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Updated: January 28,2023
In the business world, the success of many initiatives is based on return on investment (ROI). The problem is that people tend to measure ROI based solely on dollar figures. When the initiative is cloud migration, there’s much more to consider than cost in determining if it’s a success. That’s why using additional key performance indicators (KPIs) may be the better approach.
KPIs are the metrics used to gauge the completion of business-critical goals. For many organizations, successful cloud migration is a key goal. While determining cloud migration success may involve achieving specific cost-related criteria, many other factors may be equally – if not more – important. KPIs help define those factors and gauge if achieving the business objectives associated with them is met.
Measuring cloud migration success with KPIs starts with setting business objectives. Consider what problems are expected to be solved by a cloud migration:
Every organization has its own reasons for undertaking cloud migration. For some, it’s a prerequisite or accelerator for digital transformation. For others, the move is driven by desired cost savings. Still, others see it as a necessary step for enabling greater innovation, productivity, efficiency, or competitiveness. In most cases, there are multiple business goals driving a move to the cloud whether it entails moving everything or just a few selected workloads.
Moving to the cloud also affects various stakeholder groups differently, something that must be considered when setting business objectives. IT may have its view on what they should be. The C-suite has its perspective. But don’t forget about operations, finance, human resources, and other departments, as well as business units and particularly end users.
It's particularly important to include end users across all areas of the company, as well as across all facilities and geographies. Location and local company culture both influence business needs and goals. It’s fine for one group to take the initial pass at setting business objectives but success will be more likely if input is included from throughout the entire organization.
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To declare that cloud migration is successful, the business objectives must be met. How do you determine if that’s the case? This is where KPIs come into play. KPIs serve as the metrics with which you measure success. The following are among the most important ones to use in assessing the success of cloud migration:
Application performance metrics are the data collected from applications that tell you about the overall health of a system. When migrating systems to the cloud, you should be able to tell whether or not your systems are healthy because it is of utmost importance that your systems are either working the same or even better. Any degradation in performance is a sign that your migration was not successful which then requires you to troubleshoot or revert as necessary.
Among the application performance metrics to consider:
Whether you go with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS) for your cloud migration, you need to understand your systems from a holistic view. This requires measuring network performance and server performance.
For network performance, the key metrics to consider include:
For server performance, look at:
Don’t underestimate the value of these metrics. Many business objectives either tie directly into user experience or are influenced by the needs of users. The following are common user experience metrics:
Security metrics aren’t just important for determining cloud migration success. They’re critical to protecting your organization’s data, applications, systems, and overall operations. Among the metrics to consider:
ROI will almost always be an important criterion for measuring the success of a cloud migration project. But it shouldn’t be the only consideration ─ or at least it shouldn’t only be seen in terms of cost figures. Successful cloud migration can generate immediate and ongoing benefits that aren’t easily quantified by dollar figures, particularly in terms of how they satisfy business needs or overcome business challenges.
If a cloud migration is in your future, US Signal can help ─ and work with you to increase its chances of success. For information, contact us.
To learn more about cloud migration, check out these articles below from our blog or visit our resource center for whitepapers, e-books and more!
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