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Public Cloud Q&A with Paul Ponzeka

Oct 3, 2024

Public Cloud Q&A with Paul Ponzeka    

Cloud migration remains a critical step for businesses aiming to grow and stay competitive. However, navigating the process can be complex. In this Q&A, we pose some of the most important considerations on the topic to Paul Ponzeka, CTO of Abacus Group, to get his expertise on the latest trends, as well as how Abacus supports businesses on their cloud journeys. Take a look at what Paul has to say… 

How do you support your clients with cloud migration?   

Abacus provides services which are end-to-end, including scoping, workflow assessment and migration of individual services from on-premises infrastructure to a public cloud setup. Our team of highly qualified and experienced experts also adjusts workflows to suit more modern workplaces, with server, email and file migrations, data loss prevention, configuration and security management.  

We do specialize in the financial services sector, and, in the context of cloud migration and management, those primarily Windows based and looking to utilize cloud infrastructure in AWS or Azure. 

What advantages do businesses experience when migrating to the cloud with Abacus? 

We’re industry experts who complete the cloud migration process for clients in line with industry regulations and security best practices. There are also a number of cloud tools that can be integrated into the overall security stack for greater protection.  

Businesses use Abacus because we’re a team of specialists who are trusted and proven to be a safe pair of hands. This is far from guaranteed if they opt to do it themselves.  

What differentiates Abacus' cloud services from other managed service providers? 

We’re unique in that we take an infrastructure-as-code approach to deployments. We leverage best practices and intelligence that we’ve learned from other deployments and push it out to all of our clients.  

We also have an outstanding reputation for our cybersecurity services and industry expertise, providing additional peace of mind. We also never stand still and are continually adapting the way we work based on our experiences. 

What are the key factors companies should consider when deciding between public, private, and hybrid cloud solutions? 

Organizations need to consider their ideal outcomes. These outcomes should be the driving factor behind every decision they make. For example, an on-premise solution might be the best short-term solution, but it could be really costly and difficult to support, manage and upgrade in the long-term. But public cloud deployments can be equally expensive, so any migration shouldn’t take place just because the chosen platform is appealing. Quite often, engaging an expert like Abacus, will help to provide that clarity.  

What are some common challenges businesses face when migrating to the cloud, and how does Abacus address them? 

Many of the common challenges are during the migration process itself, such as mitigating the risk of service disruption. The Abacus team works to configure different cutover methodologies depending on the situation. Where more caution is needed, a slow transition using user access testing and POC groups might be best. Another challenge is how to integrate public cloud services securely and safely into the wider organization for solid user experiences, proper access controls and compliance.  

How does Abacus ensure security and compliance in cloud environments? 

We provide guidance on regulatory requirements such as from the FCA, the NIST framework and centralized agencies, as well what investors are now asking of firms. We also merge that guidance with best practices for specific industries as well from different vendors such as Microsoft and AWS, both from a security and usability perspective.  

How does Abacus help businesses optimize costs once they are in the cloud? 

We walk through the minimum requirements that our clients need to meet acceptable performance and provide cost-effective recommendations to suit. It might be that reservation purchases across a multi-year period can help to save them money. An engineer shouldn’t build the best bridge possible; they should build a bridge at the lowest cost that will not fail. It’s a similar mindset when it comes to the cloud. 

What ongoing management and support does Abacus provide after migration? 

Abacus provides full stack management after migration has taken place. This includes lifecycle management for all services and endpoints within the cloud, updating, patching, configuration and application refreshes. As new services are released, we provide new future-proofing architectural recommendations on what a specific client needs to do to optimize their use of the cloud. 

Can you explain how Abacus integrates existing IT infrastructure into a hybrid cloud environment? 

There are a few key steps we follow when completing a hybrid cloud migration. We make sure to cover identity and access management as data moves into the cloud for a consistent user experience. We take action to synchronize users, credentials, access control lists, groups, roles and controls. We bring it all together into one cohesive environment for a smooth integration. 

What role does cloud technology play in enhancing scalability and flexibility for businesses? 

Cloud services are extremely flexible for developers and other staff. There are no hardware refreshes or purchases with long lead times if they want to handle more storage or compute data at a faster pace. And the reverse is true if they want to scale down. There isn’t CAPEX equipment sitting there underutilized. The scalability of the technology allows our clients to meet evolving needs and cost limitations. 

How does Abacus help companies future-proof their cloud investments? 

We help our customers understand the direction that cloud vendors are heading towards and help them align with that direction. For example, how does Microsoft want users configured? We look at different vendor roadmaps and provide future-proofing guidance on what the overarching infrastructure should look like so that scalability and cost-effectiveness is possible. 

What trends do you see in cloud adoption, and how is Abacus adapting to them? 

The biggest trend we see is the adoption of cloud native services. More organizations are moving towards consumable services such as Azure SQL or AWS database services. There is also a greater emphasis on integrating security tools that can properly secure public cloud environments as the exposure surface area has increased, rather than being add-ons to a traditional on-premise infrastructure. 

 

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