The 7 steps of cloud migration strategy will help you successfully and seamlessly migrate data from one location to the cloud. Read the cloud migration ultimate guide to learn the 7 steps and 7 Rs of cloud migration strategy.
Cloud migration has become a cornerstone in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Regardless of size, every organization is migrating its on-premise data to the cloud platforms like AWS Cloud, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. The reason behind the mass adoption of cloud computing platforms is the cloud’s ability to reduce overall costs and inefficient processes.
With the help of cloud technology, companies can leverage computing power, on-demand data storage, etc., to make their business infrastructure efficient. In this cloud migration strategy tutorial for beginners, we will reveal the seven-step strategy for a smooth migration in 2023.
What is a Cloud Migration Strategy?
Simply put, a data migration process is an end-to-end plan or approach enterprises adopt to migrate data. Cloud migration also means moving a company’s databases, services, IT resources, digital assets, and applications from on-premises into the cloud or from one cloud to another.
Here are a few reasons companies choose cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Requires minimal IT infrastructure
- Improves flexibility and agility
- Ability to innovate faster
- Enhances performance
- Cost-effective and simple
- Ensures scalability and offers high-security
AWS is a highly preferable cloud computing platform as it offers businesses a wide range of services and tools for better data management.
7Rs of Cloud Migration Strategy
According to The Flexera 2023 State of the Cloud Report, around 87% of organizations embrace multi-cloud, while 11% prefer a single public cloud. However, it’s important to evaluate data against the seven migration strategies or Rs before executing large-scale migration.
Evaluating the applications migrated from on-premise to the cloud against the 7Rs of cloud migration will help you create a blueprint for migration. Whenever an organization moves data or applications to the cloud, the resources fall under one of these Rs.
Understanding the 7R framework of cloud migration can help you decide which application needs to move when, and why. Let us reveal what each R in the 7Rs of cloud migration strategy states in the below table.
| 7 Rs | Description |
| Rehost | Also referred to as a lift-and-shift strategy, rehosting means components from on-premises are moved to the cloud without making any architectural changes. |
| Replatform | The improved version of the lift and shift strategy lets you make deeper optimizations and configurational changes. It allows you to work better and faster without transposing the core architecture. |
| Relocate | Also called hypervisor-level lift and shift, relocating strategy means moving infrastructure to the cloud without modifying existing operations, purchasing new hardware, or rewriting applications. |
| Refactor | This is a well-revised migration strategy suitable for highly critical applications. It is also known as re-architecture or re-building, where you have to build applications from scratch and achieve the full potential of cloud-native technologies. |
| Retire | As the name suggests, this strategy means removing or downsizing the assets and services that are no longer useful or required by IT teams. |
| Retain | Retaining means finding applications that require refactoring architecture or code before you look for cloud migration options. |
| Repurchase | Also called the drop-and-shop approach, repurchase means replacing existing on-premise applications with any cloud-based software. You can transfer your software license from on-premise to a different cloud or replace the existing application with a SaaS product. |
What are the Common Cloud Migration Challenges?
Executing cloud migration without an appropriate strategy can be risky, as it can often lead to data breaches. Based on Gartner’s research, around 83% of data migration projects fail due to mismatched schedules or budgets.
With the data transition failure rate being so high, it becomes more critical for businesses to understand the common challenges and take proactive actions. In this section, we will shed light on the major challenges faced by organizations when migrating to the cloud.
Lack of Appropriate Strategy
A careful migration design and planning are necessary to make data migration successful. It’s essential to describe your goals and success parameters to measure migration success.
Complex Existing Architecture
Often, multiple steps are involved in moving data and applications from traditional solutions to cloud platforms. If the existing IT architecture of your organization is complex, it’s better to mic data in phases and ensure one step is completed before moving to the next.
Data Security & Compliance Risks
When moving to the cloud, companies must consider data security and regulatory compliance. You need to ensure the data and applications hosted on the cloud are secure without any underlying vulnerabilities.
Keeping in mind the challenges and their quick solution is of utmost importance to transfer data from on-premise to the cloud safely.
5 Phases of a Cloud Migration Strategy
The five clearly defined phases of this data migration are usually preparation, planning, migration, operation, and optimization. With the overall objectives of minimizing disruptions and optimizing the benefits of cloud technology, these phases together provide a concrete plan for moving workloads and data to the cloud.
Preparation
Organizations specify their goals for moving to the cloud during the preparation stage. These goals could include:
- Increased performance
- Cost savings, agility
- Scalability
They perform a preliminary evaluation of their current IT infrastructure to determine the availability of resources and evaluate its preparedness for the cloud.
Planning
Following the preparation and objectives stage, organizations create a comprehensive migration plan. This plan specifies the chosen cloud architecture, covers security and compliance needs, and describes the workflow migration process and procedures.
This phase also includes evaluating the environment and the variables controlling the migration, including the need for data synchronization, data compliance, and important data.
Migration
Data, workloads, and apps are moved to the cloud during the migration phase. Lift-and-shift, refactoring, and application rebuilding are a few possible techniques. Monitoring migrations closely guarantees that things go according to schedule and that any problems are quickly fixed. Reducing data inaccessibility during transfer is essential, and data migration is a significant component.
Operation
The operational phase, which follows a successful migration, concentrates on workload management in the cloud. It includes resource management, performance monitoring, and upholding security and compliance. During this phase, real-time monitoring and data protection is crucial, particularly regarding regulatory compliance. It’s also crucial to make sure that continuous performance and availability benchmarks fulfill goals.
Optimization
Optimizing the cloud environment is the last stage, which tries to improve its efficiency and performance. It entails optimizing cloud operations, locating chances for financial savings, and using cloud-native products and services. This stage is continuous since companies always seek methods to enhance cloud operations and increase their business value.
The process of cloud migration is an organized one that starts with goal-setting, moves forward with careful planning and migration, continues with effective operations and security, and ends with a continuous search for performance and cost-efficiency gains. These stages work together to guarantee a smooth and profitable move to the cloud.
7 Cloud Migration Steps To Know
Storing business data in the cloud offers a wide range of benefits, such as improved flexibility, scalability, and performance. However, migrating a group of applications from one location to another requires thoughtful preparation and solid strategy.
In this section, we reveal a step-by-step guide to how you can migrate data from your on-premise to the cloud. These 7 steps of cloud migration will ensure that you can seamlessly migrate data without worrying about data loss.
Choose the Right Cloud Migration Option
When you migrate to the cloud, it’s vital to understand that not all applications require a complete migration. You must access the application to determine which application requires full and partial migration. The five main options include:
- Extend to the cloud
- Lift and shift or Rehosting
- Replace with SaaS
- Cloud-native
- Cloud optimized
Set up a Cross-Functional Team
Successful migration to the cloud is a complex process that requires thoughtful preparation. Therefore, you need to create a team to manage the migration from start to end. The team will collect and implement user feedback, monitor applications, and address functional issues.
While following the 7 steps of cloud migration may seem easy, it can be time-consuming and complex without experts. You need to prepare a budget beforehand, provide the necessary tools to the team, and ensure applications are compatible with the cloud environment.
If you are facing challenges in preparing a successful cloud migration plan, consider contacting Inferenz experts. With extensive experience in cloud deployments, the data and cloud experts will ensure that your cloud migration is completed without a glitch.
Choose the Cloud Platform
The three principal cloud platform service providers include Infrastructure as a Service, Software as a Service, and Platform as a Service. Compare the different cloud service models before you choose the one that fits your business needs.
Collect Baseline Analytics
The baseline analytics or pre-migration data provides a comparison basis when running cloud applications. The core aim of the information is to help identify different metrics such as speed, user experience, etc.
Evaluate Security Risks
Migrating applications to the cloud without implementing cybersecurity can lead to data loss or breach. You must evaluate and address the security issues to prevent data breaches and securely transfer the data.
Initiate a Trial Migration
No matter how well you have prepared the initial strategy, it’s a wise idea to move a single application as a trial. Evaluate the performance of the application while migrating to ensure a smooth transfer.
Finalize the Migration Strategy
If the performance of the test application is speedy, you can finalize the migration strategy. On the contrary, if you detect low-performance levels or errors, you can address and rectify the issues in the final step to avoid downtime.
That’s it! Following the above cloud migration steps will help you move your data to the cloud of your choice.
Get Started with Cloud Migration in Cloud Computing
A robust cloud migration strategy can maximize your business value while reducing effort, cost, risk, and migration time. However, preparing the process is time-consuming. Collaborating with the expert team of Inferenz can give you peace of mind.
Not only will the team seamlessly migrate your business infrastructure to the cloud platform, but they will also reduce the risks of security and downtime. Contact Inferenz professionals to execute the 7 steps of cloud migration strategy that meets your business needs.
