Cloud computing is vital for businesses in the modern era, enabling innovation and scalability. To achieve this, Cloud Migration is pivotal in transferring applications and data to the cloud.

The urgent need for cloud migration is evident, as the global cloud computing market, valued at $445.3 billion in 2021, is expected to exceed $947.3 billion by 2026. This remarkable growth signifies an astounding over $500 billion surge within five years.

Managed IT Services are vital in simplifying the intricate process of cloud migration. In our blog, we delve into the essential practices that ensure a successful migration to the cloud with the help of managed services. We discuss key aspects such as infrastructure assessment, choosing the appropriate cloud platform, and devising a resilient migration strategy.

Instilling confidence and fostering alignment among senior leaders

Cloud migration is more than just technology; it’s a full digital transformation that modernizes your organization, unlocking efficiencies and driving innovation across departments. However, success relies on committed leadership. To gain buy-in, set clear goals, timelines, benchmarks, and measurement methods to inform the team. Avoid delays, implement timely solutions, and stay focused to achieve desired outcomes without false starts or lost momentum.

Base accountable leaders and ready your teams

To achieve successful top-down goals, your team must exhibit commitment, skill, and a willingness to adopt new working methods. Fortunately, the majority of tech professionals have a genuine affinity for the cloud, recognizing its potential for learning, innovation, and expediting digital transformation. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that individuals may resist change, potentially impeding progress or derailing plans.

To ensure buy-in, it is important to effectively communicate the non-negotiable nature of the cloud journey, supported by executive sponsorship and the transformative results it delivers. Additionally, address any concerns related to transitioning roles and highlight the vast opportunities in a cloud-led world.

To overcome hurdles, designate accountable leaders who are passionate about cloud transformation. These leaders will keep their teams aligned with business goals, track progress, and provide regular reports to senior management. Additionally, ensure your teams receive proper training to develop cloud understanding and capabilities, enabling them to navigate the hybrid environment effectively.

Build a Migration Plan

The 5 R’s – Rehost, Refactor/Re-architect, Revise/Replatform, Rebuild, and Replace/Repurchase – provide a comprehensive set of strategies for cloud migration. These approaches offer organizations a range of options when transitioning their applications to the cloud.

Rehosting, called lift and shift, entails migrating applications to the cloud without substantially modifying the underlying architecture. It offers a swift and efficient migration process, although it may need to capitalize on cloud-native capabilities fully. This approach suits enterprises seeking a prompt transition from on-premises to the cloud.

Refactoring or re-architecting involves rewriting applications to optimize them for the cloud environment. This method allows businesses to take advantage of cloud-native features and improve performance. It requires more resources but enables scalability and automation.

Revising applications through the process of revising/platform allows for leveraging specific cloud provider infrastructure features. This approach necessitates upfront investments and potentially modifying the existing codebase before implementing other migration strategies.

Rebuilding involves starting from scratch to develop applications, harnessing cloud-native features and cutting-edge capabilities. This approach maximizes the advantages the cloud platform offers but demands substantial time and financial investment.

Replacing or repurchasing replaces legacy systems with SaaS solutions, streamlining migration, particularly when legacy apps lack cloud compatibility.

Assessing each approach in line with business needs, including time, resources, scalability, and compatibility, is crucial to identify the optimal strategy for successful cloud migration.

Monitor Application Performance

Monitoring essential resources, regardless of on-premises or cloud hosting, offers valuable insights into system health. However, these tools may lack visibility into application state, responsiveness, and errors. Collecting and analyzing data in the current infrastructure and post-migration cloud environment allows a comprehensive understanding.

Combining resource observations with application performance monitoring identifies over- or under-provisioning instances in the new setup.

Licensing and Migration Cost

Managing licenses and migration costs is crucial for successful cloud migration. This task involves overseeing OS licenses, app server licenses, and licenses for third-party tools. Validating the transferability or conversion of licenses to cloud-based ones is essential. Cloud providers often include OS licenses in instance costs, but some allow applying for Windows licenses at the host level. Third-party tool license management is an ever-evolving area. One can choose between bringing their own license (BYOL) or a pay-per-use model when considering licenses. Evaluating migration tool costs, including expenses for third-party tools, is vital.

Validate Cloud Security

As per 81% of survey respondents, maintaining robust cloud security during migration is highly prioritized. The use of machine data, such as analytics and machine learning, is crucial for detecting vulnerabilities. Additionally, examining unprocessed log data reveals security breaches and identifies areas of improvement, facilitating timely resolution in the current environment while implementing necessary measures in the cloud.

Network Management

For a seamless migration, it is crucial to preplan the entire cloud architecture, and allocating resources to their respective subnets is crucial. The cloud allows creating virtual private networks and subnets with designated IP addresses, enabling efficient routing between them. Preserving the original IP addresses of legacy application components is vital to ensure uninterrupted functionality. To achieve smooth migration and communication, resources should be mapped to a unified domain name, and clear instructions should be communicated to stakeholders to avoid any confusion.

Overcoming Delays and Optimizing Speed

Selecting the right migration pattern is crucial to prevent stalls and slowdowns in the migration process. Overcoming standard stalls involves addressing anti-patterns. Continuous executive buy-in wastes time. Migrating everything at once causes challenges and delays benefits. Gradually moving to cloud-native architecture helps overcome this. Pursuing non-convergent goals leads to ineffective results. Alignment among teams is essential for a successful migration, addressing specific problems, and achieving desired outcomes.

Conclusion

Cloud Migration is critical for businesses aiming to thrive in the digital era. By adhering to best practices and utilizing the capabilities of managed service providers, organizations can confidently navigate the intricacies of cloud migration.

TECHOM Systems, a reputable Managed IT services provider based in Melbourne, Australia, offers comprehensive solutions. They assist businesses in achieving success by fostering leadership alignment, training teams, creating a robust migration plan, and ensuring security and network management. By embracing these best practices, businesses can unlock the full potential of the cloud, enabling innovation and future-proofing their organizations.

Embark on a transformative cloud journey with TECHOM Systems, driving innovation and ensuring a resilient future for your organization.