follows:

Security – cloud servers treat data as a code so they are protected from cyber attacks;
Reliability – clouds enable data transfer, backups and redundancy so you’ll never lose your data;
Privacy – data in clouds is available private or public (only on your consent) and will be damaged at any time according to the agreement;
Velocity – data operating depends on network connection speed so enterprises should be ready to make necessary technology improvements;
Cost – cloud providers usually claim reasonable payment for data storage volume and period;
Location – look for cloud servers that are geographically closer to your enterprise.

Extracting the business value from data becomes easier with three core elements of DevOps: people, process and technology. When stored on one or different distant cloud servers, data can be structured and analyzed without numerous IT departments or specialists, that eventually leads to money saving. Cloud users don’t need to have their own servers or hardware, just special software and high internet connection.

The data lifecycle is automated in clouds: building, deploying, testing, scaling, changing, getting feedback, fixing bugs, etc. In many aspects, it is crucial while gathering information from applications, improving them and returning the best product to final users at short spans of time.

Feel free to contact us to get more insights on DevOps benefits for your business.