What are the 6 cloud migration strategies?

The 6 R’s of Cloud Data Migration Strategy :

Rehost

Say you want to transfer your on-premises Oracle database to an EC2 instance in AWS with little upfront effort. Then rehosting is for you! It’s one of the fastest and most comfortable cloud data migration strategies that transfer data without code-level modifications.

Here’s how it works– this “lift and shift” pattern moves data assets from on-premises infrastructure to cloud migration techniques, especially adopted for large-scale migrations. What’s more, it also improves the speed and implementation of the cloud at a lower cost. Rehosting can be automated using tools like Cloud Endure Migration and AWS VM Import/Export, but you could also go for manual execution to achieve cloud maturity.

Despite these multiple uses, you may not be able to fully avail yourself of features like ephemeral compute and auto-scaling. Legacy and resource-intensive apps can also face latency problems due to non-compatibility with cloud environments.

Cordant Group rehosted its IT operations on AWS and saved up to 50% infrastructure costs

The Cordant Group, a top protection and skills management business in the UK, had an extensive IT infrastructure to suit a broad scale of company procedures. It could save 40-50% costs by shifting from an on-premise CapEx to a cloud-based adoption OpEx instance. It operated the ‘lift and shift’ approach to successfully relocate its whole IT functions to the AWS cloud including numerous websites, client desktop services, and SQL databases.

Use Cases

Use Rehost if you’re:

• migrating a large-scale enterprise
• migrating off-the-shelf applications
• new to the cloud
• migrating with a deadline

Replatform

This ‘lift, tinker, and shift’ method is a changed version of rehosting. Replatform allows you to create a few configurational modifications to the apps to better suit the cloud atmosphere without altering their core architecture. Designers generally apply this method to transform the way apps interact with the database so they can run on driven platforms like Google CloudSQL or Amazon RDS.

Having said that, it’s also essential that you review your project in intervals, so it accomplishes conversion into a full refactor. The key is to avoid unnecessary modifications to deal with this risk.

Pinterest improved infrastructure capacity by 80% in non-peak hours

Pinterest migrated from AWS’s legacy cloud to the next-gen cloud computing system when it reached over 250 million consumers and helped more than 1,000 microservices with different infrastructure layers and devices. It followed the ‘lift, tinker, and shift’ strategy to move the microservices to Docker containers powered by Kubernetes. As a result, it reduced the model hours for the engineers and made it cost-effective.

Use Cases

Use Replatform if you want to:

• leverage the advantages of the cloud without refactoring the app
• migrate with a time-crunch
• migrate a complex on-premises app with minor tweaks for cloud benefits

Refactor/Re-architect

Refactor or Re-architect process involves rewriting your applications from scratch to create them cloud-native. This method allows you to realize the full potential of cloud-native technologies like microservices architecture, serverless, containers, function-as-a-service, and load balancers. For instance, you can refactor assets when you move your digital investments from an on-premise monolithic architecture to a full server-less architecture in the cloud. These refactored applications are scalable, agile, efficient, and return ROI in the long run, actually in the most competitive markets.

This system is the most pricey, resource-intensive, and time-consuming compared to the others but will demonstrate the most worth in the long run. Some other challenges you might encounter can be the absence of cloud crafts, complex projects, and program delivery, or potentially significant business trouble. The key is to prioritize shorter chunks of your monolithic application as microservices and then refactor them. Also, authorize the legacy applications to run on-premises while you reconstruct in the cloud to avoid disruption.

Netflix saw an 8X times growth in streaming members

Netflix chose to migrate to the cloud when it experienced major database corruption for three days back in 2008. Netflix chose to re-engineer all of its technology and fundamentally transform the way they work, with AWS as the cloud provider. High reliability, horizontal scalability, and distributed systems in the cloud were essential to their success. The entire refactoring brought those years but proved the best approach for them. Today, it has eight times as numerous members as in 2008 and is a global OTT platform with a presence in 130 countries.

Use Cases

Use Refactor if:

• The application will achieve the most from the cloud
• An on-premise app is not consistent with the cloud
• There is a powerful company drive to add scalability, speed, performance

Repurchase

Repurchase, also understood as the “drop and shop” method, replaces the on-premise application with a cloud-native vendor-packaged software. It generally implies moving to a SaaS (Software as a Service) application with the same capabilities. Effectively, it entails a licensing transformation sometimes––you drop the current on-premise license and create a new license agreement with the cloud provider for their solution. The newer, upgraded cloud version presents you with a better deal with higher efficiency, savings on app storage, and maintenance costs.

For instance: shifting from on-premise CRM to Salesforce or Hub spot, moving to Workday for HRM, migrating your built-in CMS to Drupal. This process is easy, fast, and eliminates a lot of migration effort.

Some limitations you might face with repurchasing are training your staff for the new software or vendor lock-in. SaaS platforms offer little customizability and power comparatively. You might handle the pinch of losing a highly-tailored on-premise custom solution.

Airbnb saved the expense of at least one functions position by shifting to Amazon RDS

Airbnb changed to Amazon RDS and dropped MySQL during their migration to AWS. Complex processes like replication and scaling were challenging to execute with MySQL. Amazon RDS simplified and controlled much of the time-intensive administrative duties associated with databases. As a development, the engineers could spend more time developing. And the whole database was migrated to Amazon RDS with only 15 minutes of downtime.

Use Cases

Use Repurchase if:

• You’re replacing software for standard operations like finance, accounting, ERP, CRM, HRM, email, CMS, etc.
• A legacy app is not consistent with the cloud

Retire

In the ‘retire’ plan, you get divested of applications no longer required or productive for your IT portfolio. If an application is considered not worth relocating to the cloud, it can either be destroyed or downsized. It authorizes you to examine all your applications in terms of their uses, dependences, and cost to the business. It is a rather passive process as there is no migration. According to Stephen Orban at AWS, as much as 10% of a company's IT portfolio is no longer useful when migrating to the cloud and can be easily turned off.

Though it sounds straightforward, decommissioning apps is a complicated procedure and critical to determining which apps to retire. It should be done in the initial phases of planning so you can migrate pivotal applications or services, decrease the scope of applications to migrate, and save resources.

Here are some references for retiring applications during cloud migration:

• Archive applications that have useful data.
• Retire applications with replication capabilities to save costs.
• Retire apps whose functionality can be added to another through microservices.

Autodesk enhanced its UX and security by retiring 209 application environments

Autodesk quit some applications during its migration to AWS to improve efficiency, resilience, and automation through large-scale migration and modernization. It withdrew 209 application environments that decreased the attack surface and migrated 239 apps with 97% cost efficiency. Overall, the company achieved enhanced business results, reduced costs, better end-user experience, and stronger security.

Use Cases

Use Retire if:

• An app is duplicative or outdated
• A legacy app is not consistent with the cloud and provides no productive significance anymore
• You choose to refactor or repurchase an app

Retain

Retaining, also referred to as re-visit, or revisiting some necessary applications/portions of your digital assets that require a substantial amount of refactoring before relocating them to the cloud. Ultimately, you may figure out some applications are more suited for on-premise accounts or have been recently upgraded and ought to be retained. In other cases, applications are retained due to latency needs, compliance or regulatory rules, or it’s simply not cost-efficient.

Retaining is often used in hybrid cloud deployment by the company to ensure business continuity during large-scale migrations that take several years. For instance, Johnson & Johnson and Hess Corporation, developed a hybrid cloud background to support their ongoing migrations to AWS. It offers advantages of the cloud as well as keeping the required workloads and confidential data on-premise.

Use Cases

Use Retain if:

• You embrace a hybrid cloud model during migration
• You’re heavily invested in on-premise applications
• A legacy app is not compatible with the cloud and functions well on-prem
• You decide to revisit an app later

Now that you’re familiarized with the various cloud migration processes, you’re ready to design and execute them! Don’t forget to evaluate every part of your company while designing your migration strategies like costs, security, scaling requirements, timeline, expertise, and your company objectives. Right guidance and meticulous planning are essential for a successful migration.

Simform has wandered several organizations through the intricacies of cloud migration, and we live by these seven best practices to facilitate and accelerate the leap from legacy systems to the cloud.

Concluding Remarks

Cloud migration is a challenging journey, but it doesn’t have to be with the right understanding and approach. These techniques aren’t definitive but surefire ways to get started with migration planning. The choice of approaches also relies on which migration model you select or have in place for your organization, for example, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), or Platform as a Service (PaaS). Your migration project can be a combination of some of these methods or include all of them, as there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy.

Say your community isn’t into tech like Spotify. You don’t want to pay hours operating on data means or hiring more resources. Well, you know what Spotify did? It sought help from technology advisors to migrate to the Google cloud platform.

Fret not! You can get begun with this new technology too! Seek help from the right cloud services partners to decide what suits your requirements, make a structured framework, and conduct your migration plan or Work with PerfectionGeeks Technologies.