A Step-by-Step Guide to Cloud Migration

May 26, 2022
Jhansi Rani
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Published On May 26, 2022

The move from on-premises to the cloud is a comprehensive process that requires a lot of preparation. The steps involved in cloud data migration are usually the same, while the process mainly depends on the organization’s size and its existing technology landscape.

To start a cloud migration project, you should anticipate any challenges in advance, set clear timelines, define your business objectives, and determine what resources you need for the project.

Define Your Business Objectives

Cloud migration projects require a complete understanding of your business applications. Begin by having a full audit of your applications and define the project scope:

Make a list of your applications
Identify which applications add value and which ones don’t
Find out which applications can add more weight to the cloud

It would help if you also considered any dependencies between applications. Several companies run a complex web of related applications, and shifting one application can affect the dependent application, disrupting your business.

Define the Criteria for Success

Clearly define the KPIs to measure success and identify failure in your cloud migration project. Defining KPIs aligned with your business objectives helps you track and measure success better. Here are a few important KPIs you can measure before and after the cloud migration:

Availability: Will migrating to the cloud improve access for end-users? This is typically measured based on the amount of downtime per year.

Costs: Will the maintenance and support costs reduce when you migrate to the cloud? You must also include the costs of change management and training for your team.

Scalability: How quickly do you need to scale up or scale down? Can your existing on-premise system withstand heavy load during peak times or remain idle during a decline in usage?

Operational Load: Will the operational load on your systems reduce after cloud migration? Can you save time and money by deploying and configuring your systems in the cloud compared to on-premises?

Latency and Speed: Will your end-users be able to access the systems faster with a geographically distributed cloud network? Will there be any lag due to it?

Choose the Right Cloud Provider

After selecting a cloud model – public, private, or hybrid- research the top cloud providers in the market and identify which provider is right for your requirements. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are the biggest and most competent cloud providers. They can offer all the cloud models and cloud migration services you need. They also provide convenient cost calculators that can provide a ball-park estimate of the costs you will incur for their services.

Automate the Migration Process

Several cloud migration tools are specifically designed to simplify your cloud migration and automate the most tedious and time-consuming tasks. You can deploy these tools to speed up your migration, reduce costs, and minimize risk, ensuring that the migration project is executed as intended. The top cloud providers offer automation tools, such as AWS Server Migration Service, Azure Migrate, and Google’s Migrate for Compute Engine. Implementation partners also offer several automation tools and cloud migration services to optimize and speed up your migration.

Select the Right Migration Strategy

There are six common cloud migration strategies, known as the 6 R’s:

Rehost: You can clone your servers and move them to a chosen cloud provider’s infrastructure (IaaS).

Replatform: You can transfer your applications to the cloud while modernizing certain application parts.

Refactor: You can modify the application code to leverage cloud capabilities better.

Repurchase: You can move your applications to off-the-shelf, SaaS-based solutions.

Retire: You can eliminate applications that you don’t use anymore.

Retain: You can retain applications that cannot be changed or migrated.

Create Backups

Migrating to the cloud requires an effective backup and recovery plan. When there are issues with data stored on-premises, your IT staff can assist by reloading the data from backup drives into your applications. This is not an option in the cloud, but there are some steps you can take:

Adopt cloud-native backup tools, cloud migration services, and best practices from your cloud provider for safe and convenient backups.
Develop a robust data governance policy with access controls and ensure that the right people access the correct data.
Train your staff to work with cloud applications to reduce mistakes and minimize accidental data loss.
Protect critical data by identifying and flagging it for anti-deletion and create backups just in case something goes wrong.
Most cloud providers offer flexible and automated data backups. Conduct repeated tests to determine how your automated backup strategy performs in case of a disaster and make adjustments if necessary.

Start Your Cloud Migration

Make sure that you comply with the above checklist for a smooth transition, and when you’re fully prepared, it’s time to begin the cloud migration. Go ahead and move your data, applications, and users to the cloud at this stage.

Rite Software is expertise in Oracle Cloud Implementation, migration, and supports services. Oracle Database migration to the cloud is simplified with tools like ConvertRite, CloudMiner, and RiteSync.