Businesses looking to migrate their current IT systems to a cloud-based solution need to consider a series of factors before choosing a migration provider. Whether it’s the advantages cloud computing presents to companies or how long it takes to migrate, key decision-makers need as much information as possible before making the switch.
In this guide, we outline the average timescale for a cloud migration project and the factors influencing the time.
How long does cloud migration take?
A cloud migration project can hugely differ in size – from an email migration to a full server transfer, there is no one size fits all when it comes to the timescale of switching to a cloud-based system.
Small-scale projects
Small-scale projects such as moving a single server with no integrated services can take up to 2 weeks, depending on the size of your cloud engineering team and your requirements. If your business is in the beginning process of looking for a cloud migration service, you may want to start small and scale your migration from there.
Medium-scale projects
If your business is looking at a medium-scale project such as migrating email systems and document management, this can take around 2-4 months depending on the specific requirements. Making sure your cloud migration is done in a safe, secure and thorough way influences this timescale, so do your research on your chosen cloud migration provider.
Large-scale projects
Not all cloud migrations go ahead without issues, which is why you should factor in some buffer time for larger-scale projects. A deep cloud integration project such as a large data centre and server migration can take up to around 16 months, as the engineers will need to continually test the systems and make improvements.
Factors influencing cloud migration time
With any IT project, there are several factors that can influence the time taken to complete the migration. From the age of your business to the cloud migration provider you choose, there are external and internal factors that can change the timescale for a cloud migration project.
- Downtime and network issues
- Bandwidth limitations
- Size of the business
- Age of the current IT systems
- Security issues
- Experience of cloud engineers
