Cloud Migration Strategy: How To Build a Plan That Works for Enterprise IT

Are you thinking about migrating to the cloud? Devising a cloud migration strategy is crucial because it ensures the smoothest transition for your enterprise. Learn more in the following sections.

What Is a Cloud Migration Strategy and Why Does It Matter?

A cloud migration strategy is a well-defined plan that guides your enterprise in moving its data, applications, infrastructure, and other digital assets to a cloud environment. This structured, strategic approach differs from ad-hoc cloud adoption, which involves migrating to the cloud in an impromptu way.

Devising a comprehensive strategy helps you define goals for cloud migration. These may include agility, innovation, scalability, and cost optimization.

Assessing Readiness

You'll want to carry out a readiness assessment for all people, processes, and workloads involved in your enterprise cloud migration strategy. Doing so can identify any challenges that might arise when migrating to the cloud.

One of the best ways to assess readiness is to work with an expert. Dell Technologies, for example, can assess the apps you use in your enterprise and guide you on how to move them to the cloud. Some apps, like SQL Server, may be difficult to move to a virtualized environment because they are intended for on-premise use, so working with a professional can result in more successful migration.

Choosing the Right Cloud Model for Your Business

One of the first things to consider in your cloud data migration strategy is the type of cloud model you want to adopt. The three staple options are public, private, and hybrid:

Public: A public cloud is one you share with other organizations. Essentially, you rent a server, data center, and other resources from a cloud provider like Dell, Microsoft, or Amazon Web Services.
Private: A private cloud is a dedicated cloud just for your enterprise, meaning you don't share it with anyone else. You can host it on your own server or access it from a provider such as Dell or Microsoft.
Hybrid: A hybrid cloud is a combination of a public and private cloud. You use a public cloud for some workloads and a private cloud for others, which could offer more flexibility.

You may want to consider migrating to a multi-cloud environment, which allows you to distribute digital assets across multiple providers with cloud-native features.

Types of Cloud Migration Strategies

After deciding what cloud environment you want to migrate to, it's time to choose a cloud computing migration strategy. The most common strategies, also known as the 5 Rs, are as follows:

Rehost: Also known as lift-and-shift, the rehost strategy involves moving assets to the cloud as they are with no code changes.
Replatform: The replatform strategy involves moving assets to the cloud with some minor code changes.
Refactor: With the refactor strategy, you'll need to rewrite app code and make more significant changes to digital assets.
Repurpose: The repurpose (or repurchase) strategy involves replacing apps and other digital assets with cloud-based versions. For example, you'll replace an on-premise customer management relationship system with a software-as-a-service alternative.
Retire: With the retire method, you'll stop using certain apps in your enterprise because they no longer provide value. You may choose to use cloud infrastructure and apps instead or not replace them all.

Key Tips To Build a Secure and Compliant Migration Plan

Migrating digital assets to the cloud can lead to all kinds of safety challenges, with cloud security incidents affecting 80% of companies in the past year.

Pre-migration security baselining can prevent cloud computing vulnerabilities from occurring. It means assessing your current security controls and disaster recovery plan before you even move to the cloud, reducing the likelihood of unauthorized data access.

You should also think about how you will comply with data security frameworks like GDPR, PCI DSS, and HIPAA when migrating to the cloud. Violating these frameworks can lead to hefty government fines and jeopardize your reputation. Consider using security architecture from a provider like Dell, which can help you adhere to various data protection regulations.

How To Execute Your Migration

Here's a quick overview of how to execute a successful migration in your enterprise:

Choose the right tools: Cloud migration tools automate the migration process from start to finish. Find ones that align with your team's goals, such as Dell Migration Services, Dell Hybrid Cloud Solutions, Dell Cloud Console, or cloud-to-cloud migration, serverless computing, and APEX tools.
Test, test, test: It's important to make sure apps and other assets will work correctly in the cloud. Remember to test response times and load handling and pilot other workloads early on in the process.
Timing is everything: Pick the right time to start migrating assets to the cloud. You'll want to avoid service disruptions in your enterprise as much as possible, so plan ahead.
Validate migration: After migration, validate that all apps and assets work correctly in your new cloud environment and comply with data governance frameworks.

Common Pitfalls in Cloud Migration — and How To Avoid Them

Not planning how all your cloud systems will integrate might disrupt business processes, so create a comprehensive integration blueprint for your team that lays out data flows, connection points, and other elements.

Some of the biggest migration challenges come after moving assets to the cloud. For example, you may underestimate the costs of data egress, which happens when you transfer data from the cloud to an external location. A cloud service provider might charge you to do this, so always check before you move data from the cloud.

Shadow IT is another problem to think about. It occurs when team members use apps and cloud services without your permission, leading to potential security risks. You can prevent this by using migration tools to detect unauthorized app usage and training your team on how to use your approved tools.

Dell Technologies offers various web and cloud solutions for your enterprise. However, knowing which technologies to use and how to implement them can be tough. Elevate User Community is an independent group of IT professionals, helping you get more value from Dell Technologies.

FAQs

What are the 5 Rs of cloud migration?

The most common types of cloud migration strategies, also known as the 5 Rs, are rehost, replatform, refactor, repurpose, and retire.

What are the 7 strategies of cloud migration?

Instead of one of the 5 Rs, you may want to choose one of two other strategies for cloud migration: retain or relocate. The retain strategy involves keeping specific apps on-premise instead of moving them to the cloud. The relocate strategy involves transferring virtual machines from an on-premise environment to the cloud.