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A4S Cloud Solutions have worked closely with Stafford County Council IT to prepare for their first applications migrations into Azure as part of their ongoing cloud journey by performing application discovery and design.
Stafford County Council (SCC) IT are already well advanced in their Azure and Office 365 journey, recently A4S delivered assisted SCC in their cloud journey by delivering a new subscription, assisting in SSPR delivery and improving their AADC implementation.
Working with the IT team at SCC is easy because of several key factors; 1) the IT team is excited and willing to learn more about Azure 2) the organisation has stated they have a cloud first strategy 3) the IT team are collaborative and enjoy working in the A4S online project management portal.
SCC have decided to begin migrating some of their on-premise IT systems into the cloud for several reasons that include:
In order to prepare for migration firstly a small selection of lower risk applications have been chosen, these would represent applications that present good value at a lower risk profile, this means the SCC IT team can prepare and learn at lowest risk whilst getting ready for further migrations.
A4S worked closely with the SCC application development team to perform a deep dive on the applications in question, this involved reviewing existing documentation and accessing each system to run the recommended tool sets against to provide the necessary migration reports and assurance.
Once discovery was completed; A4S reviewed the discovery output with the necessary team members to make any final amendments, all discovery is shared online using the A4S online project management tool.
A4S designs are the culmination of a detailed understanding of our clients needs combined with many thousands of hours of experience delivering and support various hybrid cloud solutions, to that end we often include elements such as:
A4S produced design documents for the applications in scope and included designs for both non-production and production instances, where needed there was consideration for a cloud native approach and also approaches that strategically retained traditional elements of technology.
Our designs take into account the scalability and resilience needed, we also factor in security and will recommend various Microsoft Azure security technologies as best fit for the client need.
A4S want to ensure our clients are secure, we will include security elements in our designs ranging from Azure Front Door, integration into the necessary anti-virus infrastructure, backup & recovery, disaster recovery, data privacy, logging.
We enjoy giving our clients proper visualisations to show their solution performance and usage, this design is no different where we have recommended the use of Azure dashboards that will use graphs, charts and tables to present IT administrators with the necessary information to manage their new cloud based solutions.
With the delivery phase of the Windows Virtual Desktop environment completed, it’s clear that the Microsoft cloud hosted solution is always changing and improving, the process of deploying WVD is far from a simply next, next, next activity with various pre-requisite tasks and detailed changes to the client’s environment needed.
Even at a pre-pilot stage we can see very positive signs around ease of migration from existing on-premise solutions to WVD in areas such as persona migration and application OS integration.
We look forward to continuing the project into the pilot stage with our forward thinking client!
A4S hugely enjoyed working again closely with the SCC IT teams to support their journey into the cloud, on this occasion we worked closely with Rob Stevenson who is the SCC IT Development & Solutions Manager:
“We found working with A4S Cloud Solutions a positive and engaging experience, their team performed a thorough discovery and produced what we regard as a high quality design document that can be relied upon.”
“We appreciate that A4S take into account the use of our new DevTest Azure subscription that they also helped setup and configure to keep non-production costs to a minimum and will ensure our applications function correctly before moving into a live environment.”
We deliver vital services around the clock. From managing the flow of traffic to helping our communities be more sustainable. We’re dedicated to improving the lives of children, families and vulnerable people across Staffordshire. And what we do touches so many lives, in so many ways, making the work we do varied, but most of all rewarding.
The Azure migration discovery and design phase involves a comprehensive assessment of an organisation’s existing IT infrastructure, applications, and data. This phase includes identifying application dependencies, evaluating performance, and designing a customised Azure migration strategy to ensure a smooth transition to the Azure cloud. Proper discovery and design help optimise the migration plan to fit the organisation’s specific needs and minimise potential challenges.
A4S Cloud Solutions supported Staffordshire County Council by conducting a detailed Azure migration discovery and design process. This involved evaluating their current IT environment, identifying key applications for Azure migration, and creating a comprehensive migration plan. With expert guidance from A4S Cloud Solutions, the council achieved an efficient and goal-aligned Azure migration.
A detailed discovery and design phase in Azure migration provides several benefits, including identifying potential risks, ensuring compatibility of applications with the Azure environment, optimising resource allocation, and creating a clear migration roadmap. This phase helps organisations minimise downtime, reduce costs, and ensure a seamless transition to the Azure cloud environment.
The discovery and design phase is critical for successful Azure migration as it lays the foundation for the entire process. This phase allows organisations to thoroughly understand their IT landscape, plan for potential challenges, and develop a strategic Azure migration approach. It ensures that all aspects of the migration are carefully considered, leading to an efficient and effective transition to the Azure cloud.
Public sector organisations benefit from Azure migration with a focus on discovery and design by achieving a streamlined and secure migration process. This approach ensures accurate assessment and planning for all applications and data, reducing the risk of disruptions. Leveraging the full capabilities of the Azure cloud, such as enhanced security, scalability, and cost-efficiency, improves service delivery and operational resilience for public sector entities.
Azure migration discovery and design are essential steps for a smooth transition to the cloud. The discovery phase involves analysing on-premise systems and applications, reviewing documentation, and running diagnostic tools to gather all necessary data. In the design phase, this information is used to create a customised migration plan, incorporating best practices for scalability, security, and resilience. Key elements include deployment slots, Azure DevOps for continuous integration and deployment, and robust security measures with Azure’s native tools. Effective planning and design ensure a seamless migration, optimising performance, reducing costs, and enhancing operational efficiency.
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