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Moving to the cloud? It's a big decision. With so many cloud migration strategies, it can feel overwhelming. This isn't just about moving data. It's about transforming your business. How do you choose the right path?
This article breaks down six of the best cloud migration strategies to help you find the perfect fit for your business goals, existing storage, and application data. Choosing the right migration approach can also reduce your organization's need for third-party vendors and serverless computing.
Cloud migration is the process of moving digital assets—such as data, applications, IT resources, and workloads—from on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments. This transformation enables organizations to leverage cloud computing's benefits including improved scalability, reduced operational costs, and enhanced business agility.
Migrating workloads to the public cloud like AWS Cloud, VMware Cloud, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud is a large undertaking with different phases of migration requiring anything from shifting data storage to redesigning applications. You are essentially executing cloud migration and executing a new, core architecture at the same time.
Businesses choose cloud migration strategies for many reasons. Cost savings are a primary driver because cloud services minimize huge investments in hardware. This new cloud-native strategy for business gives you flexibility and agility.
Cloud platforms also allow you to scale resources quickly to meet changing business demands. Plus, cloud migrations can boost efficiency through more streamlined operations.
Here are some other key advantages that drive organizations toward cloud adoption:
Enhanced security and compliance capabilities
Better disaster recovery and business continuity
Access to innovative cloud-native services and technologies
Knowing core cloud migration strategies clarifies your migration options. These "6 R's" explain your high-level options for how to manage application dependencies and business-critical workloads:
Also known as "lift and shift," rehosting moves your existing applications to the cloud. You do this without modifying the actual code. It’s a fast migration strategy and the most popular for moving legacy applications or systems.
Rehosting is suitable for applications that don’t need cloud-native features. It’s like moving your server to the cloud: applications run the same on a new foundation.
Replatforming, or "lift, tinker, and shift," involves small changes to your applications. This makes them work better in a cloud platform like RS Cloud. The overall function and data remain the same, essentially optimizing application performance while using similar application data.
Refactoring requires a little more work, but can lead to higher cloud optimization and better performance. Refactoring is about rebuilding an application using cloud-native capabilities.
This strategy involves restructuring or recoding applications specifically for the cloud. You leverage cloud services for better efficiency and avoid inefficient legacy systems that require more resources and increase cost.
Sometimes, entirely different cloud software will better meet your organization’s needs.
A repurchasing strategy involves moving from existing applications to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) alternatives. This approach can eliminate the need for complex migrations while providing immediate access to modern, cloud-based solutions.
Retiring involves discarding outdated or unused services. This clears space and resources for more important operations. Sometimes, retiring an application altogether makes more sense than refactoring or rehosting.
Retaining, also known as maintaining, means keeping apps as they are. This can be essential to keep crucial business functions running, but the system may need changes later after preparation.
This “revisit” strategy can make a lot of sense if there are budgetary constraints, but workloads on-premises need better security. You're acknowledging that you will eventually need to migrate to the cloud, but are delaying the process due to other business requirements.
The right cloud migration strategy depends on your specific needs. Several important aspects of cloud migration planning and considerations influence what your best migration strategy involves.
Here’s what to consider during the decision-making period:
Start by listing current components such as servers, databases, and networking equipment. Make note of operating systems, application versions, and any customization. Evaluate storage and security needs. Consider existing storage capacity when planning to migrate workloads.
This process helps identify opportunities and potential risks before you start moving. The current on-premises infrastructure will also determine if you can adopt a hybrid cloud model where both workloads on-premises and in the cloud are utilized simultaneously.
A good migration plan accounts for dependencies between systems, as some may require migration together. Also, map data flows to ensure data integrity and smooth transitions between stages.
Define your desired outcomes for migration. Are you prioritizing cost savings, increased speed, better scalability, high availability, or a combination of all of the above? Clarify what you and the business hope to achieve to set expectations.
If you're migrating applications, identify performance bottlenecks and other factors limiting effectiveness currently. Consider how migration might support application performance, identifying opportunities for improvements during the assessment period.
This information drives choices throughout the cloud migration project process making it crucial at the start. Make sure that everything aligns with future scalability projections based on your business strategy.
Different cloud providers have varying costs and timelines. Some might require more restructuring than others. Factor these into the financial implications.
Calculate potential savings in IT costs including infrastructure, software licensing, staffing, and utilities compared with the cost of operating on cloud platforms including migration, ongoing operations, storage fees, compute charges, subscription services, and bandwidth expenses to determine the return on investment.
Consider the short and long-term costs and the timeframe implications before proceeding. Make sure your projected needs and long-term gains will exceed the initial cost and any service usage fees involved.
Planning ahead for any problems with a cloud migration helps reduce negative consequences during migration phases.
Cloud migration requires careful data security and compliance planning. Consider data privacy, industry regulations, data replication services, and legal guidelines for all data, from business-critical workloads to sensitive financial and medical records. The application data, as well as enterprise application access logs, all must be handled in a compliant manner during your migration.
Maintain comprehensive plans throughout the entire project lifecycle. This means addressing data security and compliance concerns during initial planning, implementation, and ongoing maintenance after launch.
If operating in multiple jurisdictions, understand the different legal and industry-specific requirements across regions while still maintaining consistent conformity. This is also a good time to update compliance plans according to regional requirements.
Integrating existing on-premises systems with the new cloud platform can cause complexities. Addressing gaps in service and maintaining consistent data flows without disrupting core business functions can be difficult, so it's important to ensure compatibility across the core architecture of your business between cloud services and applications.
Try to address system dependencies upfront during migration planning and design stages to maintain stability post-migration. In addition, establish consistent network communication paths between systems early on.
Minimizing downtime and disruption to business operations involves strategies like planned cutovers during off-peak periods, redundant systems and failover capabilities for disaster recovery, and regular backups to safeguard data. These steps help to reduce potential disruptions.
Incorporate backup plans to ensure quick rollbacks in case of unexpected failures during implementation which will limit widespread disruption if continuity fails at certain critical points in processes.
Change management helps staff adapt to new processes and technology efficiently during cloud migrations, however, providing appropriate training on new systems and updated workflows will ensure employees are aware of when changes are taking place.
Involve teams throughout to understand needs and create suitable adjustment paths for adopting modern flexibility and stability. Early preparation and employee training create smooth transitions.
Focusing on key aspects of migration increases your success. Follow these cloud migration strategy steps for planning your migration.
Clear planning is vital for cloud migration success. Outlining objectives, prioritizing workloads, and considering both short-term needs and long-term growth plans during migration planning processes improve transfer efficiency.
Identify which applications can move early, which applications can retire, and which legacy systems stay put. Also, consider potential benefits against cost factors like license fees.
Small-scale deployments, like pilot tests, reveal potential bugs early. This avoids costly fixes on live systems saving money and time.
Test deployments in a non-critical setting and progressively incorporate workloads and data as testing completes. Evaluate system compatibility for smooth transitions prior to full-scale implementation through a phased approach to isolate potential issues before the production launch.
Testing exposes dependency issues through realistic load scenarios. This verifies cloud services’ capabilities to meet projected needs before a widespread launch.
After migration, continuously monitor system performance in real-time, keeping a close eye on workload patterns and catching potential bottlenecks early. By carefully tracking how different parts of the system are being used, you can adjust resources and make proactive changes as your needs evolve.
Success starts with thorough planning—accurately forecasting your capacity needs during the initial assessment helps prevent costly surprises and unwanted downtime later. Rather than simply copying your existing setup to the cloud, take time to evaluate how you can enhance performance, fine-tune your architecture, and prepare for future growth while staying within budget.
Successful cloud migration depends heavily on clear, consistent communication across all teams involved in the project. When everyone understands the goals, timeline, and their role in the process, they're more likely to feel invested in its success. This means ensuring departments clearly communicate their needs, especially those requiring high availability, and maintaining regular updates between operational groups to avoid misunderstandings.
Building strong collaborative relationships from the start leads to genuine team buy-in rather than reluctant acceptance. Openly sharing the project's rationale, impact, and potential benefits across the organization creates a foundation for smoother change management during the migration process. This approach helps teams work together effectively whether they're managing hybrid architectures or coordinating across global deployments ensuring business continuity throughout the transition.
Maintaining consistent data synchronization between on-premises and cloud environments is crucial for a successful migration. Organizations need to carefully plan their synchronization strategy, whether using real-time updates or scheduled batch transfers while ensuring databases and applications maintain accurate information throughout the process. This careful planning helps prevent small discrepancies from snowballing into larger problems that could potentially halt systems mid-process.
Before moving critical applications to the cloud, it's essential to verify that your virtual system meets all functional requirements while complying with relevant privacy and data protection regulations. This is particularly important for sectors handling sensitive information such as healthcare or financial data. A thorough assessment of your data handling needs, including compliance with regional and international privacy laws, helps ensure a smooth transition while maintaining security and trust. Data streaming platforms like Confluent provide the foundation for secure, compliant data movement and processing during migration, helping organizations maintain control over sensitive information while modernizing their infrastructure.
Confluent's comprehensive platform enables organizations to build and manage secure, compliant data streaming architectures that power cloud migration initiatives. Our enterprise-grade features include:
End-to-end encryption and role-based access controls to protect sensitive data
Real-time data synchronization between on-premises and cloud environments
Built-in data governance tools for maintaining compliance and auditability
Scalable, fault-tolerant architecture that ensures business continuity during migration
Stream processing capabilities for data transformation and validation
With Confluent, organizations can implement reliable, scalable data pipelines that support their chosen migration strategy while minimizing risk and maximizing efficiency. Our platform's advanced security features and compliance tools help ensure that your cloud journey maintains the highest standards of data protection and regulatory compliance.
Cloud transition strategies are vital for a flexible, cost-efficient business future. Choosing the right cloud migration strategy is essential especially for critical systems.
Consider your legacy modernization needs, costs, and scalability. Use the Six R's and think about business requirements before fully executing cloud migration. Ongoing operations also play a part in strategy selection.
Proper planning ensures increased efficiency, maximizing productivity, and sustaining future innovation through a planned migration process. Remember to identify opportunities, secure data appropriately, maintain compliance, and focus on continuous improvement.
Learn how Confluent simplifies cloud transitions and boosts efficiency.