The Cloud Migration Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

A key part of cloud migration is coming up with a cloud migration checklist. This checklist gives you the opportunity to outline particular hurdles your organization could face as you transition to the cloud. 

Here is what should be included in your checklist:

It’s important to have a clear understanding of all the applications your organization uses to achieve cloud migration success. If you’re not 100% sure, then you may want to perform an audit on your digital assets. During this audit, it’s beneficial to:

• List what software you’re using
• Identify apps that no longer provide value
• Identify apps that could benefit from cloud integration

As you take inventory of your IT, don’t forget to look into dependencies between software. If one app is dependent on another and one isn’t brought over to the cloud, it could affect how the apps operate.

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable measurement that indicates progress toward a certain result. You probably use KPIs for a variety of things, like measuring the performance of your company website. They should also be used to measure the success of your cloud migration.

Some common migration KPIs include:

• Maintenance Costs: Is cloud migration going to lower your IT costs?
• Availability: Can the cloud reduce downtime?
• Scalability: Does the cloud improve your ability to scale your business?
• Access Speed: Can you access your system faster?

From Microsoft Azure to Amazon Web Services (AWS), there’s no shortage of providers out there. Take a moment to review what’s available on the market. Looking at all the features offered will help you make the right choice. Don’t forget that an MSP like 42, Inc. can make finding the best cloud environment for your business easy.

Migrating with the help of an MSP is the easiest way to transition to the cloud. If you’ve already partnered with an MSP, you can skip ahead to the next checklist item. If you want to do the cloud migration process on your own, then you’re going to want an automation tool.

These tools are designed to make relocating to the cloud more straightforward. This is especially helpful for companies with hundreds of components that need to be migrated, and there are plenty of versatile tools to choose from.

There are six commonly used migration strategies. These plans are also known as the six Rs:

• Rehost: This is the process of cloning your servers to move them to an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provider of your choosing. This is a bare-minimum process in which small changes are made. Essentially, applications and their data are lifted and moved to a cloud infrastructure.
• Replatform: This makes a few updates to your assets without throwing the whole system out. As a result, you modernize your environment by moving your apps to the cloud.
• Repurchase: This involves transferring a perpetual license to a software as a service (SaaS) vendor.
• Retire: The process of turning off or deleting apps you no longer need.
• Retain: This is when you keep apps where they are because they can’t be migrated for one reason or another.
• Refactor: This involves making changes to the app code so it can benefit from the cloud. This is the slowest and most complex migration method. In short, it rebuilds your infrastructure from scratch to run natively on the cloud.

A successful migration isn’t always a guarantee. As mentioned earlier, the cloud migration process comes with risks. You need a backup plan to protect your information in case you run into an issue. Once you have a solution, you should:

• Train Your Staff: Teach your staff how to work with cloud applications to prevent accidental data losses.
• Automate Backups: Make sure your information is backed up automatically. Most MSPs can do this for you.
• Perform a Test: Test your backup solution to see how well it performs in an emergency. This should be done on an ongoing basis.