| | JANUARY 20258IN MY OPINIONEMBRACING THE CLOUD: SUMMIT UTILITIES' TRANSITION TO AZUREIn today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, utility providers are facing a compelling need to embrace change and digitize their operations. At Summit Utilities, we have been at the forefront of this transformation, especially in our migration to Microsoft's Azure environment from traditional SQL Server setups. Over the past two years, this shift has presented both challenges and unparalleled benefits. I'm thrilled to share our journey, its complexities, and the vast advantages we have gained along the way.Challenges Faced Along the PathMigration Complexity: Transitioning from several SQL Servers, a robust on-premises relational database system, to Azure SQL DB required intricate planning. Ensuring data security, integrity, and minimal downtime were paramount. Migrating large datasets without affecting current operations was one of our initial hurdles. This migration, coupled with learning the intricacies of Azure's resource cost, proved to be difficult at first. Without full expertise in the Azure costing model, it can be very easy to rack up expensive monthly bills. Over time, we learned how to fine-tune and balance all of our Azure resources to optimize both cost and performance.Integration with Existing Systems: Integrating Azure's suite of tools with our longstanding in-house solutions, particularly our custom C# and Python applications, posed challenges. These applications, primarily hosted on Azure VMs, required fine-tuning to ensure they were optimized for cloud-based operations. One of the major difficulties was encapsulating our security layer over both the existing on-premises system with a newly evolving cloud system. Through hours of countless research and a specific method called Private End Points, we were able to accomplish the difficult task with great success.Change Management: Migrating to Azure represented far more than a mere technological shift for Summit Utilities. At its core, this transition was about fundamentally reshaping our corporate culture and ensuring every team member, from the IT department to the executive suite, was equipped and aligned with our new digital trajectory. This journey required not just technical adaptation but also a rethinking of our traditional processes and workflows. Embracing Azure meant embracing a future-ready mindset, one that prioritized agility, scalability, and innovation. Moreover, it underscored the importance of continuous learning and adaptability in an era of rapid technological evolution.Training and Skill Development: As we delved deeper into Azure's offerings, it became evident that our team needed extensive training to harness the full potential of this platform. Workshops, online courses, and hands-on sessions were organized to build a solid foundation of cloud competencies. This was not merely about learning a new tool but understanding the intricacies of a cloud-first approach and how it differed from our conventional SQL Server operations.Benefits Gained Along the WayScalability and Flexibility: Azure SQL DB and Azure Storage Accounts provided us with a flexible and scalable environment. No longer constrained by physical hardware limitations, we could scale up or down based on demand, Cannon LordCannon Lord, Manager of Data and Analytics, Summit UtilitiesBy
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