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Companies that are unaware of the mistakes made in their cloud adoption will overspend by 20 to 50%

Organizations are producing more data than ever, adopting tech innovations, migrating to cloud platforms, and embracing digital-first business models. Firms, hence, cannot rely on traditional ITOps methods and processes anymore. Legacy IT systems, apps, tools running on on-prem datacenters are no longer cost-efficient or performance-intensive enough to deliver the scalability and agility businesses require to grow and compete in this hyper-competitive atmosphere.

A shift to the cloud, especially on hyperscaler platforms like Microsoft Azure, is imminent. But, are firms taking the right approach in their cloud adoption journeys?

More than one-third of businesses overrun their cloud budget up to 40%
95% of all enterprise workloads will be in the cloud within the next 3 years
200 zettabytes of data will be stored in the cloud by 2025

Microsoft Azure Cloud Adoption Framework: Implemented by Cloud4C

More than 67% of enterprises embraced cloud-based infrastructure by the end of 2021

Microsoft Azure is one of the world’s leading cloud platforms owing to their native ecosystem versatility, advanced solutions and services, broad partner networks, and cost-effective pay-as-you-go integration models. However, to truly achieve the cloud’s promise, firms need to take a standardized approach that maximizes uptime across the stack, migration disruptions, and data losses and ensures that the entire architecture is best fit for the firm’s current and future business objectives. Unplanned migrations could only result in overprovisioning, unnecessary cloud sprawls that compromises operational budgets and security.
Cloud4C, the world’s leading application-focused Cloud MSP and an Azure Expert MSP with 9 Azure Advanced Specializations, help firms move to Microsoft Azure leveraging a standardized Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF). Our team of experts would develop a comprehensive blueprint across your Azure journey spanning from Discovery, Landscape Assessment, Migration, to even management and security of assets on Azure. Additionally, we would help enterprises identify the best-fit strategy and ideal stack of native Azure tools to best address business needs and function fail-proof on Azure Cloud.

Quick Snap: What our Azure Cloud Adoption Framework offers

Migration assessment

Review and assess readiness, identify and engage key stakeholders, align business and technology, build a business case

Migration planning

Perform detailed discovery, develop a migration plan, create an operating model, and ensure security and compliance

Migration and operations

Migrate, integrate, test, transform, monitor, optimize and innovate for continuous improvement and optimal results

Azure Cloud Adoption Framework: A
Comprehensive Map

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1

Strategy

Start by understanding your unique business objectives to identify how Azure cloud can support you.

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2

Plan

Start aligning your people, stakeholders, processes, and technology to chalk out your cloud adoption plan.

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3

Ready

This is where you prepare your environment using Azure cloud. Once you are prepared, start deploying the basic building blocks of migration.

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4

Adopt

This stage has two parts – migrate and innovate. You can simply migrate your on-prem environment to the cloud or innovate to take optimal advantage of cloud-native technologies to modernize your digital state.

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6

Govern

Create smart benchmarks and monitor your Azure cloud environment through data collection and alerts.

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5

Manage

Make sure to follow the best practices to track your performance and create resilience to recover from any issues.

Azure Cloud Adoption Framework Powered by 
Cloud4C - Benefits You Can Expect

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Accelerated Cloud Decisions

Gain access to a unique factory approach for cloud deployment and speed up the cloud migration journey. Cloud4C determines the necessary tools and services and delivers cloud migration under strict timelines by establishing the right business case and migration strategy. This allows consistent availability, agility, and zero loss regardless of landscape size and complexity.

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Cost Clarity and Control

Azure Cloud Migration Framework is a cost-effective cloud framework as it embeds Cloud4C's smart cloud cost optimization strategies to further reduce unnecessary expenses without compromising quality and security.

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Dependency, Discovery, & Planning

Activities like technical assessments, hardware/software evaluations, and application dependency mapping are performed to improve the prospects of smooth and seamless cloud migration. Azure CAF focuses on cloud readiness of your application's data and infrastructure to assure the best results.

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Security

Solutions and tools like Azure security center, Azure Sentinel, and Azure firewall paired with Cloud4C's Self-Healing Operations Platform (SHOP) ameliorate infrastructure security. Qualities like auto-remediation and self-healing deliver end-to-end cloud migration, modernization, and managed services to enterprises automatically with minimal human interference.

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Optimized Native Cloud-Environment

Cloud Adoption Framework from Cloud4C help businesses leverage Azure-native tools and find the best solutions to simplify operations.

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Availability and Scalability

Azure CAF ensures that your organization enjoys the industry-high 99.9% availability and scalability with Azure cloud up to Application Login layer.

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Thorough Compliance Management

The Azure CAF will also take a thorough look at compliance measures taken by your organization and create a detailed report on updates required. Cloud4C's advanced managed service capabilities also provide:

  • Platform-specific built-in compliance tools
  • Configuration management features
  • Guidance resources that would save you from fines and penalties

Diving In-depth: The Main Phases of Azure Cloud Adoption Framework

  • Stage 1: Define the Correct Strategy

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    This stage helps stakeholders understand the business impact and expected business outcomes by pursuing cloud adoption.

    Step 1: Understanding the motivation to move to the cloud

    Cloud4C team of migration experts will assess the enterprise’s business, current landscapes, and workloads to help them outline the motivations under three categories.

    Critical Business Events Or Decisions
    • Datacenter Exit
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Reduce Capital Expenses
    • End of Support (EoS) of Mission Critical Technologies
    • Regulatory Compliance changes
    Migration Triggers
    • Cost Savings
    • Reduce Vendor or Technical Complexity
    • Optimize Infra and Operations
    • Increase Business Agility
    • Scale to meet Market or Geo-specific demands
    Innovation Triggers
    • Ace Customer Experience
    • Transform Products or Services
    • Disruptive Innovation(s)
    • Build New Technical Capabilities for Sustainability and/or for a Competitive Edge

    Step 2: Identify Business Outcomes

    Cloud4C engages with different stakeholders and documents desired outcomes of cloud adoption. The most common results that customers expect to achieve during this step are:

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    FISCAL

    • Increased Revenue
    • Optimized Costs
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    AGILITY

    • Faster Time-to-Market
    • Swift response to change
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    PERFORMANCE

    • High Availability
    • Zero data loss and minimal disruptions to business
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    SECURITY & COMPLIANCE

    • Continuous Compliance
    • Strict adherence to regional and industry specific regulations
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    REACH AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

    • Global access Compliance to Data Sovereignty laws/rules
    • Faster time to meet customer stated/unstated needs

    Step 3: Business Justification

    Cloud4C’s migration experts can help organizations build the business case for the cloud. A seamless and hassle-free migration to Azure cloud offers depreciation reduction, physical asset recovery, operation cost reduction, cost avoidance, soft-cost reduction, headcount reductions and capital expense reductions or avoidance.

    Step 4: Pick your First Project

    With the help of clearly defined criteria and properly identified business outcomes to achieve, Cloud4C helps enterprises pick their first project.

  • Stage 2: Cloud Adoption Plan

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    The key role that cloud adoption plays is to transform the cloud adoption strategy into a reality for enterprises. With the help of the cloud adoption plan, Cloud4C’s team of experts helps enterprises perform the technical tasks in tandem with desired business results.

    Step 1: Rationalize Digital Estate

    Here, key decisions about an asset are taken to rehost (life and shift) or retire.

    Step 2: Define and prioritize workloads

    The first 10 workloads that will establish an initial adoption backlog are prioritized.

    Step 3: Align assets

    Assets (proposed or existing) required to support the prioritized workloads are identified.

    Step 4: Review Rationalization

    Rationalization decisions taken in Step 1 are refined for adoption-path decisions: Migrate or Innovate.

    Step 5: Estimate Timelines

    Rough timelines for release planning are established based on initial estimates.

  • Stage 3: Get Ready for Migration

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    Step 1: Prepare the Environment

    Cloud4C team prepares the landing zone design, covering network, security, compute, storage, security controls, cloud platform operations, and governance policies. The blueprint focuses on the organization’s standard operating procedures concerning security and governance.

    Step 2: Expand the Landing Zone Blueprint

    The considerations for implementing a landing zone fall into three categories

    • Hosting - Decisions around compute, storage, networking, and databases to help create hosting options in the landing zone blueprint
    • Azure Fundamentals - These are the foundational building blocks for organizing resources in the cloud environment
    • Governance Considerations – Applying governance principles to each landing zone
  • Stage 4: Getting Ready for the Migration

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    Step 1: Intuitive selection and innovation with the 6Rs

    Several cloud-native benefits can prove to be useful to older apps as the solution is modernized to their advantage. Cloud4C makes it easy to decide among the famous 6Rs. What are they?

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    REPURCHASE

    The enterprise drops the existing on-prem license of the software and moves on to the cloud-based version of the same software, essentially repurchasing the license.

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    REHOST

    This is to identify the applications and existing workloads to be migrated and lift and shift them to the cloud ecosystem.

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    REPLATFORM

    This process involves the methodology similar to rehosting platforms and applications. However, some customizations are made here to ensure that the platforms run optimally on Azure cloud.

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    REFACTOR/RE-ARCHITECT

    The existing on-prem applications, databases, and workloads are significantly overhauled at the codebase levels, to prepare them for cloud migration.

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    RETIRE

    This involves the recognition of applications or platforms that are redundant and causing unnecessary load and shooting up operational costs. They may be retired and replaced with a cloud-friendlier version.

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    RETAIN

    Businesses might opt to retain some legacy, on-prem applications as they are delivering high performances and are linked to critical projects.

  • Stage 5: Robust Governance for End to End Ownership

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    Alignment to governance/compliance requirements is key to maintaining a well-managed cloud environment.

    • Document business risk and risk tolerance
    • Define policies and establish policies to monitor violations
    • Monitor cost and create cost accountability
    • Make all efforts secure by design
    • Enforce identity and access baseline by proper RBAC
    • Emphasize and Drive consistency as well as standardization

Security and Continuity while Migrating to Microsoft Azure Cloud

Cloud4C, a distinguished Azure Expert MSP and a Microsoft Gold Partner, has built expertise in securing infrastructure, data, and operations for about 500 enterprises from various industry sectors. As the world’s largest application-focused managed cloud service provider commanding dedicated global expertise in cloud cybersecurity management, we are committed to being the ideal partner to secure IT on Azure cloud.

Our engineer's leverage Azure’s custom cloud solutions to deliver industry-best uptime, high availability, and world-class intelligent risk management. We achieve this through the following features:

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Universal Monitoring and Visibility

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Minimal Ecosystem Complexities

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Optimization and Cost Management

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Incident and Access Management

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Policies and Compliance Management

Our security framework governed by 40+ Security Control objectives makes it instantly compliant with most of the regulatory standards worldwide.

Looking for a free consultation to secure your Cloud Infrastructure?

Talk to us

From Our Knowledge Desk

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SAP Apps to Microsoft Azure: How can enterprises securely migrate their mission-critical SAP assets to Azure at zero disruptions. Explore in this blog

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What Differentiates Cloud4C: Why Partner 
with Us?

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World’s largest Application-focused Managed Cloud Services Provider and one of the leading managed cybersecurity companies

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Dedicated Azure Security Services Management expertise with 40+ Security Controls, 2000+ global cloud experts worldwide with local presence in 26 countries

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Trusted Google Cloud MSP across EMEA, APAC and Americas

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Pre-Met Compliance Needs

• Industry specific - GDPR, PCI-DSS, GxP, HIPAA, CSA 
• Country specific - MAS, RBI, FedRAMP, OJK, iRAP, MEITI, SAMA, NESA 
• Worldwide standards - ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 20000, ISO 22301, SOC1, SOC2

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Trusted by 60 of Fortune 500 Companies across 26 nations

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Seamless AIOps-powered, application-focused cloud migration, management, and modernization for public/private/hybrid and multicloud offerings

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Migrated and managing 40000+ VMs

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12 years of rich experience in Cloud and Managed Services

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High availability of 99.9% with a single SLA promise till App login layer

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4000+ Global Enterprise customers

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7 RegTech compliances utilizing the MITRE ATT&CK, CIS Critical Security Controls, and more

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Zero friction business delivery model

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Smart hyperautomation solutions utilizing RPA, process intelligence, business process transformation, NLP, and more

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Certified people resources on ITIL, COBIT, CDCP, CISA, CISSP, CISM, Six Sigma, PMP CCIE, MCP, CEH and more

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Comprehensive Disaster Recovery and BCP portfolio across all locations globally

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Zero friction business delivery model

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24x7 Support and Consulting

Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) - FAQs

  • What is Azure Cloud Adoption Framework ?

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    Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) is a detailed guidance of practises, tools & methodologies to implement business and technological strategies for enterprises moving to Azure cloud.

    These are derived from the success stories of organizations who've migrated to Microsoft Azure cloud and best practises recommended by Microsoft.

    With the help of a proven managed services provider, your enterprise can define the strategy, plan, ready, adopt, govern and manage your cloud migration journey for assured success. Contact our Cloud experts for planning your enterprise journey to Microsoft Azure cloud as per Azure CAF.

  • What is Cloud Adoption Framework ?

    -

    Cloud Adoption Framework is a proven methodology for planning and implementing the tools and strategies for achieving enterprise success on cloud.

    All the best practises, documentation, tools that could be leveraged by business managers, IT professionals & architects are part of the cloud adoption framework.

    An ideal managed service provider can clearly assess the enterprise goals and articulate the customized Cloud migration pathway in form of a Cloud Adoption framework for your enterprise.

    Contact our Cloud experts for planning your enterprise journey to cloud as per industry best practises.

  • Why is Azure CAF Important for an Organization?

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    The Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (Azure CAF) helps organizations understand the shortcomings and the scope of improvement in their IT infrastructure and thereby their business operations.

    It helps in aligning business and technology agendas. It thus makes it easier to choose the right way forward, risks involved, risk mitigation plans to be in place before, during and after the migration to cloud.

  • Why do I need Cloud4C while Implementing Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure?

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    To customize Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure Cloud for your organization, it requires a lot of analysis and best practices to be embedded which can be provided by an experienced Cloud Migration Partner.

    Cloud4C will reduce the guesswork as well as the additional hours taken to achieve the same.

    Cloud4C will also help you with documentation and guidance involved in CAF adoption process. Apart from initial set-up, you’ll also get regular assessment and audit reports on performance which will provide a clear path for company’s cloud journey.

Leverage our customized migration blueprint for your enterprise journey to Microsoft Azure

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