Cloud migration refers to the process of moving applications, data, and workloads from on-premises environments or one cloud provider to another.
Drivers for cloud migration include cost savings, scalability, agility, improved security, and the ability to leverage advanced cloud services.
The six common cloud migration strategies are Rehost (lift and shift), Replatform, Repurchase (buy a SaaS solution), Refactor (rearchitect), Retire, and Retain (leave unchanged).
The "lift and shift" strategy (Rehost) involves moving applications and data as they are from on-premises to the cloud without significant modifications.
The "replatform" strategy involves making minor adjustments to applications or databases before migrating them to the cloud, often to optimize for cloud services.
The "rebuy" strategy (Repurchase) involves replacing an existing application with a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. It's suitable when a suitable SaaS option is available.
The "rearchitect" strategy (Refactor) involves modifying or rearchitecting applications to fully leverage cloud-native features and services.
The choice of strategy depends on factors like business goals, existing technology stack, application complexity, and desired outcomes.
The "rearchitect" strategy can lead to improved performance, scalability, and cost savings by utilizing cloud-native services.
A migration readiness assessment helps evaluate an organization's current environment, readiness for cloud migration, and the appropriate migration strategy to adopt.
You can use strategies like blue-green deployments, canary releases, and traffic shifting to minimize downtime and ensure a smooth migration process.
Data migration involves moving data from on-premises databases to cloud-based databases, ensuring data consistency, integrity, and minimal disruption.
The "big bang" approach involves migrating all applications and data at once, which can be risky due to potential disruptions. It's often considered when there's a clear deadline.
The "staged" approach involves migrating applications or components in stages, allowing for gradual adoption and risk mitigation.
The "strangler" pattern involves gradually replacing components of an existing application with cloud-native components until the entire application is migrated.
Automation streamlines the migration process by reducing manual tasks, ensuring consistency, and accelerating deployments.
Security should be considered at every stage of migration. Ensure data encryption, access controls, compliance, and monitoring are in place.
Understanding application dependencies is crucial. You can use tools to map dependencies and ensure that all necessary components are migrated together.
The "lift and reshape" strategy involves moving applications to the cloud and then making necessary adjustments for better cloud optimization and cost savings.
Testing helps identify issues, validate performance, and ensure the migrated applications function as expected in the new cloud environment.