Moving to the Cloud?

10 Steps to Ensure a Smooth Migration

So, you or your firm have decided to move to the cloud.  You have chosen a Cloud Provider and signed a contract to migrate your applications and data. 

What do you need to do next? We put together a quick to-do list to save you time and headaches going forward.

1. Communicate this decision to your employees or clients that will be using the new platform.
   Although this may seem like common sense, we have heard some horror stories of owners deciding without informing their employees. Accountants love predictability and a schedule before any significant transition.
   
   
2. Decide on a date.
   You can continue business as usual with your old setup while your server is prepared and applications installed. However, we recommend making the transition over the weekend or when no one is working on that data so that there are no discrepancies while your data is copied to the new platform. We recommend that you migrate during the off-season to give you and your employees time to adapt to the new setup.
   
   
3. Decide what data you want to move to the cloud and backup that data.
   Most accounting and tax professionals keep seven years of records for their clients. This typically means keeping several older versions of the appropriate software and all of the associated data files backed up. You must create a separate copy of the data to be moved to the cloud.
   
   
4. Create a spreadsheet of all licenses for apps you want to move to the cloud
   Any application you need on your new cloud server will need your user licenses. This means the licenses for older versions of the software as well if you need them on your server. Having all of this information in one place will significantly simplify any back and forth between your company and your Cloud Provider as they set up all of your applications on the server.
   
   
5. Create a list of users that will be added to your Cloud Server.
   What most firms need to set up a new user is First Name, Last Name, and Email Address. If you are setting up Two-factor authentication, include their cell numbers as well. Most servers are going to have varying levels of access, depending on the user level. A firm owner is going to have admin access compared to a client having access only to their specific files. Please include as much of this relevant information as possible to speed up the onboarding process.
   
   
6. Check your cloud login and ensure all relevant applications are installed.
   If you have followed the two steps above, you should have a seamless transition to the cloud as your provider will have all of your applications and users set up based on your provided requirements. Now, You can make sure that all the users have access to relevant applications and only to their designated folders.
   
   
7. Upload data to the cloud.
   A qualified cloud professional will walk you through the process of uploading your backed up data to the cloud and show you how to verify that all of the data was uploaded correctly.
   
   
8. Email the new login information to your team and clients
   After following the two steps mentioned above, you have ensured that users have access to their relevant applications and data files. Now’s the time to email them their login information so that they can start using this new setup.
   
   
9. Test our printers, scanners, and multiple monitor setup.
   Test all of your devices to ensure they are working as needed. This setup is unique to each user, so have each user test all of their devices. This is the final step in the setup process, so take advantage of your Cloud Provider’s professional’s time to confirm that all of your devices are working smoothly. 
   
   
10. Share Your Cloud Provider’s Support Information.
    Now that your cloud server is set up, you will want to ensure that your staff or clients that will be using your server have the contact info and support hours for your Cloud Provider. Small issues typically arise in the first week due to initial setup preferences.