What Is A Cloud Consultant?

In today’s business-driven society, companies are revealing a high dependency on IT systems for their success. Whether you are an established organization or a small service firm, every business should be using cloud consulting services.

It’s not a matter of if your company will switch over to the cloud, but when it will move. So, how can you guarantee a smooth transition to the cloud? There are two ways of doing so. First, your company should consider hiring an in-house team to manage all the nitty gritty technical aspects of migrating. Second, you may choose to hire cloud consulting services, which can take a lot of the load off your internal IT team.

Before making a big decision on how to approach this, let’s dive into some core components of cloud consulting. The following areas will give you the insight to help you make the best decision.

It’s important to understand what a cloud consultant is, the process of migrating to the cloud, their roles and responsibilities, major companies who serve as consultants, and the alternative of smaller cloud providers.

So, What Is A Cloud Consultant?

Cloud computing is a new technology that has become a valuable part of the modern digital landscape. Cloud consultants are experts who assist organizations in the design of their cloud servers. They are contacted once the installation is complete to maintain the systems and to provide ongoing support once the setup is complete.

A cloud consultant is a company or individual with expertise in cloud systems. They are equipped with the tools and knowledge to advise clients regarding infrastructure, design, and development. They are also accountable for speaking on the advantages of cloud computing services to certain firms, in a way that is simple for non-technical representatives to comprehend.

As opposed to traditional IT hosting, organizations utilizing the cloud choose a third-party provider for software installation and other IT services. Therefore, cloud consultants play a prominent role in this process.

What Does A Cloud Consultant Do?

Service cloud consultants are highly skilled in cloud computing with a deep understanding of the contact center domain. The solutions they provide are based on cloud functionality. To give you a better understanding of the types of tasks that consultants perform, here is a brief list of their responsibilities: 

1. Create applicable solutions

2. ID and mitigate risks

3. Meet customer expectations

4. Provide effective business solutions

5. Manage solution delivery and any associated issues

6. Provide a review of the business process to discuss client requirements

7. Provide end-user documentation and training

Between client communication and the integration of the preferred cloud-based application, cloud consultants play a valuable role for any technology firm or IT (information technology) department.

The Roles Of A Cloud Consultant

Cloud consultants have several responsibilities, including the titles of database consultant, application developer, security expert, and architecture specialist. For the most optimal service, cloud consultants should have some, if not all the abilities listed below. 

• Deductive reasoning to support suggestions regarding cloud strategy. 

• Communication skills to meet client needs

• Problem-solving skills to handle specific client requirements 

• Ability to offer custom solutions and think constructively

• Cloud implementation strategy for clients 

• Ability to use one or more operating systems

• Networking knowledge in practice 

• Comprehensive knowledge of network security principles 

• Basic knowledge of programming language 

A cloud consultant holistically has multiple positions in cloud computing. Here are the most common roles:

• Cloud Operations Manager 

• Cloud Software Engineer 

• Cloud Infrastructure Engineer 

• Cloud Support Engineer 

• Cloud Security Engineer 

• Cloud Solutions Architect 

Service Types

There are many options available to you surrounding cloud services. Since there is so much data to transfer, it initially might be an overwhelming task. One way for organizations to approach this is to start small, with a manageable workload that doesn’t need to be fully planned right away. From that point, they may pursue more complex migration paths.

If a company has larger requirements, it may choose a complex strategy from the beginning. Cloud computing consulting services are categorized into six main groups, but keep in mind, they may vary depending on your cloud consultant.

1. Cloud Advisory

2. Cloud Migration

3. Cloud Operations and Optimization

4. Data and Analytics

5. Compliance, Security, and Business Continuity

6. Application Modernization and DevOps

Process Of Migrating To The Cloud

Cloud migration is when on-premise data is transferred into a wireless, storage system, referred to as the cloud. To get started, your data will need to be relocated. To make the migration easier, here is a simplified four-step process. 

Planning

Before moving any data to the cloud, a company must decide the best solution fit.

Before anything, it’s essential to determine your data reliance. Does your organization have data that needs to be configured regularly? Does it have data compliance requirements to meet? Would a hybrid approach be beneficial? There are many factors to consider when deciding how to go about planning your cloud migration. In this process, you can identify your company’s needs. The steps to follow next will fall into place.

Migration Business Case 

After identifying your business’s cloud requirements, you will need to understand what cloud-based service offers are relevant to your company. The factors to assess a cloud consultant are based on three dimensions: benefits, cost savings, and improvements. 

To achieve the right deal, companies need to understand the following components:

The amount and nature of storage that your company uses, the amount of computing power, operating systems, the size of your company’s data usage, and performance/networking requirements.

Cloud Data Migration Execution 

Once your environment has been evaluated and a plan has been constructed, it’s critical to follow through with the migration. 

One important piece to note: if data becomes inaccessible to users during a migration, performance will likely suffer during the time migration is taking place. The same is true as your network continues updating after the main migration. All devices and hardware undergoing migration should be proven to work in the new environment before migrating to another part of your network. 

Also, by synchronizing changes that are made to the source data while the migration is ongoing, you will save time and money. Cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure provide embedded tools that assist in data and cloud migration. 

Ongoing Upkeep 

After data has been migrated to the cloud, it’s pivotal to confirm that the newly migrated data is protected and easy to access. This happens by assessing real-time changes to the infrastructure to forecast workload contentions.

Here are the six best practices our team has discovered when completing cloud migrations for several organizations. 

Benefits

Scalability

With a competent cloud consultant, transferring large workforces to the cloud becomes easier than moving physical infrastructure. On-premises networks require additional money and effort to set up networking equipment.

Cost

Moving to the cloud decreases the amount of money spent on IT operations because cloud consultants take care of all upgrades and maintenance. In turn, a business can focus on what they excel at, like developing new products or improving existing ones. 

Performance

Migrating to the cloud allows an organization to improve user experience as well as customer performance. Data will not be forced to travel long distances if the website is hosted in the cloud.

Flexibility

Users can access cloud services from any location. This allows for a business to expand internationally and provides its users the ability to use data from anywhere.

SD-WAN Compatibility

SD-WANs replace old hardware with newer, up-to-date structures. SD-WAN is accessible with any type of transport (Broadband, MPLS, cellular, satellite) and enables direct internet access between end-users and applications in the cloud for a better experience. 

Workload Performance

In comparison to their on-premises equivalents, cloud applications can provide more access to a wider range of resources, including APIs and security protections. This keeps performance at a satisfactory level, even if there may be heavy usage.

Challenges

Surely, there will be obstacles when migrating to the cloud. When it comes to migrating large databases, they must relocate to a completely different platform to be cloud functioning. It is especially challenging to move a large database when there are copious amounts of data involved. This process is often time-consuming.

Another challenge is data integrity. After data is transferred, you will need to make sure your data is intact, and that all loose ends are tied. The third challenge is continued operation. During the actual migration, companies must ensure that their systems maintain operationality. In this short time, there is some overlap between on-premises and cloud migration.

In this period, it’s important to make sure operations continue running in the office. Because errors can occur in the migration process, you may want to consider making a copy of all data in the cloud before shutting down a database.

Major Companies As Consultants

The three biggest companies in cloud services are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. 

AWS Cloud has the most time and experience in the cloud because they were the first to penetrate the market. As a result, it has a largely supported community and an extensive user base.

Microsoft Azure is attracting its share of high-profile customers with time. Many consumers that already employ Microsoft products choose Microsoft Azure as a cloud provider because of discounted user rates. More than 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Azure for their cloud services and find great results in doing so. 

Google Cloud uses the same network infrastructure as Google Search and YouTube. As a result, many top-level companies decide on Google Cloud as their provider. Some of Google’s clients are 20th Century Fox, Dominos, and HSBC.

So, who’s the cheapest? 

AWS, Azure, and GCP rates are constantly changing in the attempt to keep up with each other in the battle for service. All three update their pricing model multiple times a year in response to market trends and business strategies. As one provider decreases costs and offers new discounts, other providers are induced to respond with their changes. 

AWS tends to be the most expensive and comprehensive cloud service provider on a CPU/Hour basis. Google Cloud is the least expensive option of the three for compute-intensive workloads. Azure lies somewhere in the middle and becomes an attractive option for users that already have Microsoft products installed and qualify for a discount under an Enterprise Agreement. 

Read here for a more in-depth analysis of how these three consulting companies differ, and which is the best fit for your cloud migration needs.