Be sure before you Azure – Sarah Lean – Ep 90

In this second episode of our short series on moving to Public Cloud we look at some common mistakes and how to avoid them. It is often easy to assume all Cloud is Software as a Service, a couple of clicks, your credit card details and your infrastructure is up and running, fully optimised to take advantage of all that Public Cloud has to offer, then we are shocked when our applications don’t perform, users have problems connecting, or the commercial impact of Cloud takes the FD by surprise!

How do we overcome this? How do we make sure that we design our Cloud solutions properly, our organisation fully understands the impact and how do we successfully move ourselves there, without breaking our systems on the way?

Those are the questions I ask this week’s guest, Sarah Lean, Sarah is a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft, specialising in helping their customers successfully transition to Azure, so they can take advantage of the scale and flexibility that Public Cloud, when deployed correctly, can provide.

During this episode, Sarah shares some great experiences and thoughts on how to make the Cloud move, and although she works at Microsoft, her tips are valid not only for any Cloud focussed project, but for any transition project you may be undertaking.

We start by exploring reasons that businesses are considering the move to Cloud, we look at compelling events, how to build a robust business case, overcome some of the objections to using Cloud and how to quantify the benefits to your organisation.

Sarah also shares some thoughts on the necessity for cultural and not just technological change when it comes to Cloud. We examine the criticality of fully understanding your environment before you move, how it works, your system inter-dependencies and of course, the true costs of running your IT systems on-premises. We also discuss the importance of understanding the complexities of our Cloud destination, how it will impact the way we work and the way our systems perform.

Sarah also provides us with some examples of common mistakes when it comes to Cloud as well as some of the great tools, many of which are free, that can help you plan for and deliver your Cloud environment.

We finish up looking at why using an experienced partner can be hugely beneficial, even if at first you maybe put off by what seems additional cost, but which in the long term can save you a lot of time and money.

Sarah provides some fantastic insight and shows a real passion for helping people adopt Cloud in the right way so that they truly benefit.

To find out more from Sarah you can follow her on twitter @TechieLass and her fantastic Blog, which covers Cloud, IT career development and much more you’ll find all that at techielass.com.

Our Cloud series takes a break now as next time we delve into security and the world of Pen Tests, to catch that show, you can subscribe to the Tech Interviews podcast wherever you get your podcasts from.

You can of course still hear part one of this series right here The Cloud Transition Conundrum – Eric Kraieski – Ep89

Thanks for listening.