Migrating from Azure Classic Storage to Azure Resource Manager

Microsoft has announced that they were retiring Azure Cloud Services on 31st August 2024. As a result, all customers using Azure Classic Storage must migrate to Azure Resource Manager (ARM) before that date to retain the ability to perform account management operations. 

Azure Classic Storage vs. Azure Resource Manager

Azure Classic Storage came about in 2010 when Microsoft Azure (then Windows Azure) started. ARM  The main difference between Classic Storage and ARM comes to the deployment model. 

With Classic Storage, every resource exists independently. There is no way to group the resources together, and if you need to create, manage, or delete resources, you need to do so individually.

On the other hand, ARM allows you to manage resources in groups. This allows for more consistency in access controls and cost-management policies, as well as to create dependencies and deploy resources in the correct order. 

 

Migrating to Azure Resource Manager

There are some essential aspects to consider if you plan to move your resources from Classic Storage to ARM. Some of your data might be structured in a way that isn't compatible with ARM, some may no longer be required, and some could benefit from an improvement to gain efficiency and save costs. 

Here are the steps we recommend you take to migrate successfully.

  • Audit and assessment
  • Determining the proper migration path:
    • Retiring/Decommissioning: Some of those resources might not be worth keeping. You need to evaluate what is still useful and required by your organisation and what isn't. 
    • Refactoring: Migrating is the perfect opportunity to take a good look at how your resources are operating and use that time to make improvements to maximise efficiency and minimise costs.
    • Replaforming: The migration in itself. If you are satisfied with your current setup, you can simply migrate to ARM. We would still strongly recommend that you seek expert partners to take an external look at the process, as it is not without risks.

 

Security Assessment

While you look at your cloud backup environment and consider the best way to manage your resources moving forward, why not use that opportunity to assess the security of your backup? Our security assessment is the best way to protect your safety net and mitigate a potential ransomware attack. A recent report by Flashpoint revealed that Australia is in the top 10 countries globally targeted by ransomware. As hackers become more experienced and sophisticated, they don't limit themselves to your production environment but attack your backup first. 

Our security assessment has been designed to protect your last line of defence and includes detailed recommendations, such as completion status and level of complexity to remediate. 

 

If you are still a current user of Azure Classic Storage, now is the time to plan that migration. Contact our team for support. 

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