The 5 stages of planning and implementing a cloud migration project
Building a framework to structure your cloud migration project helps you plan and manage the process and ensure accountability for each step. In this blog, we provide an intro to the 5 stages of cloud migration and what each stage involves.
Today, as businesses go digital, they want their IT deployments to work as a single unit of connected and interoperable components that simplify business operations and drive team productivity. Cloud computing offers the products and solutions that make this possible. Key features of your IT deployments such as computing, storing, processing, managing data that were, in the past, reliant on physical servers and on-premise computers, are now simpler with cloud computing and need minimum to no physical infrastructure.
As several organizations will agree, migrating your enterprise systems to the cloud can be a complex undertaking. Ensuring a successful migration boils down to a practicable and detailed cloud migration strategy. Whether you are moving your data centers, developing a number of new applications, or upgrading your infrastructure, a combination of the right platform services and vendors is essential to identify the best possible migration method. A strong team of experts can effectively guide CIOs and IT leaders on building a cloud migration project plan that complements the organization’s business objectives.
The 5 stages of cloud migration project and implementation
Step 1: Planning and Preparation
First, you need to build a detailed business case for migrating to the cloud. This is a crucial step in the cloud migration steps as a business case is a strategic document that describes the need for cloud migration. It should ideally cover the key applications and infrastructures your enterprise uses with an analyses of their uses and drawbacks. Next, an important step for cloud migration is forming a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE). The CCoE is essentially a team of seasoned IT pros who are in charge of overseeing the entire cloud migration project plan and ensuring adherence to cloud migration best practices and compliance requirements.
Step 2: Portfolio Planning
This phase involves mapping out the inter-dependencies between various applications and deducing a method to migrate them. A lot of this depends on the complexity and importance of the applications themselves. Therefore, it’s advisable to roll out new methods and test them on relatively unimportant and easy applications. Apart from giving the CCoE a chance to gain some valuable experience, it also helps them master the iterative process.
Step 3 and 4: Application Design; Migration and Validation
The next two steps are usually carried out in tandem. In this, the applications are focused on individually and methods are developed to migrate them individually. Usually, one of the strategies from the 6 R’s – Re-host, Re-platform, Repurchase, Refactor, Retire, Retain – is implemented to transfer the application from a traditional setup to a cloud-based one. These steps are critical cloud migration steps to ensure a smooth transition.
As per the 6 R’s of cloud strategies, re-hosting involves moving – or lifting and shifting – servers or applications from the current hosting environment to infrastructure in the public cloud, while re-platforming means optimizing applications during the migration stage. A repurchase is when an organization decides to move to another product and refactoring involves making changes to improve services, availability, and security. Retiring refers to the process of identifying less critical assets and services and turning them off; while retaining means keeping a certain portion of your IT on-premise instead of moving entirely to the cloud.
Step 5: Modern Operating Model
This final step might seem like a mere formality, but it’s really important. The performance quality of any cloud-based system depends on its platform. Therefore, it’s of critical importance to ensure that the cloud system you’ve adopted is modern and competitive. It is fairly easy to update and optimize. This is the last chance to test out and update the effectiveness of the platform before beginning the cloud operations. This step encapsulates the essential elements of a cloud migration strategy and sets the stage for future cloud migration best practices.
Vbeyond Digital can help you plan your cloud strategy and implementation to move your systems to the cloud or build a future-ready hybrid IT model by combining the capabilities of Microsoft Azure with your on-premise infrastructure. Reach out to us to discuss your business requirements and get started.
