Migrating workloads to public or private cloud is a critical step for organizations looking to modernize and standardize their IT estate. However, the journey is rarely straightforward, especially for companies dealing with legacy applications, outdated security configurations, and compliance requirements. Traditionally, businesses have relied on Gold Images to streamline operating system deployments, but these images come with their own set of challenges, such as lack of documentation, limited flexibility, and compatibility issues with modern environments.
At RiverMeadow, we’ve developed a revolutionary solution called Gold Plating, designed to take existing workloads and bring them up to modern and supported standards. As part of the migration process, RiverMeadow clones existing workloads without touching the source to the public or private clouds of your choosing, then modernizes the operating system, applications, security configurations, and Day 2 operations stack on the new target clone to rapidly and cost-effectively extend the lifecycle of existing workloads.
Gold Images are preconfigured Operating System (OS) templates that include management tools, security applications, and custom settings. They are meant to standardize deployments across an organization. While this sounds efficient, the reality often falls short:
Many organizations fail to document the exact configuration changes made to their base OS. Without this information, replicating or modifying the Gold Image becomes a cumbersome task.
Gold Images often lag behind in supporting modern tools, OS versions, and security protocols. This poses significant challenges when moving to cloud environments, as compatibility is crucial for seamless operations.
Once a Gold Image is created, updating or modifying it can be time consuming, especially if it involves multiple third-party applications and security configurations.
Gold Plating is RiverMeadow’s process for modernizing workloads during the migration process. Unlike Gold Images, which rely on static templates, Gold Plating modernizes the target clones’ operating system, applications, security configurations, and Day 2 operations software, ensuring that workloads are modernized without the need for complete rebuilds which takes months and costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Gold Plating is ideal for organizations with large estates of technical debt, particularly in highly regulated industries such as:
With Gold Plating, RiverMeadow provides a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to modernize their IT infrastructure while migrating to the cloud. Our process ensures that workloads are secure, compliant, and optimized for modern environments, all without disrupting your operations.