Working in the cloud brings many advantages: it doesn't matter where you are, you can work anytime, anywhere. You always have access to the latest versions of hardware and software. If your company is growing rapidly, you can easily scale up through the cloud. In short, it makes your organization much more flexible. However, migrating to the cloud is not something you can do simply or quickly. At EDM, we have gone through this process ourselves, and with our expertise, we help organizations face this challenge. Our 7 tips will get your organization started.
Before starting a cloud migration, it is important to have a clear strategy that outlines the goals, timeline, budget, and expected results of the migration. This aligns everyone involved in the process to work towards the same goals. Assemble a team of stakeholders who will oversee their respective parts of the strategy. Effective project management facilitates the migration and yields positive results.
Assess your existing IT infrastructure, applications, data, and business processes thoroughly. Understand the dependencies, performance requirements, and any limitations that may affect the migration. Prioritize which applications must migrate first based on factors such as complexity, impact, and compatibility with the cloud environment. Differentiate between major structural migrations and smaller processes or applications that can also be migrated with a temporary solution, allowing work on a structural and secure solution to proceed concurrently or afterwards. This prevents the entire cloud migration from being delayed by a few relatively small bottlenecks. To make the most of the cloud's capabilities, consider new solutions. By using SQL Azure or Snowflake, for example, you pay only for usage instead of machines that are running 24/7.
Security is a top priority when working with sensitive data such as personal information,. The risk of a data breach is always present. Identify the security controls and measures necessary to protect your data, applications, and infrastructure in the cloud. Do not rely on the cloud provider alone to handle this; they only provide the tools. Your own IT department and application administrators should always be in control of security measures, such as network management, firewalls, permissions, role structure, and application isolation. Giving the wrong person too many privileges can have serious consequences. Therefore, make sure you have your own security protocols in place to protect sensitive data.
Data migration can be a complex and time-consuming process. Plan ahead and ensure that your data is well-organized, cleaned up, and backed up before migrating it to the cloud. Keep in mind that the migration will happen in phases, with systems/processes being transferred one by one. Sometimes, the old and new environments need to be synchronized. To ensure continuity, temporary solutions may need to be built. Map out these dependencies in advance and create a detailed migration plan with tasks, timelines, resource allocation, and dependencies. Divide the migration process into manageable phases and set milestones for each phase. Also, consider unforeseen circumstances in your planning. A complex process like data migration always reveals issues that nobody thought of beforehand.
Cloud environments require applications to be optimized for maximum efficiency and scalability. Cloud-native services are essential for optimizing applications during cloud migration Since cloud-native applications are specifically designed for the cloud, they provide efficiency, scalability, and simplified management. Additionally, you can benefit from pre-built components and tools designed specifically for the cloud, resulting in faster development and deployment. These services also improve reliability and offer cost optimization through efficient resource utilization. Beforehand, assess whether existing apps can be transferred to the cloud. The existing architecture is not always suitable for a cloud-native adoption. For example, at EDM, we chose to directly migrate our data processing from SQL Servers to Snowflake. This immediately resulted in significant optimization and cost savings compared to a lift-and-shift migration of the SQL servers.
Transitioning to a cloud environment requires team members to acquire new skills and knowledge. Train your team to be familiar with the new technologies, tools, and processes involved in a cloud environment. Proper training also minimizes the risks of security and compliance challenges. Don't limit the training to just your team; involve other users of the cloud environment, such as the IT department, in this process.
This allows you to identify problems in a timely manner and take action, as well as keep a close eye on costs. Cloud migration can change your organization's cost structure because you now pay for cloud services based on actual usage. By closely monitoring costs, you can prevent unnecessary processes or servers from running, which can lead to significant cost increases. This way, the benefits of working in the cloud won't turn into a disadvantage. Effective monitoring helps you avoid unexpected expenses.
Cloud Migration is a complex process that requires careful planning and implementation. Keep in mind that this process involves trial and error. It is important to formulate a clear strategy and monitor it closely. EDM has also fully migrated to the cloud, and as a hardcore data processing organization, we understand the challenges involved. We realize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to a complex process like cloud migration. Read here how we can help your organization and feel free to contact us for a no-strings-attached conversation.
Are you responsible for acquiring new customers? Do you use data in your campaigns? Then use the SMART Audience Builder and convert up to 600% better than before in just a few clicks.
The SMART Audience Builder is an easy-to-use cloud tool that provides organizations with the ability to apply knowledge and insights to their own marketing data in order to increase conversions. Load any form of your own CRM data (Postal Code, House Number, Addition, Email, Phone) into the tool and gain additional insights from your own data. Through automatic integration with various knowledge and intelligence sources, you can apply attribute selections and predictive models to set up the most effective target audiences for activation. Throughout the entire process, you remain in control of your own data.
Approaching new relevant consumers who are genuinely interested in your proposition or product? EDM helps organizations create insights into existing customer groups, which can then be used to find potential new customers within the Netherlands.
With Audiences, we analyze the target audience based on historical data and data from current customer segments. This results in a target audience profile and channel preferences. We then set goals for all desired channels (Direct Mail, DPG media, Marktplaats, phone, and inserting). With access to extensive consumer databases, the best audiences are created based on various socio-demographic data, lifestyle characteristics, or advanced look-alike models. This enables the creation and activation of the best possible audiences, resulting in an average doubling of conversions.
The Automotivebase 2.0 has been developed through 10 years of research on all vehicle transactions in the Netherlands, with a focus on the driver. As a result, we not only have insights into which households are currently or will be in the market for a new car in the near future, but also the profile of these households. Apply this knowledge to your existing audiences, improve your return on investment (ROI) on first-party data. Activate these segments in new channels, activate look-alike profiles or automotive types to maximize your ROI.
An integrated customer acquisition solution. The proven method for effective data-driven marketing.
For every organization, acquiring new customers is crucial. To achieve this, recruitment campaigns need to be set up as effectively as possible. This means approaching the right target audience through the right channels in a data-driven manner. EDM has a proven method for data-driven marketing, which involves an iterative process consisting of 6 steps:
EDM analyzes the existing customer database and ensures its accuracy and currency. It improves the quality of incoming leads and analyzes them to gain insights into "who is the customer?". Then, an assessment is made of the channels already being used, which additional channels can be added, and how to optimize them as effectively as possible. This results in improved conversion rates and effectiveness, which serves as input for reworking non-conversions and continuously optimizing recruitment campaigns.
Are you responsible for acquiring new customers? Do you use data in your campaigns? Then use the SMART Audience Builder and convert up to 600% better than before in just a few clicks.
The SMART Audience Builder is an easy-to-use cloud tool that provides organizations with the ability to apply knowledge and insights to their own marketing data in order to increase conversions. Load any form of your own CRM data (Postal Code, House Number, Addition, Email, Phone) into the tool and gain additional insights from your own data. Through automatic integration with various knowledge and intelligence sources, you can apply attribute selections and predictive models to set up the most effective target audiences for activation. Throughout the entire process, you remain in control of your own data.
Approaching new relevant consumers who are genuinely interested in your proposition or product? EDM helps organizations create insights into existing customer groups, which can then be used to find potential new customers within the Netherlands.
With Audiences, we analyze the target audience based on historical data and data from current customer segments. This results in a target audience profile and channel preferences. We then set goals for all desired channels (Direct Mail, DPG media, Marktplaats, phone, and inserting). With access to extensive consumer databases, the best audiences are created based on various socio-demographic data, lifestyle characteristics, or advanced look-alike models. This enables the creation and activation of the best possible audiences, resulting in an average doubling of conversions.
The Automotivebase 2.0 has been developed through 10 years of research on all vehicle transactions in the Netherlands, with a focus on the driver. As a result, we not only have insights into which households are currently or will be in the market for a new car in the near future, but also the profile of these households. Apply this knowledge to your existing audiences, improve your return on investment (ROI) on first-party data. Activate these segments in new channels, activate look-alike profiles or automotive types to maximize your ROI.
An integrated customer acquisition solution. The proven method for effective data-driven marketing.
For every organization, acquiring new customers is crucial. To achieve this, recruitment campaigns need to be set up as effectively as possible. This means approaching the right target audience through the right channels in a data-driven manner. EDM has a proven method for data-driven marketing, which involves an iterative process consisting of 6 steps:
EDM analyzes the existing customer database and ensures its accuracy and currency. It improves the quality of incoming leads and analyzes them to gain insights into "who is the customer?". Then, an assessment is made of the channels already being used, which additional channels can be added, and how to optimize them as effectively as possible. This results in improved conversion rates and effectiveness, which serves as input for reworking non-conversions and continuously optimizing recruitment campaigns.