In this instructional video, we will explore the process of creating a business case for Azure using a free tool known as Azure Migrate. The purpose of this exercise is to determine the financial viability of adopting Azure for your business and to devise the most suitable migration strategy. To begin, access the Azure portal with your active Azure subscription and navigate to Azure Migrate. Within Azure Migrate, you will find key migration goals, and you should click on “discover,” “assess,” and “migrate.”
You have the option to either utilize an existing Azure Migrate project or create a new project in the preferred geographic location. Server inventory can be imported through a CSV file or discovered via an agentless appliance, covering VMware, Microsoft HyperV, Bare-metal servers, and IaaS servers from other public clouds. For this demonstration, the discovery phase has already been completed, and we are ready to build a business case based on the valuable data insights collected.
Proceed by clicking on “build business case” and provide the necessary inputs to initiate the process. Begin by giving the business case a unique name and selecting the desired target Azure location. Choose a preferred migration strategy, such as minimizing costs, migrating all to IaaS, or modernizing to PaaS. Additionally, you can select the combination of savings options that best suits your requirements. Opt for reserved instances only if your workloads are stable and predictable with no planned changes. Alternatively, choose reserved instances plus Azure savings plan for greater flexibility and automated cost optimization for dynamic workloads.
After a few minutes, the business case will be computed using your inputs and industry benchmarks, and it will be ready for review. The overview report serves as an executive summary, presenting the estimated on-premise versus Azure TCO and the potential steady-state savings achievable by eliminating unnecessary components. The report also illustrates the projected year-on-year current versus future state costs throughout the migration project.
Azure’s unique incentives, including savings from Azure Hybrid Benefits and extended security updates for end-of-support software, are highlighted. Leveraging the insights obtained from the discovery process, you will discover effective methods to migrate to Azure, identify over-provisioned servers and workloads for right-sizing, and pinpoint unused servers for decommissioning.
Detailed breakdowns of on-premise versus Azure total cost of ownership are provided, offering insights into the factors contributing to these savings, including compute, storage, network, security, IT labor, and facilities costs. Further exploration can be undertaken through the Azure IaaS and PaaS reports, which furnish information on right-sized targets and the most cost-effective offers based on your usage. Quick wins can also be identified, particularly through software end-of-support and for “zombie” servers.
Additionally, the PaaS reports facilitate the identification of optimal right-sized targets for database and application workloads. The business case can be customized through the consideration of what-if scenarios and the override of default assumptions to suit your specific migration strategy.
As part of the process, you have the option to export the business case to an Excel workbook for in-depth analysis. Finally, armed with this comprehensive business case, you can confidently present it to all stakeholders, secure their buy-in, and move forward, assured that you have made the most suitable decisions for your business.
Commence your journey with Azure Migrate today and create your first business case to harness the full potential of Azure for your organization.