Top 5 Cloud Migration Strategies That You Must Follow in 2023

Summary: This writeup provides the best insights for creating a realible & secure cloud migration strategies. If you are looking for the same, then just follow along the below steps and checklists for seamless cloud migration execution.

It is not only Facebook that has recorded a surge or Netflix that has experienced an upswing in its number of subscribers during the Covid times. It is the Cloud industry too!

Out of all the industries that were pulled down in 2020, the only sector that emerged stronger than the rest was the Cloud business.

How did it happen? Companies that were earlier dependent on physical servers, did not find it a practical solution during the work-from-home situation. In a bid to maintain productivity, the companies had to move to cloud-based solutions like Office 365, Google Workspace, etc. Are you still wondering about the sudden uptick in the demand for Office 365 solutions?

Understand the Process of Data Migration to the Cloud

When you take your entire business operations from an on-premise platform or legacy infrastructure to a cloud-based platform, it is called migration to the cloud.

You can think of it as a physical movement from one place to another. The only difference is, here you move all your data, applications, and IT processes instead of physical goods.

Migrating to a Cloud can feel like opening Pandora’s box, if not done with complete diligence, proper preparation, and a comprehensive cloud migration strategy. But no matter how much effort it takes, at the end of the day, it is all worth it. As it results in saving the company a huge fortune along with providing greater flexibility while working.

Roadblocks During the Process in the Absence of Cloud Migration Strategies 

There are certain Cloud Migration Challenges that users face while they are going through this process. It is good to stay ahead of the game and be aware of them beforehand.

1. It Takes Time to Migrate to the Cloud

Businesses that have been in the industry for years must have accumulated loads of data. This large database looks like a problem when you have to migrate it to a different platform. A massive database takes a very long time to get transferred through the internet.

2. Problems in Keeping the Data Safe

Organizations have a lot of confidential information which they cannot afford to get leaked at any cost. Thus, reliable measures to keep the data secure are highly important.

3. Problems in the Continuity of Operations

Migration to the cloud can take days. This should not become a reason for the company’s discontinued operations. As it can take a toll on a company’s profits and productivity. For this, the company might require overlapping between their on-premise and cloud platforms for some days to continue working.

The above-listed challenges are only a few, you might find various challenges in this process, hence, a foolproof cloud migration strategy is a must.

Cloud Computing and Its Various Models

Simply put, cloud computing is providing services like servers, storage, database, networking, etc. on the cloud (or internet). This leads to better innovation and flexibility while working. Organizations need to decide the cloud computing model that suits their business based on the type of service they require.

These are the most popular models for businesses are:

1. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) Model

This model is appropriate for companies who outsource their data storage and server needs to a third-party data center, instead of purchasing on their own. It is like renting land, on which you can sow whatever you want but you need to bring your equipment and materials. This includes DigitalOcean, Google Compute Engine, and OpenStack.

2. The PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) Model

In this case, organizations don’t buy the hosted applications; instead, they purchase the development tools, infrastructure, and operating systems required to build their applications. So, the vendors of PaaS provide their clients with the things needed to build an application over the internet instead of giving the application itself.
PaaS can be understood as taking the tools and supplies required to build a house and not renting the place.
Examples of PaaS are Heroku and Microsoft Azure.

3. SaaS (Software as a Service) Model

Instead of providing the applications on the device, in this case, the applications are hosted on the cloud servers, and users can access them from there. Understand Saas as renting a place, the responsibility of the owner is just to maintain the house, whereas the tenant uses it as if he owned it.
Some examples of SaaS applications can be Microsoft Office 365, MailChimp, Google Workspace, and Slack.

Complete Checklist for Cloud Migration Strategies

• Create your Goals: It is important for an organization to lay down what its motives are. For example, their profit target or forming goals to compare against their actual results.
• Form a Strong Security Policy: Cloud Cybersecurity has a different set of approaches when compared to traditional on-premise infrastructure. You cannot place your assets behind a firewall as the network parameter usually does not exist. Thus, it becomes important for organizations to implement cloud firewalls.
• Copy Over Data: Pick a cloud provider and copy all the current databases. This should be done throughout the migration process on a continuous basis. This is done to keep the cloud database up to date.
• Move Business Intelligence: This step could involve reusing the previous code or framework. You can do it in small batches or all in one go.
• Switch Production from On-Premises to Cloud: when the cloud is live, the migration process is finished.

Different Types of Cloud Migration Strategies to Utilise 

There are 5 main strategies for cloud migration, commonly known as the “5 R’s” are:

1. Rehost – Companies who use IaaS, use this strategy and rebuild their application architecture on that infrastructure.
2. Refactor – Companies picking this method will use the already existing code and frameworks but run their applications on a PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) provider’s platform instead of IaaS.
3. Revise – This method entails rewriting or extending the codebase And then using it by either rehosting or refactoring.
4. Rebuild – The term “rebuild” refers to the process of rewriting and re-architecting an application from the ground up on the platform of a PaaS provider. This can be a time-consuming procedure, but it allows developers to make use of the new PaaS vendor capabilities.
5. Replace – Businesses can also choose to replace their existing apps with pre-built SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) applications from third-party providers.

Choosing the Best Cloud Deployment Style is one of the Best Cloud Migration Strategies

Depending on your needs and security preferences, you choose the deployment models you want.

1. A Private Cloud is a personal space for the user, where he can run the IT infrastructure on his own. It provides full-fledged security to the user but at a high cost.

2. In the case of Public Cloud infrastructure, it is completely operated by a company provider. You take all the resources you need for rent but cannot control them. The only benefits are that it comes at an affordable rate, thus making it perfect for companies with a limited budget.

3. A Hybrid Cloud is a blend of both the above-mentioned clouds. It aims to meet the advanced needs of a user. This can be done by keeping your confidential data in the private cloud and storing the less important applications and data in the public space.

How Can We Help You in Obtaining the Best Cloud Migration Strategies?

Depending on the legacy infrastructure can keep your organization from stepping into a world full of opportunities and higher growth. This issue can be resolved by trusting a Cloud-based solution. Migrating to the cloud is hyped to be tricky and a time-consuming business. This can be proved wrong by employing a Tried and Tested Cloud Migration Tool to work that won’t let you regret your decision.

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You can also opt for Cloud Migration Services if you don’t have a complete know-how of the entire process.

The Prominent Features of the Tool are as follows:

1. It ensures complete data migration to the cloud in one go. The items for migration may include emails, documents, address books, attachments, etc.
2. The tool allows domain migration by simply ensuring the user enters the source and the destination name.
3. It allows multiple account data migration simultaneously without any hassles.
4. The tool provides the real-time status of the migration taking place.
5. It allows the concurrent migration of more than one user by allowing the 40 mailboxes in batches.
6. It has a simple and easy-to-use interface. The installation and configuration have an easy setup with the admin credentials.

Software Steps to Make the Entire Process Smooth

• Step 1. Download, install and run the software on your computer.
• Step 2. Select the required source and destination migration platforms respectively.
• Step 3. Enable required workload and apply date filter for selective data transfer.
• Step 4. Provide respective admin credentials of source and destination platforms.
• Step 5. Create mapping and validate required permissions.
• Step 6. Click on the start migration button.

Final Thoughts

This article’s primary goal is to inform readers about the complexity of this process. Hence, we have also provided detailed explanations of several cloud migration techniques that can be utilized to prevent data loss when moving to the desired location. As a result, they should employ the best cloud migration strategies to achieve the best outcomes in the simplest, fastest way feasible.