Since 5 years, we regularly do new cloud projects. Based on my experiences, I think we can clearly distinguish two main difficulties in cloud projects:
- You have to learn to the end users a new way of working (I will talk about this in a future blogpost)
- and to choose the good connectivity to connect your current infrastructure to the cloud.
Let me share some tips about the connectivity choice.
VPN or leased line?
Several factors must guide your choice. What kind of applications will you be using in the cloud ? Web applications which don't need a quick response time or a Citrix session for which the response time is very important (you don't want your users to have slowness on their screen). If you need a very good response time, your choice must be oriented to a lease line. It is a reliable connection with a good response time. Maybe you think that a leased line must always be used... Unfortunately a leased line is not available everywhere and is more expensive than a VPN solution. A VPN solution will offer a poorer response time, no bandwidth guaranteed, but it has the advantage that it's available everywhere you can find an internet connection while it is much cheaper than a leased line.
LAN Extension
Another parameter that must help you to choose your connection is the configuration of your network. When you move your servers to a cloud solution, you will have to either reconfigure the IP of every server or of every workstation. That takes time and is a risky task. To avoid having to do this, you can use a specific leased line called 'LAN Extension'. The cloud and your on premise site will then be seen as one single place. This will ease your migration to the cloud.
As you can see, you must pay attention to your connectivity when you choose to work in a cloud. This choice is one key of the success of your cloud project. Take the necessary time before you jump in the cloud. We can assist you and guide you to make the choice that will best suit your infrastructure.
