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    Is Everyone Migrating to the Cloud?

    By: Spotlight Cloud

    Cloud services like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud have made it easy to move to the cloud. Five or ten years ago, engineering teams and QA leads started gleefully turning to cloud providers for the storage, compute and memory they needed to get their job done. Pulling out a credit card and expensing cloud resources was then and continues to be much easier than going through Purchasing and waiting for a new server in the data center.

    Why are People Migrating to the Cloud for Database Monitoring?

    Once you have migrated — be it your data, your applications, your infrastructure or your everything — to the cloud, certain IT headaches go away. The biggest of those is your direct costs, like server hardware and software, and associated outlays for everything involved in acquiring the assets in your data center, like maintenance, service contracts,  and supplies. Next, you’ll realize savings on operating those assets, such as database performing monitoring, labor, rent and your connection to the internet. Depending on what and how much you move to the cloud, other departments like Procurement, HR and Finance will also save money because you’ll need less from them.

    Some organizations — or entire governments — subscribe to a cloud-first approach. When a new IT initiative arises, or when they need to replace an existing program, they must favor executing it with a provider like Amazon, Google or Microsoft. That means they’re migrating to cloud because it is part of their job to look to the cloud first and to alternatives like the traditional data center afterwards.

    Finally, let’s not forget that the cloud is no fad. The providers are investing heavily in the infrastructure needed to support all of the business their cloud services are attracting, and that reassures CIOs and IT managers that migrating to the cloud is a sound direction to take. AWS recorded revenues of $25.7 billion in 2018, with operating income up 70 percent from the year before.

    In other words, more than a few people are taking migration to the cloud seriously.

    Why are People Not Migrating to the Cloud for Database Monitoring?

    The good news in the cloud is that somebody else has control of everything: uptime, internet connection, availability, security, and user experience. That’s also the bad news if you think about it. Migrating to the cloud is not your Get Out of Jail Free card. You’re still responsible for the health of your applications and data, whether they’re running locally or in the cloud. For example, depending on the cloud model you follow — software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) or infrastructure as a service (IaaS) — you retain some responsibility for backing up and protecting your own data.

    If your organization operates in a heavily regulated environment like health care or finance, then you may be sharply restricted in your options for moving to the cloud. Regulations like HIPAA and GDPR require that businesses prove where personal data resides, who has access to it and how impervious it is to attack. If you’re more comfortable with your ability to comply with those requirements when the data is on your premises, then the cloud may not be the place for it.

    And then, some organizations go for the cloud, but they don’t go all in on it. Hybrid cloud allows two or more distinct cloud infrastructures (private, community, or public) to retain their unique characters, binding them together for data and application portability. To reap the benefits of each type of infrastructure, you can count on spending a few years developing a compass and directing your applications to public cloud, private cloud or data center.

    So, Am I a Lemming if I Migrate to the Cloud?

    Of course not — provided that migrating to the cloud makes sense for your business.

    At Quest, we’re making more of our products like Spotlight Cloud and the Microsoft Platform Management suite available as cloud offerings. Customers like you are asking for tools to help with their own cloud migrations, and we’re happy to put our tools in the cloud for greater ease of use and portability, including database performance monitoring. Being in the cloud also makes it easier to pull apps and data up there instead of pushing them from the data center.

    Are you migrating to the cloud with everyone? How do you feel about it?

    Tell us in the comments below.

     

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    March 19, 2019 10:02:45 AM PDT
    Spotlight Cloud

    Written by Spotlight Cloud

    Understand your SQL Server infrastructure health at a glance by monitoring SQL Server's relational engine, Analysis Services, Windows, VMware ESX and SQL Azure with Spotlight.

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