IT Tips & Tricks

How to Choose the Right Cloud Migration Consultant

Published 13 November 2024

If you’ve decided to entrust your migration project to a cloud migration consultant, how do you choose one that’s right for you? What do you look for? What do you ask? This article will highlight some key points to consider when choosing a migration professional and help provide you with the knowledge required to make a decision that will benefit your organization.

How do you choose a migration consultant that’s right for you?

The choice to migrate an organization’s data — such as to SharePoint^® Online — is a significant one, often driven by the promise of scalability, cost-effectiveness and innovation. However, a successful migration requires careful planning, execution and expertise.

Understanding the Role of a Cloud Migration Consultant

A migration consultant comes with all the experience and expertise to safely transition your data to its new home.

A cloud migration consultant acts as a trusted advisor, guiding organizations through the complex process of moving data from an existing system to a new environment in the cloud — such as Microsoft 365^®, for example. Their expertise encompasses various aspects, including:

Assessment and Planning: Conducting a thorough assessment of your existing data infrastructure, identifying migration challenges and developing a comprehensive migration strategy.
Data Migration Tools and Techniques: Selecting and implementing appropriate data migration tools, ensuring seamless data transfer and transformation. Can they, for example, protect your linked data prior to migration to defend against data loss?
Cloud Platform Expertise: Experience working with multiple cloud platforms to successfully migrate your data.
Training and Documentation: Providing recorded training on the new destination environment and any supporting documentation to assist with the go-live.

Data Security and Compliance: Adhering to data privacy regulations and implementing robust security measures to protect your sensitive information. Working with you to create permission hierarchies or structures.
Post-Migration Support: Providing ongoing support to address any issues and optimize cloud operations.

Can your consultant communicate technical concepts clearly and understandably?

Key Considerations When Choosing a Migration Consultant

Technical Proficiency is, undoubtedly, your first priority. Assess their understanding of data migration tools, cloud platforms and data management best practices. Next, take a look at the following:

Project Understanding:

Clear Communication: The consultant should actively listen to your needs, ask clarifying questions and demonstrate an understanding of your business objectives.
Tailored Approach: Ensure they can propose a cloud migration strategy that aligns with your specific requirements and constraints.
Risk Assessment: A reputable consultant will conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify potential challenges and develop mitigation plans. If you have large amounts of linked data (such as in Excel spreadsheets), do they know how to protect those links against breakage and data loss?

Do you know how to keep your data secure every step of the way? A migration consultant does.

Data Security and Compliance:

Security Measures: Inquire about the security measures the prospective candidate employs to protect your data during and after migration. Security features are customizable, so understanding which restrictions should be customized for your organization is key.

- Logging and Monitoring: The migration consultant must be experienced in maintaining logs that document data access and transfer activities for accountability.
- Permission Matrix and Mapping: The consultant should provide templates to easily map out your organization’s hierarchy and implement the required strategies to ensure the protection of your data during the migration process.

Project Management and Communication:

Project Timeline: A clear project timeline with defined milestones is essential for successful migration.

- Regular Updates: The consultant should provide regular updates on project progress, addressing any challenges or concerns.
- Effective Communication: Ensure the consultant can communicate technical concepts clearly and understandably.

It’s your data, your migration and your organization’s money, so don’t hesitate to discuss specific details.

Cost and Value:

Pricing Transparency: Request a detailed cost breakdown, including fees for assessment, migration services and post-migration support.
ROI: You should determine the organization’s return on investment. Evaluate the cost of your consultant against the potential long-term benefits of cloud migration, such as cost savings, improved scalability and enhanced performance.
Value-Added Services: Consider if the consultant offers additional services that can add value to your project, such as optimization consulting, additional training, external sharing solutions, customized pages, lists, automation or ongoing support.

Cultural Fit:

Alignment: Ensure the consultant’s style and approach fit within the framework of your organization’s culture and working style.
Collaboration: Is your consultant easy to talk to? A strong working relationship is vital for a successful migration. Look for a consultant who is collaborative and easy to work with.

Get Specific About the Specifics

It’s your data, your migration and your organization’s money, so don’t hesitate to discuss specific details.

Cloud Platform Preference: If you have a preferred cloud platform, ensure the consultant has expertise in that specific environment.
Data Volume and Complexity: Consider the size and complexity of your data when evaluating the consultant’s experience and capabilities.

Discuss the consultant’s approach to disaster recovery planning and ensure they have a robust plan in place to mitigate risks.

Migration Tools: Inquire about the consultant’s familiarity with various data migration tools and their ability to select the most appropriate ones for your project. As stated previously, if you have large volumes of linked data, make sure your migration consultant knows how to protect the links ahead of the migration.

Post-Migration Support: Discuss the level of ongoing support you require after the migration is complete, including monitoring, optimization and troubleshooting.

Beyond the Basics

While the previous section covered some fundamental aspects of selecting a data migration consultant, here are eight areas you should zoom in on for a more comprehensive evaluation:

Hybrid vs. Lift-and-Shift: Understand the consultant’s approach to data migration. Are they proponents of a hybrid strategy or do they favor a lift-and-shift approach? And which would be better for you?
Data Modernization: Inquire about the consultant’s ability to help you modernize your data during the migration process, optimizing it for the new destination location.
Best Practices: Look for a consultant who is familiar with industry-specific best practices and can apply them to your migration project.
Performance Tuning: Assess the consultant’s ability to fine-tune your cloud environment for optimal performance and cost-efficiency.
Cost Optimization: Discuss strategies for ongoing cost optimization, such as rightsizing resources and leveraging cloud-native cost-saving features.
Access Controls: Consider consultants with experience in limiting access to sensitive data based on role-based access control (RBAC) or who are familiar with implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for enhanced security.
Disaster Recovery: Discuss the consultant’s approach to disaster recovery planning and ensure they have a robust plan in place to mitigate risks.
Training and Awareness: Your employees need to understand the new environment and data security practices. Inquire about the consultant’s experience in providing staff training to ensure seamless adoption and a culture of data security within your organization.

Conclusion

Choosing the right cloud migration consultant is a critical decision that can significantly impact the success of your project. By carefully considering the factors outlined in this article, you can select a partner with the required expertise, experience and commitment to guide you through a seamless and successful transition to the cloud.

If you have questions, call a LinkTek Migration Consultant at 727-442-1822 or visit the SharePoint Migration Consultants page to schedule a free strategy session.