The Role of an Azure Migration Consultant After Go-Live: Optimization, Security, and Cost Control

When you move your workloads to Azure, go-live makes sure that your apps are running in the cloud. But does it guarantee it will always work well, be safe, or remain affordable? The short answer is no. When workloads go live, businesses should stop focusing only on moving and start focusing on making things better all the time.

This is where the role of an Azure migration consultant becomes paramount in order to help with the next steps after migration. They utilize the Azure Migrate tool to keep an eye on workloads, find ways to make them better, and assist in keeping the system stable when used. They handle access controls, subscriptions, and resources. By implementing Azure migration consulting services, you can fix problems, cut expenses, and make sure that all the right documents and information are passed on. This ultimately turns go-live into long-term Azure success.

What Is the Role of an Azure Migration Consultant?

An Azure migration consultant helps businesses move their on-premises infrastructure to the cloud. They set migration goals, use the Azure Migrate tool to look at the current environment, develop custom migration paths, and estimate expenses. They use Azure Role-Based Access Control to make sure that access is safe and follows the rules. They also initiate Azure migration planning to conduct migrations (including replication and test migrations) and keep an eye on how things are going. After the move, they help with validation, optimization, security, and cost management.

Also Read: Azure Cloud Migration: How Does an Effective Migration Look Like?

On-Premises to Azure Migration: Step-by-Step Process

Moving workloads to Azure is a planned procedure that turns your on-premises or other cloud workloads into a fully operating Azure environment. This process includes planning the move to Azure by picking the right types of migration in Azure.

On premise to Azure migration step by step

Image Source: Christiaan Brinkhoff.

This is followed by the 7 steps of cloud migration to make sure everything goes smoothly.

1. Evaluate and Get Ready

Before moving, the Azure migrate agent looks at your present setup:

Check if the workload is ready and map out the dependencies.
Find out what talents your team is missing and train them accordingly.
Set up requirements, including signing up for Azure, creating landing zones, and making a plan for the Cloud Adoption Framework.

2. Plan the move

The Azure migration consultant makes a detailed plan for the move:

Set the order of migration waves, workload priority, and
Pick the best Azure migration strategies for each workload.
Choose the way to move the data (ExpressRoute, VPN, Azure Data Box, or the public internet).
Plan how to safely roll back the execution.

3. Get Workloads Ready

The Azure migration consultant leads workload teams in getting applications ready for Azure:

Replatform workloads and change the architecture and code as needed.
Check that workloads can run in Azure and still fulfill business requirements.
Group dependencies to keep things running smoothly during relocation.

4. Conduct the migration

The Azure migration consultant is in charge of migration operations during execution:

Use Azure tools and services to move workloads.
Keep an eye on the progress of the migration to make sure there is as little downtime as possible and that deadlines are met.
Check that the workload works in the Azure environment.

5. Optimize and protect

After the migration, the main concerns of an Azure migration consultant are efficiency, security, and keeping costs down:

Use Azure Advisor and monitor to improve resources and performance.
Use the best practices for Azure migration security, such as managing access and compliance.
Use the Azure migration cost calculator and right-sizing tactics to get the best prices.

6. Check and update as needed

The Azure migration consultant makes sure that workloads run as they should:

Check backups, alarms, dashboards, and monitoring.
Get feedback from users and fix the problems that arise.
Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to upgrade infrastructure and keep things consistent.

7. Shut down Source and keep making improvements

Lastly, the Azure migration consultant helps you move your workloads to Azure:

Safely shut down workloads on-premises or in the source cloud.
Set up processes for continuing optimization and governance.
Improve the steps for moving to Azure for future workloads.

Enterprises can have a safe, optimized, and fully functional Azure environment by following these steps with the help of an Azure migration consultant. This lowers risk and ultimately brings positive outcomes.

Build faster and grow smarter with Azure Migration!

Roles and Responsibilities in Azure Migration

The main roles and responsibilities of Azure migration are –

Discovery: Find and list workloads with tools like the Azure Migrate appliance. Get information on the setup and performance of your system to see if it’s ready to move to Azure and to make a business case for doing so.
Planning: Use Azure Migrate assessments to find out if your resources are of the proper size, how much they will cost, and what dependencies they have. This will help you make migration plans that are relevant to your business needs.
Execution: Carry out migration tasks like replication, test migrations, and keep an eye on progress. Utilize no-agent and agent-based migration methods to minimize downtime and risk.
Governance: Use Azure’s built-in roles (Owner, Decide and Plan Expert, Execute Expert) to manage access, enforce least privilege, and make sure that everyone follows the rules during the migration process.

An Azure Migration Consultant supports these phases and responsibilities to make the migration process seamless.

What Does an Azure Migration Consultant Do After Go-Live?

Once workloads are live on Azure, an Azure migration consultant makes sure your cloud environment stays safe, efficient, and budget-friendly. Their duties include refining performance, planning the ongoing migration, security, cost control, and keeping things updated.

1. Refining performance and getting the right size

The Azure migration consultant keeps an eye on workloads all the time with Azure Migrate, Azure Monitor, and Azure Advisor to make sure they are running at their best:

Looks at how resources are being used and suggests tweaking the sizes in order to avoid giving out too many.
Based on real usage data, an Azure Migration Consultant finds chances to modernize, refactor, or replatform workloads.
Keeps workloads in line with business goals and improves Azure migration strategies to make them more flexible and efficient.

These strategies help keep things running smoothly while cutting down on costs that aren’t needed.

2. Ongoing Improvements to Azure Migration Planning

The Azure migration consultant makes sure that migration plans keep up with the needs of the business even after they go live:

Improves and upgrades Azure Migration Planning to take into account new workloads or changing business needs.
Analyzes migration sequencing, dependency management, and wave planning to make future migrations go more smoothly.
Helps teams choose the right types of migration in Azure for new workloads or modernization.

Continuous planning makes sure that workloads stay scalable, resilient, and in line with the organization’s goals.

3. Aligning Governance and Policy

One of the most important things to do is to keep governance and compliance up to date:

Ensures that all resource groups and subscriptions follow company policies by putting them into action.
Enforces best practices for Azure migration security, such as least-privilege access and role-based access control.
Checks for compliance, audits, and monitoring regularly to make sure that workloads stay safe and under control over time.

This keeps the cloud environment in line with business and regulatory needs while also protecting workloads from risk.

4. Post-Migration Optimization: Preparing Azure to Work Better

The Azure migration consultant improves efficiency and business value by constantly optimizing workloads:

Uses Azure tools and insights to improve performance and how resources are used.
Applies their knowledge to make Azure migration plans and business processes better.
Eliminates resources that aren’t being used enough, suggests ways to save money, and makes the system more reliable.

Optimization makes sure that workloads give the most value with the least amount of waste.

5. Security After Moving: Connecting the Dots

After migration, security management continues as it is a priority for running operations:

An Azure Migration consultant conducts regular assessments to find out flaws and initiate actions to fix them.
Keeps protection and compliance going all the time with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Manages identity, access, and compliance policies to make sure that Azure migration security stays strong and relevant after going live.

An Azure migration consultant applies these approaches proactively to lower risks and improve security.

6. Controlling the costs and getting the most out of your budget

The Azure migration consultant makes sure that workloads are cost-effective all the time:

Uses the Azure migration cost calculator to figure out how much things will cost, keep an eye on spending, and keep track of savings.
Finds waste, makes the best use of resources, and ensures that operations are within the budget.
Helps Azure move from CapEx to OpEx models, which sets up long-term financial governance.

Cost control makes sure that the company gets better results from its cloud investment and earns better ROI.

7. Ongoing modernization and help

Lastly, the Azure migration consultant makes sure that the Azure environment evolves along with business needs:

Offers continuous help as needed, troubleshoots problems, and advises on how to improve performance and upgrade the infrastructure.
Uses Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to automate the provisioning of infrastructure to ensure consistency and governance.
Gets feedback from users, checks workloads, and initiates tailored approaches to improve future Azure migration steps and Planning.

This keeps workloads flexible, safe, and in line with the requirements of the business.

Boost performance after going live with the right Azure migration consultant!

Azure Migration Specialist Job Description

The role of an Azure Migration Specialist is very important for helping businesses shift their workloads to Microsoft Azure in a safe and effective way. Their job description includes:-

Planning, carrying out, and improving the process of moving and modernizing IT workloads to Azure.
Checking the preparation for migration by assessing the current infrastructure, apps, and dependencies.
Identifying the best Azure services, migration methodologies, and tools for business needs.
Putting workloads in such an order that the migration happens in stages with few errors and risks.
Making sure that data and workload transfers are safe, legal, and budget-friendly.
Doing workload discovery and dependency mapping to keep things running smoothly.
Making thorough plans for moving to Azure and updating it.
Estimating costs and making sure that Azure resources are of the proper size to get the most out of cloud expenditures.
Using Azure Migrate and other advanced technologies to eliminate downtime and operational risk.
After relocation, make sure performance, security, and prices are relevant.

Conclusion

In fine, go-live in Azure is just a beginning in creating impact value. An Azure migration consultant makes sure that cloud infrastructures are optimized, safe, and affordable even after workloads are live. The responsible consultant is in charge of empowering businesses to earn better ROI out of their investment. This is possible by constantly adjusting performance, managing security proactively, and checking costs. This keeps the Azure ecosystem effective and relevant for future use.

Are you ready to improve Azure even more after it goes live? Bloom can help you maintain your Azure environment by ensuring continuous optimization. Get in touch now!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is Azure Migration Services?

Azure Migration Services are about planning, evaluating, and shifting workloads to Microsoft Azure using a single set of Microsoft and partner tools. With the Azure Migrate platform, businesses can find existing environments, check their readiness, calculate costs, and adjust resources. It also involves moving applications, data, and servers with fewer errors and downtime.

Q2. Should you consider migration to Azure?

Moving to Azure can be a good idea for businesses opting for growth, securing environments, and saving money. But the process can be difficult without the right knowledge. When an Azure migration consultant helps with the process, it becomes more organized and easier to handle. This lets businesses move to the cloud smoothly while making sure that their cloud use is in line with their operational goals.

Q3. Why should you choose an Azure Expert MSP?

An Azure Expert MSP has a lot of experience with consulting and delivery, as well as specialized knowledge about Azure. These partners help businesses get the most out of Azure by managing scale, security, and ongoing optimization. They also support advanced Azure scenarios like automation, cloud operations, performance optimization, and complex solution design.

Q4. What is Azure migrate hub?

Azure Migrate Hub is a unified place where you can evaluate, plan, and move your on-premises servers, applications, infrastructure, and data to Microsoft Azure. It gives you a single portal to find workloads, check their readiness, keep track of their progress, and effectively manage the whole migration lifecycle.

Q5. What’s new with Azure migrate?

Azure Migrate has added new Server Assessment features that work with VMware environments on a large scale. Businesses can now conduct full discovery and assessment on up to 35,000 virtual machines. This makes planning for large-scale Azure migrations faster and more accurate.

Q6. What are the 7rs in cloud migration?

The 7Rs are the most common ways that businesses move workloads to the cloud. They help businesses pick the best method based on their business and technical needs. These are rehosting, refactoring, revising, rearchitecting, rebuilding, replacing, and retiring apps. This precisely answers what are the 7 types of cloud migration.

Q7. What are the benefits of Azure migrate?

Azure Migration benefits include an integrated platform that lets businesses plan, carry out, and keep track of their cloud migration from one place. Azure Migrate helps you find, evaluate, and shift different types of workloads, like servers, databases, and web apps. This makes the process easier, gives you more visibility, and lowers risks.

Q8. What is Azure migrate and modernize?

Azure Migrate and Modernize is a migration tool that helps you move servers, Hyper-V workloads, and other virtualized or public-cloud VMs to Azure. It uses provider agents to find and move things, and it treats non-Azure virtual machines like physical servers to make the migration and modernization process smooth and consistent.

Q9. What are the challenges of cloud migration?

When moving to the cloud, challenges can arise, such as the risk of downtime. This can stop business operations and result in security and compliance issues when moving sensitive data. There can be compatibility problems with old infrastructure as well. Apart from all this, sudden cost increases might occur because of bad planning and a lack of cloud expertise within teams. This can result in the difficulty of managing overall dependencies across interconnected systems.