Whether you’re contemplating a transition to the cloud, in the midst of platform selection, or fine-tuning existing cloud resources, having a well-defined strategy is crucial to fully harness the benefits of the cloud.
A cloud migration involves the process of relocating an organization’s digital assets, IT resources, services, databases, and applications from an on-premises legacy infrastructure to clouds like AWS, GCP, or Azure.
The potential advantages, as long as carefully planned, of cloud migration are manifold, including cost-efficiency, scalability, flexibility, reliability, and reduced IT overhead. However, it is not just a lift and shift. You need a clear analysis of repositioning functionality based on the highest possible stack unless.
Use SAAS and phase out e.g. CRM-like applications, then PAAS constructions for e.g. connectivity and then IAAS constructions for remaining customization (and even there you can opt for a lift and shift or a ‘refurbish’ using services like for example SQL as a Service or Mongo as a Service or Kafka as a Service and so on.
Much like any significant analytics project, it’s wise to commence with a readiness assessment to ensure all aspects are accounted for. Before transitioning to the cloud, thoroughly review your existing environment, including business requirements, data, regulatory and security concerns, and current on-premises and cloud infrastructure.
With a comprehensive understanding of your operations and existing data-assets, you’ll be better equipped to chart the most effective path for your cloud migration strategy.
Here are the steps for a cloud readiness assessment:
One-on-one Information Gathering: Collaborate with key IT and business stakeholders to establish shared objectives. Ensure there’s a unified understanding of what a cloud migration entails for the business and the anticipated outcomes upon project completion.
Identify Goals and Opportunities: Determine what you aim to achieve with the cloud migration. Are you focused on cost reduction, improved transparency, enhanced performance, or increased agility? Document these goals upfront and calculate ROI to prioritize objectives with the highest potential business impact.
Evaluate Cultural Readiness: Often overlooked, this step is crucial. Key stakeholders should be prepared for the shift in mindset that the cloud and the migration process bring.
Decide What Will Be Migrated: Identify which applications, processes, and infrastructure will be moved to which cloud stack (SaaS, PaaS or IaaS), particularly considering networking latency and data volumes. Licensing stipulations should also be taken into account.
Calculate Current Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Total cost encompasses more than just server expenses. It encompasses factors like physical data center costs, cooling, electricity, security, disaster recovery, hardware, licensing, and data center staff. While the cloud presents cost-saving opportunities, failing to decommission current resources could lead to increased costs.
Once you have a clear understanding of your starting point, destination, and support system, it’s time to craft a detailed plan. Your cloud migration strategy should encompass the following elements: workload assessment, foundational architecture, platform selection, along with execution plans.
Workload Assessment and Prioritization: Determine what can and cannot be migrated to the cloud. This might begin with a database platform migration, which can be a straightforward “lift- and-shift” or a shift from a legacy to a cloud-native database.
Platform Selection: Choose the appropriate platforms for your migration. Different cloud models may be employed for different parts of the same workload.
Execution Plan (Big Bang, Phased, or Hybrid): Decide whether to proceed with a swift big-bang approach or a phased method, which allows for a more focused approach on smaller workload segments. The hybrid approach involves deploying the architecture to the cloud and migrating content in stages.
Micro Planning: Tailor the plan to the specific needs of each tool or workload. Consider the “6R” cloud migration strategies: Rehost, Re-platform, Replace, Rearchitect, Retire, and Retain.
Foundation Architecture: This involves considering the infrastructure, systems, and processes necessary before a cloud migration can take place. Key considerations include networking, identity and access management, security, data protection, and automation.
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