6 Common Strategies for Cloud Migration

This article will clarify the six common techniques used when addressing cloud migration projects. In 2011, the Gartner group outlined five common migration strategies that offered an excellent benchmark for discussing and defining a cloud migration strategy in the early days of public cloud adoption. This technique has developed over time into six concepts that are widely used when addressing cloud migration services.

What is the Concept of a Cloud Migration Strategy?

A cloud migration plan describes how you can switch your existing workloads to your preferred cloud platform. You can, for example, transfer workloads to the cloud without making any adjustments, make minor changes to the underlying code, or completely rebuild your workload. There is no one better or worse approach than another; it all depends on what the company needs.

These six definitions are commonly called the six R's

:

1. Rehost
2. Replatform
3. Repurchase
4. Refactor
5. Retain
6. Retire

Every cloud migration will be different, and these techniques aren't mutually exclusive or conclusive. When running a cloud transformation workshop or brainstorming session, they can be used as instructions and conversation starters. At different stages of a cloud migration project, all or any of these techniques can be easily incorporated:

Common Strategies for Cloud Migration

1. Rehost

Also known as lift and move, involves moving servers or software from their current hosting environment to a public cloud infrastructure. For organizations just beginning their migration journey, rehosting and lift and change are traditional strategies. Running servers on a pay-as-you-go scalable public cloud platform has many advantages, so it's a relatively low-risk migration technique. Working backward from a set constraint or a hard deadline is a perfect technique. In reality, the application or server can be exported using a third-party export tool such as VMware vCenter or as an image that can be shipped to a compute instance or container running on a cloud add service. Since the operating environment isn't included in the container schema, containerized systems render this a simple exercise. Rehosting our monolithic framework can be a simple way to get started with cloud services if you're not using it.

2. Replatforming

Replatforming alters lift and change. During the migration point, Replatforming allows improvements to the program. Minor changes to an application's code or configuration are made in this cloud migration approach, allowing for limited optimizations for the new environment. Because of these changes, the time and resources required for this strategy are slightly higher than for rehosting but still lower than for some of the other strategies we'll discuss.

Through a re-platforming strategy, you can take advantage of some of the cloud's features without having to rewrite an application or workload entirely. It's an intelligent way to take advantage of cloud-native frameworks and features while staying within budget.

3. Repurchase

It is frequently referred to as a drop-end store. This refers to a company's decision to switch to a different product, including terminating existing licensing and repurposing services on a new platform or service. A CRM framework or an industry-specific program not configured to operate on cloud infrastructures are examples of this. Since code can be moved from one provider to another, this is often not required for applications written with modern application code. When using a proprietary data-based platform or proprietary product, the repurchase technique is often used.

4. Refactoring

Architecting or re-architecting is usually motivated by a desire to develop facilities. This could be because improving the existing environment is challenging, or it could be necessary to increase availability and reliability immediately to satisfy particular security or enforcement criteria. A lot depends on the type of service you choose to refactor when it comes to refactoring. If the service isn't mission-critical, it may be possible to re-architect it during the migration process. If you don't have a time limit, refactoring can be performed during the first step of migration; otherwise, it's easier to do it later.

5. Retaining

For some businesses, cloud adoption is still a long way off. Are you unable to take data off-premises due to regulatory requirements? Perhaps you're not ready to give a newly improved app top priority? Plan to revisit cloud computing at a later time in this scenario. You should just relocate what is necessary for your company.

6. Retiring

Identifying assets and resources that can be switched off allows the company to concentrate on services commonly used and have immediate market value.

Summary

A cloud migration, when done correctly, will open up new and exciting possibilities for your business. A poorly performed cloud migration, on the other hand, would restrict your cloud options. We've gone over six alternative cloud migration options, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. You're probably considering a rehosting plan if you want a rapid, painless migration that gets your workload onto the cloud but doesn't allow you to use its possibilities fully. If you have the time and resources, you might consider committing to fully utilizing cloud capabilities.