What is our primary use case?
Velostrata's agentless cloud migration solution with unique capabilities of decoupling compute from storage alongside WAN optimization, multi-tier read/write caching and background streaming migration, minimizes the downtime my customers experience when deciding to migrate their SAP ERP systems to cloud.
Using Velostrata, we migrate the current SAP environment to run online in the cloud, in minutes, while data is migrating in the background. Combined with SAP DMO, Velostrata enables customers to efficiently migrate their SAP ECC to SAP Business Suite on HANA on certified cloud instances while minimizing downtime. The data remains synced and the entire migration project is simplified and requires fewer resources (I do not need to purchase HANA-certified hardware on-prem for it).
How has it helped my organization?
I can give a couple of examples:
Reduced storage overhead costs by solving the datacenter’s over-provisioning and under-provisioning issues.
As an SAP-based organization, the solution allows me the freedom to create Sandbox environments ad hoc as needed with minimal overhead – both from a cost perspective and from a scheduling perspective.
What is most valuable?
The solution implements three features which are of great value:
- With Velostrata’s streaming-based approach to migration, I am able to start running apps in the cloud environment in a few minutes, regardless of how much data is associated. No special overhead costs. No need for post-migration adaptation. No need for a complex migration process that can take days or even weeks.
- Velostrata is agentless, which can save many hours of labor per server, and because it moves the actual instance of the application to the cloud, cutover is fast, does not require complex synchronization and does not risk data loss.
- Before Velostrata, the complexity of migration projects left me in a public cloud vendor lock-in after choosing my supplier. Velostrata grants me the freedom to move applications back on-premise or to another cloud provider.
What needs improvement?
Velostrata supports GCP as public cloud targets, which covers most of my customer requirements, but it would be good to see expansion for Google and potentially other clouds in the future.
Please note that recently Velostrata had been purchased by Google so it is still unclear whether or not it will still support Azure and AWS.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Again, no. Velostrata is quite scalable.
Because of its streaming-based approach, caching and WAN optimizations, the software can support mass migration of many applications simultaneously.
How are customer service and technical support?
Very professional. Velostrata’s people are experts in their respective fields and their managers have many years of experience with cloud computing technologies.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before using Velostrata for our cloud migration needs, we used traditional replication-based migration methods.
We have decided to switch because of the three capabilities and advantages that I have outlined in the 'valuable features' question above.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward and was accompanied by the provider’s professional team. The solution is a simple add-on to the VMware vCenter platform.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Velostrata is licensed per workload under migration and management, so per server pricing scales down as volume increases.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Velostrata introduces a new disruptive technology that is going to revolutionize the cloud migration landscape.
We compared Velostrata’s unique offerings with traditional replication based solutions and evaluated the significant added value we would gain by embracing Velostrata’s new migration methodology.
What other advice do I have?
The greatest value one can gain from using Velostrata is understanding how to integrate the solution into an organization’s day-to-day activities.
Whether it would be creating Sandbox or training environments, cloning a PRD environment to solve an issue, testing ad hoc patches without affecting on-premise environments or moving the entire Dev-Test workloads to the cloud – you should stop looking at the migration process as a time and cost consuming endeavor.
Instead, start treating the public cloud as a natural extension of your datacenter for your everyday needs. Velostrata allows you to do just that.