airwatch on prem to Cloud version

[glennc1968]

So we are on version 9.6 of airwatch,  We are wanting to go away from a on prem version to a cloud based version of airwatch.  My question is how is the conversion process,  I have been part of some that are fairly  simple.  Just wanting to hear the stories.

[RichB2u2]

We looked into this and it was too expensive for us to be hosted but the process involves a new MDM token so all devices would need to be re-enrolled!

[LukeDC]

For a price, Professional Services can migrate it all for you. But like Rich said, it's expensive IMO as well.

[chengtmskcc]

Rich, how much were you quoted? I didn't get to experience migration from on-premises to the cloud, but I do love the cloud-based model quite a lot at my current position.

If it's a dedicated environment in the cloud, there will be no need to re-enroll your devices as you will be migrating your workload to the cloud. If it's a shared, then Rich is correct.

[RichB2u2]

We were quoted $349,849 annually for 12,000 devices hosted which is about fives times more than what we are paying for our on-premise licenses. That does not include Professional Services fees for migrating! I told my boss they are not paying me enough if that's what my on-premise services are worth!

[chengtmskcc]

Wow that is a lot.

[CharlesEstacion]

Please note that there are different types of migration. There is an ON-PREM -> Dedicated SAAS. The other one is ON-PREM -> Shared SAAS. When you said your devices needed to be re-enrolled, you are probably looking to move towards a shared saas. There is no migration from ON-prem to shared saas. If you want to keep what you have right now and don't want to reenroll devices, you will need to migration your database to the dedicated cloud. on the day of migration, you will just switch external DNS entries.

Anyways, I pay 3 million+ for 3 years. its worth the move if you don't want to do the hassle of hosting and maintaining your on-prem. Been there done that and i think its worth it!

[chengtmskcc]

Nice write-up Charles. I'm in the same boat and couldn't agree more. Utilizing most if not all the wonderful features within the suite already tied up much of my time. Unless you have a separate team that handles server upkeep, moving it to the cloud makes complete sense.

When you switch over the DNS, I suppose you mean changing the public IP while keeping the names the same. Correct?

[CharlesEstacion]

thanks! yeah, everything will be the same(certificates, A-NAME, etc.). External DNS IP address will just be pointed from your company external IP to the AirWatch Cloud IP.

I also just wanted to expand, by moving to the cloud, you are getting rid of the stuff like (storage, power cost, people cost, and more).
You are not just paying for the licenses, you are paying VMWare to host your environment.

From Rich B's quote, it looks like they will be charging $30 per device. I think its a fair deal. Don't get me started on how much XenMobile or MobileIron is. 🙂

Cloud is not for everyone, but if you are a large enterprise, definitely consider it.

[chengtmskcc]

I was planning to migrate my on-premise setup to the cloud before taking a new position. We were a small shop with 500+ users and security is utmost important. Because of that, we hardly have anything in the cloud including Azure. How does your infosec team feel about having AirWatch in the cloud? Any concern, etc.?

And what about job security...................

[CharlesEstacion]

I work for a Bank.

Infosec is embracing the cloud since most of the stuff are in the cloud now. We are talking about Office365, Azure, Intune, etc.
Saying cloud is not the safe place to be is thinking backwards. Companies should adapt and assess the vendors hosting the cloud instance. The vendor in this case will be VMWare Dell.

Job Security is another topic. I believe if you constantly evolve your knowledge not just on VMs, on-prem stuff you should be okay. Besides, once you move to the cloud, the bulk work of stuff is still on the administration piece of AirWatch. Expand your knowledge on the latest stuff like Intune MAM and any mobility space like Android Enterprise etc.

[nandagopalchand]

We have done a On-premise to cloud migration. There is no need to re-enroll your devices if you are use the same url for the device services. We have used same URL for console, DS and API. However AWCM url was not allowed by VMware.
VMware will request you upload the copy of the DB in their content portal and rest was taken care by the professional team.
I am not going anything on commercials side.

[BenBurgess]

Some really good info in here!  We're actually moving from on-prem to dedicated saas this year.
Was there anything missing when you moved from On-Prem to Dedicated SAAS?  Stuff like accounts, settings, or certificates?  Just looking for anything we need to be prepared for before we move.  Any major hiccups or was it basically a seamless experience?