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planning and implementing a cloud migration project

The 5 stages of planning and implementing a cloud migration project

  Table of Content

  1. The 5 stages of cloud migration project and implementation

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, and 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 project plan. 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 identity on the best possible migration method. A strong team of experts can effectively guide CIOs and IT leaders on building a cloud migration strategy that complements the organization’s business objectives.

The 5 stages of cloud migration project and implementation


Step1: Planning and Preparation

This step involves developing a sound business case, a crucial step for cloud migration. A business case is a document that addresses why you need to migrate in the first place. It also doubles up as a comprehensive analysis of the entire company and its various applications. You might even come up with solutions for problems in the migration process during the development of the business case.

The next step is to form a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE). The CCoE is essentially a team of seasoned IT pros who are in charge of overseeing the entire process and ensuring adherence to best practices and compliance requirements, a fundamental aspect of the cloud migration project plan.

Step 2: Portfolio Planning

In this phase, which is a key cloud migration stage, 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

These steps for cloud migration are usually carried out in tandem. Here, 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.

As per the 6 R’s of cloud migration 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, an essential cloud migration stage, 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.

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.

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