IMAGINE THIS . . .
You had engaging conversations with leadership to better understand the specific goals this Azure Cloud migration is slated to provide. Furthermore, you have hired a team to handle each piece of the migration. Each person hired has done migrations to Microsoft Azure Cloud in the past in their hired silo with success in other projects. The project is currently 20% under the estimated budget for what was projected at this point in the runbook.
And you even have a runbook tailored by an accounting firm—specifically for this migration!
To be concise, the migration is going as expected (a.k.a. like a well-oiled machine). The project is on schedule. The Project Managers are happy with the progress thus far. Everything is going according to schedule!
But wait . . .
MURPHY’S LAW STRIKES AGAIN!
Apparently, the CISO has put a halt on the migration—they are stating all migrating systems need to be reviewed as confidential data could be put in the cloud, potentially violating multiple HIPPA statutes.
TWO WEEKS PASS.
They are still reviewing the project’s data scope to make sure potential HIPPA violations are addressed! Multiple daily Microsoft Teams meetings are being had with the project managers and the key project stakeholders. An outside consulting firm has even been contracted to use their tools to help expedite the data review.
Finally, the clear-all is given, and the project can begin where it left off . . .
FOUR WEEKS LATER!!!??!!
As a result, timetables have been decimated! The project’s runbook completion times are now all wrong. The team is only 40% complete, and according to the original project timeline, This project should have been 100% done . . .
IN THE NEXT 8 DAYS!
Ok, you can stop the horror story from running through your head now. I just wanted to paint a picture to illustrate a point:
MORAL OF THE STORY:
You strive to use the right tools, people, and plans to execute every migration ahead of schedule (even by just as little as an hour) and under budget (if only just one US dollar). However, you should expect unexpected events to transpire. After all, there is always the possibility that major unknowns will negatively impact the project.
How do you handle this? A few pointers:
- Remain calm and polite.
People will scream, argue, and be angry. Just keep calm and positive—in any way. - Focus on how to work more efficiently when you can begin again.
Can tasks be run in parallel? Can money be spent on tools to make things run more efficiently? - Increase the strength of communication lines!
The better communication is throughout the process, the better you can handle adverse situations as they arise. - Keep focused on the end goal.
As mentioned in my post about How to Think With the End in Mind for Cloud Migration, doing so helps you decide on actions that help you accomplish your goal more efficiently.
If you can do all of this, the ‘tides’ will not wash your migration away.