Cloud computing
Cloud Migration: types and how to do it in the enterprise
Cloud migration is the process of moving digital business operations to the cloud.
Migration is a bit like a physical move, except that it involves moving data, applications, and IT processes from some data centers to others, instead of packing up and moving physical assets.
Just like moving from a smaller office to a larger one, migration to the cloud requires a lot of preparation and preliminary work, but it is usually worth it, resulting in cost savings and greater flexibility.
In most cases, “cloud migration” describes a move from on-premise or legacy infrastructure.
However, the term can also apply to a migration from one cloud to another.
There are various types of Cloud Migration: migration from the on-premise data center to the public Cloud; migration from one Cloud platform or provider to another (C2C, Cloud to Cloud); and, finally, Uncloud (also referred to as Reverse Cloud or Declouding), which is the process by which data and applications are brought back from the cloud to the local data center.
The theme is central: in order to effectively support business growth and diversification paths, a digital transformation is followed that is not limited to the simple use of the latest technologies but marked by the pursuit of better operational efficiency, cost reduction, and greater flexibility and agility.
In information technology, hardware or software is considered “legacy”; if it is obsolete but still in use.
Legacy products and processes are usually not as efficient or secure as more up-to-date solutions.
Companies forced to use legacy systems run the risk of falling behind competitors; they are also exposed to a higher risk of data breaches.
Legacy software or hardware may become unreliable, run slowly or no longer be supported by the original vendor.
Windows XP, for example, is a legacy operating system: released in 2001, its capabilities have been superseded by later versions of Windows, and Microsoft no longer supports the operating system by releasing patches or updates.
Infrastructure includes servers, network equipment, applications, databases, and any other software or hardware critical to the business.
Legacy infrastructure, such as outdated servers or physical firewall devices, can slow down business processes.
It may also add additional security risks as original vendors discontinue support for their products and stop releasing security patches.
Legacy infrastructure is typically hosted on-premise, meaning it is physically located in the buildings or properties where the organization operates.
For example, many companies host an on-premise data center in the same building where their employees work.
Enterprises that rely on on-premise legacy infrastructure are unable to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing.
For this reason, most organizations today have made at least a partial migration to the cloud.
The benefits of cloud migration
The main goal of a Cloud Migration process is therefore to be able to ensure that data and applications are hosted in the IT environment, based on the analysis of factors such as cost, performance and security of different options.
The steps and processes that the organization follows in the migration process vary but the benefits are much the same.
Scalability
Cloud computing can scale to support larger workloads and more users much more easily than on-premise infrastructure, which requires companies to purchase and configure additional physical servers, network equipment or software licenses.
Cost
Companies that move to the cloud often significantly reduce the amount spent on IT operations as service providers manage maintenance and upgrades.
Instead of monitoring the equipment, checking that it is always working, companies can focus more resources on their core needs, such as developing new products or improving existing ones.
Performance
For some enterprises, moving to the cloud can enable them to improve performance and the overall user experience for their customers.
If the application or website is hosted in cloud data centers instead of various local servers, data will not have to travel as far to reach users, reducing latency.
Flexibility
Users, whether employees or customers, can access the cloud services and data they need from anywhere.
This makes it easier for a company to expand into new territories, offer its services to an international audience, and enable its employees to work flexibly.
The main challenges
Very often, companies migrating their applications to the cloud focus on infrastructure metrics and neglect those more related to User Experience.
To ensure a Cloud Migration free of critical issues, one needs to take a broader view and look after various indicators, which relate to User Experience, application performance and infrastructure quality.
United with that, there are also some challenges to keep in mind.
Migration of large databases
Often, databases will have to be moved to a completely different platform to work in the cloud.
Moving is difficult, especially if large amounts of data are involved.
Some cloud service providers actually offer physical data transfer methods, such as uploading to a hardware device and then shipping the device to the cloud service provider, for large databases that would take too long to transfer via the Internet.
Regardless of the method, data migration often takes a long time.
Data integrity
After the data has been transferred, the next step is to ensure that the data is intact and secure and not disclosed in the process.
Business continuity
A company must ensure that its systems remain operational and available during the migration.
They will need to have some overlap between on-premise and cloud to ensure continuous service; for example, a copy of all data needs to be created in the cloud before closing an existing database.
In general, enterprises need to move a little at a time rather than all at once.
Types of cloud migration
Users will be able to select, configure and run infrastructure, platforms and applications that are truly “tailored” to the needs of their business/business unit.
Gartner describes five options for organizations migrating to the cloud.
These strategies are commonly known as the “5 Rs.”
Rehosting
Companies that choose this strategy will select an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider and recreate their application architecture on the cloud.
Refactoring
Companies that choose to refactor will reuse existing code and frameworks, but will run their applications on a PaaS (Platform-as- a-Service) instead of IaaS, as in rehosting.
Review
This strategy involves rewriting or partially expanding the code base, then deploying it by rehosting or refactoring.
Reconstruction
To “rebuild” means to rewrite and redesign the application from scratch on a PaaS provider’s platform.
This can be a labor-intensive process, but it also allows developers to take advantage of the modern capabilities of PaaS providers.
Coupled with this strategy is also Replatforming, a choice to modernize legacy systems to be able to run them in Cloud environments while maintaining their functionality, through application containerization options and software-defined data center virtualization.
Replace
Companies can also choose to eliminate old applications altogether and move to SaaS (software-as-a-service) with applications from existing third-party vendors.
Cloud migration strategies for businesses
That being said, common elements of a Cloud Migration strategy include assessment of performance and security requirements, choice of Cloud service provider, and Business Continuity needs.
When a company moves applications from an on-premise data center to the Cloud, there are two ways to migrate.
In the first case, one opts to take action with only essential changes.
In the second, however, the company decides to take the opportunity of the move to the Cloud to make the necessary changes to applications to maximize the benefits of Cloud environments.
Understanding performance against existing workloads and costs is critical to the success of any migration to the cloud.
First, the expenses associated with purchasing, running, and maintaining local servers must be analyzed.
Next, you need to evaluate current performance by gathering data from an application performance monitoring tool, such as transactions per second and bandwidth utilization.
The next step is to compare costs and performance indicators for on-premise and cloud environments.
The next step in the cloud migration project plan is to think about the target environment that most accurately represents future business requirements.
Private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud are the most common.
A private cloud is small-scale and allows the company to keep everything within its current data center architecture.
It requires large financial and technological investments and sometimes falls short in terms of services and scalability compared to other environments.
However, it may be the best solution for those who need the flexibility of the cloud but need to maintain total control over data and workloads.
The public cloud is a typical service provided by third-party providers, whereby they often offer a wide range of specialized, vast, highly scalable, and large-scale services.
Typical of this strategy is the pay-per-use model.
A hybrid cloud is a mix of both types mentioned above, combining several advantages: a very high level of control, flexibility, and scalability.
Hybrid clouds, however, require more investment and dedication to implement.
Similarly, some companies already comfortable with one cloud provider might try moving services between two or more providers, in an approach known as multi-cloud.
How to implement cloud migration effectively
Challenges of cloud migration include thorough planning, cost estimation, security and regulatory issues, business downtime, skill development and cloud training, and selecting the best migration partner.
It is critical to think about executing the steps as you develop your migration plans to avoid problems and be successful.
It starts with understanding the architecture, which is not always necessarily complex, as in the case of a simple compute instance that can be solved by rehosting.
Of course, there are more sophisticated cases that require distributed and critical workloads for mission-critical production environments.
So do microservices on the cloud and need to run very eisigent applications, such as artificial intelligence applications, on the cloud.
Enter the cloud architecture specialist, who will devise an appropriate plan for migration.
Leaders can then create the actual plan, making sure it outlines all the steps from infrastructure configuration to dependencies.
Eventually, the company will put the migration plan into practice and transfer the associated workload, dependencies and data to the ready cloud infrastructure.
This process also includes network adjustments to successfully (and securely) transfer traffic to the cloud workload, defining domain and IP settings, and preparing the security environment.
Each company has different needs and therefore will follow a slightly different process for cloud migrations.
Service providers can help set up the migration process.
Most migrations will include these basic steps:
Establishing goals
What performance improvements does a company hope to achieve?
At what date will the legacy infrastructure be retired?
Establishing goals to measure helps a company determine whether or not the migration has been successful.
Creating a security strategy
Cybersecurity in the cloud requires a different approach than on-premise security.
In the cloud, corporate resources are no longer protected by a firewall, and the network perimeter essentially does not exist.
Therefore, a cloud firewall or web application firewall may need to be implemented.
The copying of data
A cloud service provider should be selected and the existing databases replicated.
This should be done continuously throughout the migration process so that the cloud database remains up-to-date.
Moving business intelligence
This may involve refactoring or rewriting the code.
An activity that can be done piecemeal or all at once.
Moving from on-premise production to the cloud
The cloud becomes operational.
The migration is completed.
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