Cloud migration strategy: 3 key considerations

What is cloud migration?

Cloud migration refers to the process of moving an organization’s data, applications, and workloads to a cloud infrastructure. This typically encompasses either a mainframe to cloud migration or a migration from one cloud to another. Additionally, there are several cloud migration paths organizations can leverage for different applications and workloads, including rehosting, replatforming, and refactoring:

• Rehosting is the most straightforward approach to migrating an application. Otherwise known as a “lift and optimize,” rehosting involves moving applications to the cloud as-is.
• Replatforming requires slight adjustments to the code of applications so the apps can better leverage cloud features, boosting performance without a complete overhaul.
• Refactoring involves a significant overhaul of the architecture of applications to maximize scalability.

Regardless of which approaches to migration your business opts to take, careful planning is crucial to a successful migration. Too often, organizations migrate to the cloud without spending adequate time and resources on their cloud migration strategy — i.e., a documented plan that details the project’s objectives, scope, and methodology.

Without a detailed cloud migration strategy, your migration can quickly spiral into issues like downtime, data loss, and interoperability. By determining in advance which applications and workloads to migrate, identifying which path to use for each workload, and establishing how to manage security and compliance, you can execute a successful migration that aligns with overarching business goals.

Pillars of an effective cloud migration strategy

Your roadmap for migrating to the cloud will look different depending on the complexity and size of your IT environment, as well as your specific business needs and regulatory requirements. But there are several considerations that are critical to any cloud migration plan:

1. Assessment and alignment

The first step to creating an effective migration strategy involves setting clear objectives to identify which path to the cloud is right for your business. For instance, if your primary goal is to migrate quickly to meet urgent business needs or reduce data center costs, a lift and shift approach is an effective avenue because it doesn’t require significant changes to your applications.

You must also inventory your applications, data, and infrastructure before migrating to the cloud. A comprehensive assessment of your current environment helps you understand dependencies, calculate cloud server requirements, and determine which workloads should move to the cloud.

If this feels like a heavy lift, seek out a third-party expert with cloud migration tools and services, such as workload migration, to help you identify which applications will benefit most from the cloud in terms of cost, scalability, and performance. They can also help you prioritize which applications you should migrate first.

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2. Security and compliance

The integration of public and private cloud services with on-premise systems can make it difficult to maintain a cohesive security posture. The transfer of data between environments also presents a risk in itself. So as you develop your cloud migration strategy, ensure your approach adheres to relevant regulatory requirements and security standards.

Integrate a robust cloud security framework into your cloud migration strategy from the start. This involves establishing stringent controls around data access and movement, including the implementation of privileged access management systems and encryption technologies.

Moreover, cloud services typically rely on a shared responsibility model in which the customer is partly responsible for securing data and workloads. While your cloud provider may offer effective security measures, you still have to ensure they are properly configured and that all of your applications have the right controls in place. When selecting cloud services and configurations, make sure you also account for compliance standards relevant to your industry (e.g., HIPAA for healthcare or PCI-DSS for payment processing).

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3. Cost management and optimization

Although cloud migration harbors potential for significant cost reductions, many organizations fail to set clear KPIs for measuring those savings post-migration.

To establish a baseline for comparison, first conduct an assessment of current IT expenditures, which should include the cost of running applications as well as maintenance and staffing costs. With this foundation, you can establish specific KPIs to guide your migration and act as the measurement of its success. As you regularly monitor your cloud usage and costs against these KPIs, you can identify areas for optimization.

Additionally, a lack of nuanced understanding of cloud cost management principles can result in an inflated total cost of ownership (TCO) for your cloud environment. The right cloud migration partner can help you select the appropriate types and sizes of cloud resources (e.g., compute instances and storage options) to avoid overprovisioning or underutilization. And if you host applications and workloads on the appropriate infrastructure, you can further reduce costs associated with inefficient resource allocation.

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Why Ensono is the right partner for your cloud migration strategy

Your business’s transition to the cloud hinges on having an effective cloud migration strategy that emphasizes security and compliance, cost management, and operational continuity.

At Ensono, we have the expertise and cloud migration tools to ensure a seamless transition to the cloud, no matter the complexity or size of your current environment. We can help you reduce migration risk and accelerate your cloud transformation by using tried and tested processes and guidelines that are tailored to your unique requirements.

Ready to optimize your cloud migration strategy? Let’s connect.