Understanding a Cloud Migration Strategy

A cloud migration strategy refers to a detailed plan that guides an organization through the transition of its data, applications, and IT infrastructure from traditional on-premises systems or outdated platforms to a cloud-based setup. While some companies opt to maintain their own private cloud environments, most prefer leveraging public cloud services offered by providers.

Cloud adoption continues to rise each year, accompanied by increasing investments in cloud technologies. Consider these insights:

• Gartner state that global spending on public cloud services reached $679 billion in 2024, marking a 20.4% increase compared to the previous year.

• Forrester Research forecasts that by 2026, combined revenues from cloud infrastructure, databases, analytics, development services, and cloud applications will surpass $1 trillion.

• According to the 2024 State of the Cloud Report by Flexera, both large enterprises and small to medium businesses currently run at least half of their applications on public cloud platforms, with plans to migrate even more workloads over the next year.

• A survey by the New Stack highlights a clear trend away from traditional on-premises data centers. For instance, 98% of respondents reported hosting applications on the public cloud, while 43% also utilize off-premises private clouds.

Developing a successful cloud migration strategy demands careful consideration and meticulous planning. In this article, we’ll explore what cloud migration entails, its key advantages, common strategic approaches, and essential steps for a smooth transition, along with potential challenges to anticipate.

Let’s start by examining the primary benefits organizations gain from migrating to the cloud.

Key Advantages of Moving to the Cloud

An effective cloud migration aims to establish an IT infrastructure that is flexible, reliable, and secure. The goal is to create an environment capable of adjusting smoothly to evolving business requirements while enabling innovation and scalability. Here are some of the main benefits organizations can expect:

Cost Efficiency

Transitioning to cloud infrastructure helps organizations cut down on both upfront capital expenses and ongoing operational costs. The cloud’s pay-as-you-go pricing model means companies pay only for the resources they actually consume, eliminating large investments in physical hardware, data centers, and support contracts. Additionally, automation and better resource management reduce maintenance expenses, making the cloud a financially advantageous choice, even when factoring in migration and operationalization costs.

Enhanced Performance and Availability

Leading cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Liberation Tek invest significantly in state-of-the-art hardware, extensive global networks, and numerous data center locations. Selecting the right mix of instance types, services, and geographic regions can improve application responsiveness, reduce latency, and boost overall system efficiency. Features such as content delivery networks (CDNs), caching, and load balancing further optimize performance.

Scalability and Flexibility

One standout benefit of cloud environments compared to traditional setups is the ability to scale resources rapidly in response to demand. This elasticity allows businesses to increase or decrease computing power, storage, or services based on current needs. For example, an e-commerce retailer may need more capacity during holiday sales, or a streaming platform might require extra resources for a live event. This adaptability prevents overprovisioning and underutilization, leading to better cost control and system performance.

Common Cloud Migration Strategies: The 6 Rs

When moving to the cloud, businesses generally follow one or more of these six common strategies, often called the “6 Rs” of cloud migration:

• Rehosting: Moving applications to the cloud with minimal changes, often referred to as “lift and shift.”

• Retiring: Decommissioning applications that are no longer useful or needed.

• Retaining: Keeping certain applications on-premises due to technical or regulatory reasons.

• Replatforming: Making slight optimizations to applications during migration without changing the core architecture.

• Refactoring: Rewriting parts of an application to better suit cloud environments.

• Rearchitecting: Completely redesigning applications to take full advantage of cloud-native features.

Rehosting

Commonly referred to as “lift and shift,” rehosting is the process of transferring applications and data to the cloud with minimal or no changes to their existing architecture or functionality. This method is often favored for its quick implementation and simplicity, as it demands less upfront effort and resources. However, it might not take full advantage of cloud-native features, which can limit improvements in performance and cost efficiency.

Retiring

During migration, organizations often identify outdated or unused applications and decide to retire them. This approach helps cut costs, reduce system complexity, and minimize security vulnerabilities linked to legacy software. By streamlining their IT portfolio and focusing on modernization, businesses can boost efficiency and better prepare for future growth. Note that retiring differs from repurchasing, where an existing application component is replaced entirely by a cloud-based service.

Retaining

Certain applications or data must remain on-premises due to security policies, technical constraints, or compliance mandates. The retaining strategy acknowledges that not every element of an IT ecosystem is suitable for cloud migration. By carefully selecting systems to keep in-house, organizations can ensure regulatory compliance and mitigate risks.

Replatforming

This strategy entails making small adjustments to applications or infrastructure components to exploit cloud-native capabilities without a full redesign. Changes might include updating the runtime environment, databases, or middleware. Replatforming enables improved scalability, performance, and cost-effectiveness, while requiring less effort than extensive refactoring or rearchitecting.

Refactoring

Refactoring involves rewriting or significantly modifying applications to fully utilize cloud features. This approach can deliver substantial improvements in scalability, agility, and performance. However, it is resource-intensive and time-consuming, making it best suited for mission-critical applications or those that can benefit greatly from cloud-native architecture.

Rearchitecting

Rearchitecting means rebuilding applications or services from the ground up using cloud-native designs like microservices, serverless computing, or containerization. This approach offers modernization and innovation opportunities but often demands considerable time and investment. The long-term advantages in flexibility, scalability, and performance usually justify the effort.

How to Develop an Effective Cloud Migration Strategy

To ensure your cloud migration aligns with organizational goals, a well-crafted strategy is essential. This plan should reflect your current IT environment and provide a clear roadmap toward your desired outcomes. Key guidelines include:

• Set clear objectives. Define specific goals such as cost reduction, enhanced performance, or increased agility. These targets will guide decisions around cloud providers, migration methods, and which systems to move. Establish relevant metrics beforehand (e.g., daily compute costs) to measure success and report to stakeholders.

• Evaluate your existing IT setup. Conduct an inventory of applications, data, and infrastructure to determine what is suitable for migration. This baseline will help measure progress and effectiveness post-migration.

• Identify dependencies and critical systems. Recognizing interrelated components and essential applications allows you to manage risks and prioritize migrations carefully, ensuring minimal disruption and business continuity.

• Plan for risks. Address potential issues like security vulnerabilities, compliance challenges, and downtime by implementing strong safeguards and backup plans. Cloud migration is an excellent opportunity to revisit disaster recovery protocols.

• Leverage automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Employ these tools to automate cloud resource deployment, management, and scaling, reducing human error and improving consistency and operational efficiency.

Eight Steps to Execute Your Cloud Migration

1. Select the right migration approach. Choose the best strategy or combination per workload based on your goals and assessment. Avoid migrating everything simultaneously—phase the move carefully with clear resource plans and timelines.

2. Pick the best cloud provider. Compare offerings, pricing, and capabilities to match your needs. Important factors include data center locations, performance, security, compliance, integration, and risk of vendor lock-in. Use the strengths of different providers based on workload requirements.

3. Create a detailed migration plan. Outline resources, timelines, roles, dependencies, and risk mitigation strategies. Incorporate fallback plans and rollback procedures to handle unforeseen challenges.

4. Set up a governance framework. Define policies covering access control, security, cost management, and compliance. Governance ensures consistency and alignment across the organization.

5. Train and empower your team. Provide upskilling opportunities or hire experts to manage cloud operations effectively. Ensuring your team has the right skills is vital for ongoing success.

6. Migrate in phases. Gradual implementation with testing at each stage reduces risk and disruption.

7. Monitor and optimize continuously. Use real-time data and analytics to improve resource use, control costs, and enhance security.

8. Review and iterate regularly. Evaluate migration outcomes against your objectives, refine strategies, and adapt to evolving business needs.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Even with solid planning, several obstacles can arise during cloud migration:

• Security and compliance risks. Maintain strong controls and collaborate with providers to meet regulations, especially in hybrid or multi-cloud setups.

• Skill gaps. Address the need for new expertise through training, hiring, or external partnerships.

• Budget control. Prevent unexpected expenses by careful planning and ongoing cost tracking.

• Compatibility issues. Identify early if applications need modifications or replacements.

• Data integrity during transfer. Use trusted tools and validate data to avoid loss or corruption.

• Minimizing downtime. Schedule moves during low-usage periods and prepare rollback plans.

• Managing organizational change. Communicate clearly and involve stakeholders to reduce resistance.

With the right preparation, these challenges can be effectively managed.

Maximizing Your Cloud Investment

When your organization embarks on cloud migration, Liberation Tek offers solutions to assist with strategy, architecture, and overcoming common obstacles like security, budgeting, and infrastructure management.

Start your cloud journey today with the right partner by your side.