What are the Different Types of Cloud Services?
The cloud migration process explained
Migrating a system to the cloud typically involves a series of strategic steps:
- Planning and Assessment: Identifying which applications and data can move to the cloud and determining the right cloud provider Empower collaboration anywhere with ERS tailored cloud solutions.and strategy.
- Design: Architecting the cloud environment to meet specific business and technical requirements.
- Migration: Moving applications, data, and workloads to the cloud, which may involve rehosting, refactoring, or rearchitecting.
- Testing: Ensuring functionality, performance, and security meet or exceed pre-migration levels.
- Optimization: Post-migration, continuously monitoring and adjusting resources to optimize costs, performance, and security.
Our team at ERS will guide you through each step of the process and ensure that you are informed about the progress and goals of each phase.
We understand the specifics of moving different systems to the cloud
- Web Applications: These are applications accessible over a network such as the internet or an intranet, often requiring scalability and global accessibility that cloud environments excel in providing.
- Databases: Cloud platforms offer managed database services that can scale automatically and provide enhanced reliability, performance, and disaster recovery capabilities.
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Migrating ERP systems to the cloud enables businesses to improve their operational efficiency and scalability while reducing IT overhead.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: Cloud-based CRM solutions offer real-time access to customer data, scalable storage, and improved collaboration across teams.
- Email Systems: Migrating email services to the cloud enhances accessibility, security, and reduces the need for in-house infrastructure maintenance.
- File Storage and Sharing Systems: Cloud platforms provide scalable, secure, and accessible options for storing and sharing files, supporting remote work and collaboration.
- Development and Test Environments: Cloud environments allow for easily configurable, scalable, and cost-effective development and testing environments, improving efficiency and time-to-market.
Services that cover the full spectrum of cloud migration complexity
- Rehosting: Involves moving applications, as-is, from an on-premises data center to the cloud. This strategy is quick and cost-effective, allowing businesses to gain cloud benefits without significant upfront investment in application redesign.
- Replatforming: This strategy involves making minor changes to applications to take advantage of cloud efficiencies without a complete overhaul. For example, altering the application’s database management system to one that is optimized for the cloud.
- Refactoring / Re-architecting: Requires rethinking and rewriting parts or all of an application to fully utilize cloud-native features and capabilities. This approach is more resource-intensive but offers long-term benefits like scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency.
Cloud Migration Services FAQs
Cloud migration services help Irish organisations seamlessly transition applications, data and infrastructure from on-premise or legacy environments to secure, scalable cloud platforms. ERS works with businesses to assess existing systems, design cloud architecture, create a detailed migration roadmap and execute conversions with minimal downtime and disruption to operations.
By combining strategic planning, robust testing and phased deployment, ERS ensures cloud migrations are predictable, secure and aligned with business goals. Whether you’re moving to Microsoft Azure, AWS, hybrid setups or multi-cloud frameworks, ERS provides expert guidance, ongoing support and optimisation that enables enhanced performance, agility and cost-efficiency for your cloud environment.
1. What are cloud migration services?
Cloud migration services help businesses move applications, data and workloads from on-premise or older systems into cloud platforms like Azure or AWS.
2. Why should my business migrate to the cloud?
Cloud migration offers scalability, improved performance, reduced hardware costs, remote access and better resilience compared to traditional on-premise systems.
3. Which cloud platforms can be used?
Common options include Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and hybrid combinations depending on business goals and technical requirements.
4. How long does a cloud migration take?
The timeline depends on the complexity and size of your environment, but planning, testing and phased migration typically span weeks to months.
5. Will migration disrupt daily operations?
With proper planning, testing, staging and execution, migrations can be completed with minimal disruption to users and business activities.
6. Is data security involved in cloud migration?
Yes. Cloud migration services include data protection practices, encryption, secure access controls and compliance checks during and after migration.
7. Can ERS help with post-migration support?
Yes. ERS provides ongoing support, optimisation and monitoring after migration to ensure the cloud environment remains secure, efficient and aligned with goals.
8. Do I need to rewrite my applications to move to the cloud?
Not always. Some applications can be migrated “as-is,” while others may require refactoring or optimisation depending on architecture and performance needs.
9. What is a cloud migration roadmap?
A cloud migration roadmap outlines the assessment, planning, design, testing, rollout and post-migration support steps to ensure a successful transition.
10. How does ERS deliver cloud migration services?
ERS conducts a discovery assessment, creates a tailored migration strategy, performs migration tasks, tests workloads and provides ongoing support and optimisation.