COMMON POWERUp 2021

Migrating on-premise workloads running on IBM i or AIX from the data center to the cloud creates an opportunity for organizations to re-evaluate how well their existing toolchain is working and whether there are cloud-based options that better fit their needs. While adding more complexity to a cloud migration is something that most IT shops want to avoid, they may be well-served to weigh the potential long-term benefits of new tools against the short-term work involved in adopting them. _x000D_ _x000D_ The typical software development toolchain includes both custom and commercial solutions for functions like provisioning (such as Ansible or Terraform), identity and access management, developer tools like IDEs and source control, disaster recovery and backup, as well as monitoring, logging and auditing (such as Datadog), and more. While offering similar functionality to on-premise solutions, cloud-based tools typically offer more flexibility, pay-as-you-go licensing and are easier to scale up or down, move workloads around, and to expand to other regions. The key question for most organizations is whether those benefits are worth the effort necessary to replace existing tools._x000D_ _x000D_ Key Learnings: This presentation will walk through a five-step process to help IT evaluate current tools, decide whether a change is worthwhile, and how to plan for the transition.

Learning Objectives:
Which tools to consider replacing when moving to the cloud_x000D_ Important factors in evaluating current tools, including vendor support, licensing, management, business needs, etc. _x000D_ Advantages of cloud-based tools versus homegrown or on-premise alternatives. For example, cloud-based tools may require retraining, but typically offer nearly unlimited compute and storage, dynamic workloads, and support in multiple regions. _x000D_ How to approach licensing, tool management and opportunities to consolidate tools in the destination cloud._x000D_ How to create a migration plan when replacing a tool that covers updating documentation, retraining, rewriting scripts, and what to do with historical data from tools that are being retired, etc.