Category Archives: Art of BI
Why Companies Are Moving Their Analytics to AWS Cloud
Moving analytics to the cloud is now a best practice for companies of all sizes and industries. According to a 2020 survey by MicroStrategy, 47 percent of organizations have already moved their analytics platform into the cloud, while another 42 percent have a hybrid cloud/on-premises analytics solution.
As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, Datavail has helped countless companies move their analytics tools to Amazon Web Services. Below, we’ll go over the benefits of migrating to AWS cloud analytics, as well as some tips and tricks we can share from our AWS cloud migrations.
The Benefits of Analytics on AWS Cloud
More and more companies are running their business intelligence and analytics workloads in the cloud. The advantages of moving analytics to AWS Cloud include:
- Lower IT costs: Cloud migrations save businesses the costs of on-premises hardware, software licenses, and ongoing support and maintenance.
- Increased scalability and flexibility: As you accumulate more and more data, scalability becomes an increasingly important concern for analytics, especially to handle rapid usage spikes. The AWS Auto Scaling feature lets you define rules to automatically adjust your capacity, so the system never goes down due to heavy demand.
- Data backup and business continuity: Tools like AWS Backup help you get your business back up and running more quickly in the wake of a disaster.
Tips and Tricks for Moving Analytics to AWS Cloud
The benefits of an AWS cloud migration are clear—so what are some tips, tricks, and best practices for moving your analytics to AWS Cloud?
-
Don’t rush into things
Before executing any cloud migration, organizations need to perform due diligence and develop a clear strategy.
The due diligence phase incorporates multiple steps:
- “Discovery” of existing data assets and technologies.
- Evaluating the organization’s goals and requirements.
- Understanding the relationships between data, applications, and workflows that will be affected by the migration.
Next, organizations need to decide the appropriate strategy for migrating their on-premises analytics solution. Amazon outlines 6 cloud migration strategies (known as the “6 Rs”):- Rehosting legacy applications by moving them to the cloud largely unchanged.
- Replatforming applications by making a few changes and optimizations.
- Refactoring applications by changing their architecture for the cloud.
- Repurchasing by shifting to a SaaS (“software as a service”) model.
- Retiring applications that are no longer used or necessary.
- Retaining on-premises applications that require extra work before a cloud migration, but that are too critical to abandon.
-
Use AWS tools to help with the migration
If you’re moving your analytics to AWS Cloud, why not leverage all that the cloud has to offer? The AWS cloud includes multiple tools to assist with a cloud migration, including:
- AWS Application Discovery Service for collecting information during due diligence
- AWS Database Migration Service to avoid downtime with your on-premises database during the migration
- AWS S3 Transfer Acceleration for faster data transfers into Amazon S3
- AWS Migration Hub for monitoring the status of a migration
-
Take full advantage of the AWS ecosystem
Just the simple fact of having migrated your analytics workloads to AWS Cloud doesn’t mean that you’re actually taking full advantage of the capabilities of the AWS ecosystem. One of Datavail’s clients, a media supply chain company in California, had already migrated its on-premises analytics to the cloud, but was struggling to adapt the platform to its new home. As a result, the client was experiencing common growing pains of cloud migrations, such as poor scalability, lack of licenses and servers, and various technical limitations.
With the help of Datavail, the client developed its analytics platform into a robust, completely serverless AWS cloud solution leveraging the entire AWS ecosystem:
- First, existing data sources are placed in Amazon S3 staging areas, and then migrated into Amazon RDS data marts.
- The client uses the Amazon QuickSight BI tool to run queries and self-service analytics.
- Datasets can be easily transferred and delivered using S3 buckets and the AWS Data Pipeline managed ETL service.
- Key decision-makers receive timely, scheduled reports in their email inboxes.
- The entire AWS environment is monitored using the Amazon CloudWatch
How Datavail Can Help
Datavail is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, with years of experience helping businesses migrate to the AWS cloud. We have the knowledge and skillset to make your next AWS cloud migration a success. Our cloud migration services include:
- Selecting the right cloud technologies.
- Completing a cloud readiness assessment of your organization.
- Developing a cloud migration roadmap with an appropriate timeline.
- Creating a total cost of ownership (TCO) estimate and deploying a proof of concept.
- Uplifting analytics solutions from on-premises to the cloud.
- Providing ongoing cloud support, maintenance, and management.
Conclusion
Want to see the benefits of moving analytics to AWS Cloud for yourself? Get in touch with Datavail’s team of cloud migration experts today for a chat about your business needs and objectives—or download our white paper “Across the Continent with Cloud Analytics” to see how 8 of our clients have leveraged cloud analytics to their advantage.
The post Why Companies Are Moving Their Analytics to AWS Cloud appeared first on Datavail.
5 Reasons to Migrate Oracle Applications to Azure
As the war for cloud customers continues between ‘as a service’ vendors both large and small, Microsoft Azure continues to maintain its stronghold. With an all-inclusive offering of IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS, more than 50 active regions around the world, and an appealing free 12 months of service for new customers (restrictions apply), Azure is an appealing solution for companies across the globe.
This story is true for customers looking for an IaaS platform for Oracle applications as well. From Oracle EBS to JD Edwards to PeopleSoft, Azure can support the critical applications that drive your business in a hybrid or fully cloud hosted environment. Here are five reasons to consider moving your Oracle applications to Azure.
1) High Availability
This is one of the top reasons companies choose Microsoft Azure. Compared to other options on the market, Azure has the widest range of availability zones across the globe, offering a Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 99.95%. Each of these zones is made up of individual data centers that function interdependently so that if one zone experiences an unexpected disaster, the other zones can pick up the slack, keeping your data flowing and your business running. If you are running Oracle financial, supply chain, or retail applications that require near-100% uptime, having availability zones that reduce the impact of a failure are a must-have.
2) Scalability
As your business grows, so will your data – and likely so will your application investments. Azure has the ability to host petabytes of data. But even if you’re not there yet, hyper-threaded virtual machines feature up to 128 vCPUs and 6 TB of memory. In addition, with Azure infrastructure flexibility you will always have the storage and compute resources you need, including Azure Disk Storage which offers secure, persistent, and cost-friendly SSD options that can support any and all of your Oracle applications.
3) Disaster Recovery
Reducing downtime and implementing effective disaster recovery is at the forefront of every IT manager’s mind. Azure’s disaster recovery solutions can be integrated with your existing on-premises solutions so you don’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel once you migrate your Oracle applications. Regardless, the interface for Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery makes it simple to define policies to natively protect, monitor, and manage enterprise workloads.
You also have access to Azure Site Recovery which will enable you to manage disaster recovery for Oracle Linux VMs and on-premises or physical servers that might be supporting your applications.
4) Cost Reduction
Did we mention that Azure is free for 12 months for new customers? This gives you a chance to take it for a test drive before committing for the long term. But if you’re thinking you need to go all-in or not at all, you can save on licensing costs with Azure constrained-core virtual machines that are optimized specifically for Oracle workloads. You can also save a chunk of change with predictable workloads – reserve resources in advance with Azure Reserved VM Instances. Finally, Azure offers three years of extended security updates for Windows 2008 and 2008 R2 for free when you migrate.
5) Analytics & Insights
If you’re at the forefront of your industry and want to leverage innovations like predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to glean data-driven insights from your Oracle applications, Azure has a host of tools for you.
- Build data lakes with Azure Data Lake Storage
- Bring limitless scale and powerful insights to the table with Azure Synapse Analytics
- Model and visualize data with Power BI
- Ingest, prepare, and transform your data with Azure Data Factory
Final Thoughts
There are many more reasons to migrate to Azure, but these are the top five benefits of moving your Oracle applications to this top-rated cloud platform. If availability, scalability, cost reduction, and analytics are prime motivators for your organization, it might be time to make the move.
Of course, migrations are not simple undertakings and sometimes it helps to know that other companies have crossed the same territory. To learn about what an Oracle EBS to Azure migration might look like, download our white paper, “Fast Food Chain Completes Successful Oracle EBS Migration to Azure.” You’ll get the details on why this company migrated, how they did it, and the benefits they received.
The post 5 Reasons to Migrate Oracle Applications to Azure appeared first on Datavail.
The Hybrid Cloud for Databases: Best of Both Worlds?
Cloud computing has long since gone from a cutting-edge technology to a well-established best practice for organizations of all sizes and industries.
According to Flexera’s 2020 State of the Cloud Report, 98 percent of businesses now use at least one public or private cloud. In particular, migrating your databases to the cloud can make them more scalable, more available, and easier to integrate with the rest of your cloud infrastructure.
But what happens when your enterprise data can’t be moved to the cloud, for reasons such as data security or compliance?
Whether you need to keep your data on-premises due to external regulations or organizational preference, the good news is that you can still continue to enjoy the benefits of the cloud. The solution: a hybrid cloud/on-premises system that combines the best of both worlds.
Use Cases for a Hybrid Cloud Database
What does a database in the hybrid cloud look like? There are as many answers to this question as there are uses of hybrid cloud designs.
For example, some organizations may choose a hybrid cloud data storage solution for purposes of disaster recovery and business continuity, preventing a single point of failure. Businesses using this configuration keep file backups in two places (in the cloud and on-premises). After a data loss event, on-premises backups can be restored more quickly than cloud backups, which first need to be downloaded over the internet. On the other hand, cloud backups remain securely on a remote server to protect data in the event of a natural disaster that destroys on-premises equipment.
Another reason to use a hybrid cloud database: many organizations and industries are subject to laws regarding data sovereignty, which requires information to stay within the borders of the country, region, or territory in which it was collected or processed. Because public cloud servers may be distributed in many different geographic locations, data sovereignty requirements essentially put a damper on your ability to move this information to the cloud.
In still other cases, organizations aren’t technically subject to cloud data regulations, but still would rather keep their enterprise data on-premises. Often these preferences are based on outdated concerns about the risk of a data breach. With cloud adoption growing, however, these worries have largely fallen by the wayside. According to a 2019 survey, 61 percent of IT security executives believe that the risk of a data breach is the same or lower in the cloud as it is on-premises.
Regardless of why you choose a hybrid cloud database, maintaining your data on-premises still allows you to enjoy a virtually seamless experience in the cloud. However, setting up this seamless hybrid cloud experience is easier said than done, so it’s best to join forces with an experienced cloud managed services partner.
Wondering if a hybrid cloud database is right for you? You’re not alone. By speaking with a skilled, knowledgeable cloud migration partner like Datavail, you can decide on the right path forward to meet your business needs and objectives.
Case Study: Major Utility Company
One of Datavail’s clients, a major Canadian utility company, was faced with this question when moving its website from on-premises hosting to the Microsoft Azure cloud. The client knew that a cloud migration would tremendously improve the site’s availability, scalability, and elasticity—which are especially important concerns during times of peak usage, such as storms and widespread power outages.
However, the client also faced regulatory compliance issues about data sovereignty, which meant that its core customer data needed to be stored on-premises, not in the cloud. Due to this requirement, the client had originally envisioned the project as an on-premises upgrade rather than a cloud migration.
Datavail worked with the client to design and implement a hybrid cloud solution that uplifted the website infrastructure to the cloud, while leaving customer data on-premises, housed in their SAP database, to meet the client’s regulatory requirements. This hybrid cloud design leverages the best aspects of cloud and premises and can be applied in any situation where data sovereignty, data security, and regulatory compliance are important concerns—not only for utility companies, but also in other industries such as healthcare and finance.
Looking for a hybrid cloud solution for your next project? Find out how we can help by reading Datavail’s case study “Major Utility Company Improves Residential Customer Website Experience with Azure.”
The post The Hybrid Cloud for Databases: Best of Both Worlds? appeared first on Datavail.
4 Methods for Migrating Oracle Databases to Microsoft Azure
When you migrate an Oracle database to Microsoft Azure’s cloud services, you need to choose the most suitable method for the task. The right option for your database migration project varies based on your available technical resources, the complexity of your infrastructure, and your intended use cases.
Cross-Cloud Connectivity
You have a relatively easy migration ahead of you if you already use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Microsoft Azure provides cross-cloud connectivity, so your Oracle databases connect directly to the Azure service. This method is not a true migration, as the data remains on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. If you’re trying to move away from Oracle’s cloud services or don’t want a multi-cloud deployment, then this would not be an ideal choice.
Lift and Shift
A lift and shift migration uses an approach that minimizes downtime potential for your organization. While Microsoft Azure lacks a dedicated Oracle database service in its cloud, you can configure Azure VM to accommodate your databases. You use Azure’s built-in migration tools to migrate your on-premises Oracle databases to the VM seamlessly.
You avoid a significant amount of downtime by configuring the Azure VM and shifting the data over to it before the cutover occurs. While you do have to temporarily pay for running two sets of databases, this approach gives you sufficient time to go through testing and work out any issues.
Database Refactoring
Legacy on-premises Oracle databases may have configurations that are poorly suited to cloud features. While you could lift and shift them as-is to Azure VM, you would end up with a wide range of issues that could result in data loss and unplanned downtime.
In this Oracle migration scenario, refactoring the code before you go through the migration may be the best option. You do have to commit significant time and resources to this project, but you end up with a modernized Oracle database that can take full advantage of the scale, performance, and agility offered by a cloud-based environment.
Database Rearchitecting
Sometimes your Oracle database technology may not be serving your current needs and use cases. Instead of migrating the databases, you can completely rearchitect your database environment. Since database needs can change significantly over the course of an organization’s lifespan, evaluating whether Oracle is the right option to take you into the cloud is important.
Learn more about what your organization needs to do before the migration with our white paper, “Getting Your Organization Ready for Your Oracle Database to Microsoft Azure Migration.”
The post 4 Methods for Migrating Oracle Databases to Microsoft Azure appeared first on Datavail.
Why Companies Are Moving Their Analytics to Azure Cloud
Whether you’re a tiny startup or a massive Fortune 500 firm, cloud analytics has become a business best practice. A 2018 survey by MicroStrategy found that 39 percent of organizations are now running their analytics in the cloud, while another 45 percent are using analytics both in the cloud and on-premises.
As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Datavail has the skills and experience that companies need to make their next Azure cloud analytics migration a success. Below, we’ll discuss both the benefits of Azure cloud analytics, as well as some tips and tricks for companies who are considering a move to the Azure cloud.
The Benefits of Analytics on Azure Cloud
Azure Cloud is the perfect site for many organizations to run their business intelligence and analytics workloads. The advantages of running analytics on Azure Cloud include:
- Lower IT costs:Cloud migrations represent a shift from the capital expenses (CAPEX) to the operating expenses (OPEX) pricing model—that means manageable monthly fees rather than pricey purchases of on-premises hardware and software licenses.
- Increased scalability and flexibility:Scalability is an essential cloud feature to handle the ever-growing amounts of enterprise data at your fingertips. Azure Autoscale helps you dynamically scale your applications to respond to changes in usages and demand.
- Data backup and business continuity:Tools like Azure Backup are essential to protect the integrity and continuity of your business after data loss or disaster.
Tips and Tricks for Moving Analytics to Azure Cloud
While the advantages of analytics on the Azure Cloud are obvious, the roadmap to getting there is less clear. According to a 2017 report, 62 percent of companies with cloud migration projects said that it was “harder than expected,” while 55 percent went over their allotted budget.
Below, we’ll go over some tips, tricks, and best practices for Azure cloud analytics migrations to successfully execute your next project.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment
Moving to cloud analytics can represent a new opportunity for your organization to realign and shake things up. One of Datavail’s clients, a Bay Area restaurant chain, was originally using the Infor Birst BI and analytics software. However, the client found that Infor Birst suffered from problems such as a high learning curve and lagging user adoption.
The client needed a better analytics solution that would provide real-time data and insights across different locations, including a single source of truth. By joining forces with Datavail, the client decided to migrate to Microsoft’s Power BI cloud analytics tool. This switch to the Azure ecosystem—including Power BI, SQL Server, Excel, and Visual Studio—gave the client a common toolset to unify employees across the organization.
- Look for “quick wins”
Another of Datavail’s clients, a retail merchandising partner, had been using an on-premises SQL Server OLTP database that had some serious flaws, from an outdated architecture and performance issues to security vulnerabilities and the lack of a centralized repository for reporting. Datavail suggested that migrating to the Azure cloud would be an obvious next step.
During and after the migration, the client was able to realize substantial improvements thanks to a few easy enhancements, such as:
- Partitioning data to improve scalability and performance.
- Making changes to system design to eliminate deadlocks.
- Evaluating ways to reduce the cost of software licenses.
In addition, Datavail helped the client use services such as Azure Data Factory and Azure Data Lake Storage to plan and prepare for its Power BI cloud migration.
Looking for more tips and tricks? Check out Microsoft’s Azure cloud migration checklist.
How Datavail Can Help
Datavail is a Microsoft Gold Partner, with years of experience helping businesses migrate to the Azure cloud. We have the knowledge and skillset to make your next Azure cloud migration a success. Our suite of cloud migration services includes:
- Selecting the right cloud technologies for your business.
- Completing a cloud readiness assessment of your organization.
- Developing a cloud migration roadmap with an appropriate timeline.
- Creating a total cost of ownership (TCO) estimate and deploying a proof of concept.
- Uplifting analytics solutions from on-premises to the cloud.
- Providing ongoing cloud support, maintenance, and management.
Conclusion
Want to see the benefits of moving your analytics to Azure Cloud for yourself? Get in touch with Datavail’s team of cloud migration experts today for a chat about your business needs and objectives—or download our white paper “Across the Continent with Cloud Analytics” to see how 8 of our clients have leveraged cloud analytics to their advantage.
The post Why Companies Are Moving Their Analytics to Azure Cloud appeared first on Datavail.
