Migration Services

The best migrations include the right players, the right planning, and flawless execution.

What is Cloud Migration?

Simply put… it is moving your GIS from an on-premise environment onto a new, freshly built server environment in the cloud. A migration requires a lot of preparation and advance work, but it is worth the effort, resulting in cost savings and greater flexibility.

ROK Cloud Migration… It’s what we do…

The ROK migration process is governed by three essential steps: Identify, Execute, Validate
Identify

During this stage, we will work with your business to understand your current GIS estate and determine which Service(s), Database(s), and Third Party Applications are essential to meet your business needs. By the way… do you have a lot of old data or map services sitting idle? This is a great time to clean the closets and only take with you what you need! Once defined, ROK will architect a cloud environment specific to your organization's GIS and Security needs.


Execute
The ROK Team will build your new environment in the cloud of your choice; AWS, Azure, or GCP. Once the environment is ready, ROK, will install and configure your Esri Software and ensure your GIS is ready to work with any of your critical third party applications. Finally, we migrate your GIS to your new Cloud environment. You are in the loop the whole time and we migrate only what you want leaving the rest behind.

Validate
Now it’s time to test. You and your team will have full access to your software, database(s) and infrastructure to test all work flows and applications before you go live. It is just that easy.

Why migrate to the cloud?

The cloud, in many cases, offers more cost effective security controls for business information and data than investing in similar controls for private data centers. A cloud platform also means your company has a better ability to scale up or down based on your IT requirements and your business plan. This control means you can save money. Following cloud migration, you pay for the capacity you use as your availability scales up and down. This eliminates the static licensing costs of data centers.

Ready to Get Started?

The journey to the cloud takes thoughtful planning, careful preparation and organizational commitment. Let us help you take the right next steps! Get started on your journey today!

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What you need to know about disaster management for GIS organizations How migrating to the Cloud and partnering with a Managed Services Provider (MCSP) prepares your GIS organization for disaster response and resilience Navigating the Disaster Management Cycle: The role of Managed Cloud Services Hear from ROK Technologies, leading GIS Managed Cloud Service Provider (MCSP) […]

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Modernizing NDOT: The strategic move to Managed Cloud Services

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ROK Technologies' Esri UC 2024 Experience: The Highlights

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WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY:

“Fishbeck has been challenged to work remotely on a larger scale than had ever been anticipated. Our recent decision to move our GIS data to a remote server has allowed us flexibility in accessing and managing our files.  We chose ROK Technologies to provide this service to adapt to emerging technologies and before there was an actual need, and that decision has proven to be a valuable solution in the current climate. We are pleased to say our operations and transition have run more smoothly because of our relationship with ROK Technologies.”
Caryn Ashbay • GISP Senior GIS Specialist
Fishbeck
"ROK Technologies has been a pleasure to work with. They are a solid GIS/Technology firm that is attentive to our needs, and is very knowledgeable on the AWS platform."
Joe Renzetti • IT & GIS Director
Village of Oswego, Illinois
FAQs
What does relocating a GIS environment to AWS look like? What about moving to Azure?

Migrating your GIS to AWS, Azure or any cloud solutions provider is accomplished in phases. Here is a brief overview of the methodology we use at ROK. Keep in mind that there are several steps within each phase, but this will give you an overview of what needs to take place.

 

  • Phase I: Spin up and configure the cloud environment you will use to support your software. Apply security, backup and retention policies.

  • Phase II: Install and configure your Esri Software. Deploy Virtual Desktop Instances.

  • Phase III: Migrate your GIS ... this is a great opportunity to “clean the closets” and ensure you are only migrating what you need. We generally start migration planning in Phase I.

  • Phase IV: Cut Over to your new Cloud GIS environment. The entire process timeline varies depending on the complexity of your environment. As a very general rule you should budget 8-10 weeks.


What are some of the cons for GIS cloud migration?

There will always be challenges to overcome when encountering something different or unknown. If some of your data or technology is proprietary, you may not legally be able to deploy to the cloud. You may need to modify and/or map your application design and architecture to follow the cloud architecture. You could experience downtime due to technical outages (loss of power, maintenance, etc), but this would also be true on-premise.


What are some of the requirements for cloud migration changes - CPU, balance charge, memory on demand, etc?

This really depends on the Esri software that is in use. You can find the specifications on Esri's website. Here is a link to get you started: ArcGIS Server 10.8 system requirements—ArcGIS Enterprise system requirements | Documentation


We currently maintain infrastructure per environment (dev, QA, prod). How difficult is it to move and maintain all of that into the cloud?

Deploying and managing a 3-tier environment in the cloud is standard practice for many of the organizations we serve. Migration, when planned correctly can be a smooth and painless experience.


How is migration load handled in the cloud?

When working with clients on Cloud Migrations, the first step is to understand their environment. To do this, we start with a holistic view, formulating a detailed plan that serves as a roadmap. Using this roadmap, we work with the client to transfer and configure data (Database(s), Imagery, Flat Files etc.), working/project files (ArcMap/Pro documents, scripts, proprietary information), web applications and any third party integrations. After all configurations are complete, we validate the Cloud Environment through a client testing and QA/QC Phase to work out any and all issues. We then hand the keys over and GO LIVE!


How can latency between user machines and the cloud be minimized to make GIS in the cloud usable?

Latency, not to be confused with bandwidth, is a known factor since distance is key to determining latency - no matter how fast a connection, data must still physically travel the distance from cloud to machine and is constrained by the laws of physics 🙂 With this in mind, we can reduce the travel time by staying in one availability zone. Most of the clients we work with actually realize better performance after migrating to the cloud.


Ready to Get Started?