As the world recovers from the ravages of the supply chain nightmare and ballooning inflation caused by the lockdowns and containment measures, one thing is apparent: operational costs have to come down.
But it’s not just that; business leaders must be prepared to increase shareholder value and deliver the best value to their customers and target market. While there are many ways to achieve this, none comes close to delivering on all three aspects of cloud migration.
However, the implementation part of cloud migration and modernization is often riddled with challenges, and these can quickly reverse or even forestall any gains that would’ve been realized. Here’s a curated guide on seven key steps for successful cloud migration and modernization.
Step 1. Start By Defining Your Goals (Organizational Strategy)
One of the biggest mistakes an organization can make is hop on to the “migrate to cloud” trend without any objective goal(s). As a business leader or owner, consult your organization’s chief information officer (CIO) or someone with a similar capacity to advise. Identify areas where your business needs to improve and assess whether cloud migration and modernization would cut it.
Step 2. Decide On The Appropriate Cloud Model
Generally, there are three types of cloud models: public, private, and hybrid models and each is suitable for different organizations and businesses. Choosing the right model at the very start is better, considering the time and resources that go into cloud migration.
The public cloud is the more popular model, and it offers what most businesses need in their daily operations. As a pay-as-you-go service, public cloud is suitable for organizations that need full-fledged cloud services at relatively lower costs.
The private cloud offers a dedicated cloud service to organizations, meaning they can get most or all of the services they would usually get from a public cloud provider with the added advantage of more control over their data. Understandably, a private cloud can cost a bit more, but the data security and privacy make it worth it.
Besides the cost, with private cloud, service providers may require organizations to invest in hardware and software in addition to maintenance costs. The hybrid cloud model offers all the best features of the two.
This way, organizations can leverage the scalability and cost-efficiency of the public cloud while ensuring data security and privacy for compliance reasons, organization preference, or internal policy.
The right cloud model for your business is all down to your budget, privacy, security, industry regulations, and scalability needs, so choose what works best for you.
Step 3. Choose The Most Ideal Migration Strategy
Once you’ve settled on a cloud model, the next step is to move your services to the cloud. Initially, there were five, but you can now choose from any of the seven migration strategies commonly called the “7 R’s.”
Out of the seven, these three are the most common.
- Rehosting
- Re-platforming
- Re-factoring
Refactoring is the most complex approach, but it also offers the most benefits, specifically in aspects that matter the most. When you choose the refactor strategy, applications and services tend to handle and perform better than other migration strategies.
Replatforming involves modifying existing applications to improve their ability to utilize cloud features. While applications perform better, they are not at the same level as refactoring.
Step 4. Establish A Cloud Landing Zone for Your Organization
Migrating to the cloud can lead to business interruptions, hence the need for safeguards and structures to guarantee a smooth transition. This lets you focus on what matters most to your business and users. These safeguards make up what is referred to as a cloud landing zone.
Some top cloud service providers have even developed cloud adoption frameworks to assist their clients in navigating the entire process. If you don’t have the resources to create a custom landing zone, you can use these frameworks to organize your information architecture.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to migrating to the cloud. Your approach will depend on your organization’s needs, preferences, and available resources.
Phased rollouts and blue-green deployments are the most common approaches when migrating to the cloud, so either will do. It’s also worth mentioning the need to test and validate continuously. With testing and validation, you’ll be able to identify problematic areas early enough before you go into production.
The disruption and losses that can occur, should you have bugs or errors in production, can never be understated.
Step 6. Optimize Your Cloud Environment
Moving to the cloud and modernization can be an incredible cost-saver, but it can rapidly become a financial nightmare if executed incorrectly. Cloud optimization is critical to preventing this.
Beyond optimization and using cloud-native tools, constant monitoring can help check runaway costs. It’s also vital to remember your obligations as a service provider, and thus, you’ll also have to implement proactive privacy and security measures in line with government or industry regulations.
Step 7. Implement Continuous Learning and Development At Your Organization
Successful cloud migration and modernization are continuous; you can quickly fall off the tracks if you’re not careful. As an organization, prioritize continuous learning and development in cloud technology to stay ahead of the pack.
Final Thoughts
Cloud migration and modernization are game-changers for any organization or business that gets it right. Even after organizations have migrated to the cloud, it’s good to remember it’s an ongoing, iterative process. Stagnation blunts competitiveness; you can constantly evolve and adapt to what works for your business.
