Cloud Migration Strategy: The Ultimate Guide

Cloud computing has revolutionized the way organizations handle and take advantage of their technology infrastructure. With the immense benefits brought forth by cloud technology, businesses cannot operate without it anymore to achieve success.

Cloud migration significantly cuts down on capital expenditure as well as operational costs, thereby leading 94% of enterprises to use this technology. By 2026, the global cloud computing market is expected to become a massive $947.3 billion industry with an estimated CAGR at 16.3%. (Source: Zippia).

To steer this transformational journey well, great planning and execution are key. This guide will look into the critical steps involved in creating a detailed cloud migration plan.

What is Cloud Migration Strategy?

A Cloud Migration strategy refers to the plans and approaches that describe how applications, data, and IT infrastructure will be moved from on-premises environments to the cloud. A good cloud migration strategy will make the transition easy for organizations by reducing the risks of failure as well as ensuring minimal disruption so that the added advantages of using cloud computing can be realized.

Why Do You Need to Have a Proper Cloud Migration Plan?

A perfect plan of migration to the cloud will make your journey to the cloud easy and free from hassles. A perfect plan gives a methodological approach toward the process of migration. It helps the organization to avoid ad-hoc decisions and makes sure that every necessary step is taken in a logical order. To put it simply, a well-defined strategy is what makes resource allocation better, risk minimized, and success maximized.

Benefits of the Cloud Migration Strategy 

• Risk Mitigation

• Cost Optimization

• Minimized Downtime

• Data Integrity and Security

• Stakeholder Alignment

• Post-Migration Optimization

Top 6 Cloud Migration Strategies:

These 6 R's represent different migration strategies organizations can consider when moving their applications and workloads to the cloud. They are as follows:

1. Rehost

Rehost is one of the 6 Rs of cloud migration strategy. It represents moving applications or workloads running on an on-premises infrastructure to a cloud infrastructure without making many changes to the architecture and code of the application.

In rehosting, the application is picked up from where it has been running and placed into a cloud environment. The objective is to duplicate how and what function the application was performing in its previous setup, but now using infrastructure and services offered by a cloud provider.

2. Replatform

Replatform is otherwise referred to as lift, tinker, and shift. This approach falls within the 6 Rs cloud migration strategies, where applications or workloads are moved to the cloud with some changes or enhancements made so that they can exploit particular services or capabilities of the cloud.

The app is taken out of where it now runs and moved to the cloud, much like rehosting. Yet in re-platforming, small tweaks or changes are made to the app so it can work even better in terms of speed, how well it grows, or how cheap it is while running in the cloud.

3. Refactor 

Refactor, or rearchitecting, refers to the cloud migration strategy that implies substantial changes in the codebase, architecture, or design of an application so as to take full advantage of all the features and benefits provided by native capabilities and services within a corresponding cloud environment. It goes above mere tuning and involves restructuring and repositioning the application toward best practices and principles in the cloud.

4. Revise

Revise is one of the 6 Rs of cloud migration strategy, which means moderate changes to an application for it to run in the target cloud environment. It includes changes in certain components, frameworks, or librarie,s but does not take the application out of its existing structure and functionality.
 
Here, the goal is to fit it into the exact needs and limits of the cloud setup while avoiding big changes. This method works well if the main design of the app is strong and mostly deals with fixing compatibility problems or making certain parts better for the cloud.

5. Retire

Retire belongs to one of the 6 Rs of the cloud migration strategy. It refers to identifying applications or workloads that do not need to be run anymore and decommissioning them. In most common cases, retire means removing applications that are not contributing value to an organization but are very expensive to keep running.
 
The decision of decommissioning an application by a company is to make operations easy, reduce the level of complexity, and optimize resources by doing away with systems that are not useful or performing similar functions. This method helps in the liberation of resources, reduction in cost incurred from maintaining applications, and channeling energy to more pressing business priorities.

6. Retain

Retain is one of the 6 Rs of cloud migration strategy. It refers to keeping certain applications or workloads in their present environment by not moving them into the cloud. This describes an intentional choice of which systems to keep on-premises or within a non-cloud infrastructure for reasons that may include but are not limited to regulatory compliance, data sensitivity, and specific business requirements.
 
When an organization chooses an application, it intends to keep the infrastructure or environment where it is currently hosted while enjoying other cloud-related undertakings. This approach recognizes that it is not a must or not all applications/workloads are fitting to migrate into the cloud.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, cloud migration is vital for the expansion of any business. However, it is easier said than done. One has to start by doing good planning for cloud technology migration. With the above steps that this paper outlined, a company could move into the cloud and not worry about the complexities involved. A proper and well-thought cloud migration strategy would pave the way for a hassle-free transition, enhancing scalability, cost efficiency, and innovation. 

Looking for skilled professionals to ensure a successful cloud migration? Look no further than Clarion Technologies. Excellent services on your migration journey by expert developers. We design the perfect cloud migration strategy tailored as an industry leader to suit your applications or organization. Reach out to us.