Migrating to a cloud-based hosting platform can boost your organization’s computing infrastructure. It can improve efficiency, save time, and reduce costs. Microsoft Azure stands out for its service quality, security, reliability, and global reach. Like many other businesses, both large and small, you’re ready to make the move.

Understanding the Challenge

However, migrating to the cloud requires significant organizational change. To fully leverage Azure, you must understand its unique attributes and keep them in mind throughout the migration process.

Tools and Services to Simplify Migration

Microsoft offers robust tools and services to ease and simplify migration. As a Microsoft partner, Red Level brings extensive experience helping clients shift to the Azure platform. We’ll ensure you use the right tools to make your cloud journey as smooth and effortless as possible.

Think Ahead: Planning Eases Migration

Effective planning and preparation are key to a smooth cloud migration. This is where Red Level comes in. Not all workflows can simply be lifted and shifted to the cloud without modifications. Migration often involves multiple stages, rather than moving everything at once.

Start with a Discovery Phase

The Azure migration process begins with a discovery phase, where you inventory your existing infrastructure. The goal is to identify applications and virtual machines that are ideal for early migration.

Start with those that have few or no dependencies on other processes, authorization mechanisms, or external databases. Also, consider virtual machines with high memory or CPU utilization, or those nearing storage limits. Red Level offers granular assessments to automate this process.

Addressing Database Incompatibilities

Red Level also helps identify and remediate database incompatibilities that could block or complicate your migration.

Migrate with Care: Minimize Downtime

After identifying the migration sequence, you can move to the actual migration phase. To minimize downtime, Red Level will design an asynchronous or synchronous replication plan. This approach ensures that live systems keep running while being copied to Azure.

Selecting the Right Migration Tools

Choosing the right migration tool depends on the time and bandwidth needed to migrate your virtual machines. Red Level’s solutions are compatible with Azure, supporting both Windows Server and Linux machines from any platform. We can assist in moving a limited number of virtual machines per day, depending on available bandwidth.

Optimize for Peak Performance

Post-migration, optimization ensures you gain the maximum benefits from Azure. This phase includes refining performance, availability, and cost-efficiency as you work toward your infrastructure goals.

Security and Monitoring

In today’s complex threat environment, Microsoft offers logging and monitoring capabilities for Azure and non-Azure workloads alike. The built-in security dashboard provides real-time insights into alerts and vulnerabilities.

Azure: The Cloud Infrastructure of Choice

Azure is becoming the preferred cloud infrastructure platform for many organizations. It’s cost-effective, accessible, and offers true hybrid solutions that integrate easily with other Microsoft tools and services. Azure’s pricing benefits extend to SQL Server and Windows Server customers, allowing you to bring existing on-premises licenses to the cloud at a lower cost.

Start Your Journey with Red Level

Let Red Level guide your journey to the cloud. Our Microsoft-funded assessment services, valued at $15K, are available at no cost. These services include proof-of-concept setup, allowing you to see Azure in action, and Architectural Design Sessions to create a personalized blueprint for your Azure infrastructure.