6 Types of Cloud Migrations
Re-host / Lift-&-Shift model
It is the most straightforward path to cloud migration. It simply means that you lift servers, applications, virtual machines & operating systems from the current hosting environment and shifted it to public cloud infrastructure without any changes.
Though it is a fast migration process, but it comes with its drawbacks i.e., the cloud native features can not be efficiently utilized like CI/CD automation, self-healing, automated recovery, monitoring systems, etc.
However, the efforts spent on system administration can be reduced which will allow you to spend efforts on problem solving and innovations leading you a step closer to business and product optimization.
This type of cloud migration is most beneficial when large or mid-scale optimization projects are undergoing. And such organizations are looking to quickly migrate from on premise to cloud in a short span of time.
For example, your lease of data center is expiring soon, and you need a quick solution for your current workloads.
Fact: GE Oil & Gas achieved 52% reduction in IT spend (TCO) using this migration strategy.
Re-platform / Lift-&-Optimize model
Under this migration path you can leverage significant cloud benefits, like fine tuning your applications functionality, better cloud compatibility as you can reshape the sourcing environment which will eventually help in avoiding post migration work.
It involves optimizations of the operating system, configuration of applications APIs, and upgradation of middleware.
Here you are looking to reduce the time spend in managing database instances. You might make few optimizations in order to achieve some tangible benefits, but you do not want to change the core functionality of the application. Therefore, the configuration in the codebase is likely to be minor and which does not altercate with the core functionality of the application. For example, adding new features or eliminating new features within a project. This will little modify the project but will not affect the core of the project.
Re-purchase / Drop-&-Shop model
As the name suggests in this migration strategy you intend to change the proprietary application that is in use like legacy CRM system for the new cloud-based platform or service like SaaS CRM or HR system or CMS.
Usually this happens when you want to drop your existing license agreement because they were not meeting your organizations requirements, or the license agreement expired.
Refactor / Re-architect model
This migration strategy is driven by a strong business need to add scale, new features, or optimize performance that would rather be difficult to achieve in the application’s existing environment. You are focused to increase business agility in order to ensure business continuity.
For example, migrating from a monolithic architecture to microservices based infrastructure in the cloud.
This cloud migration strategy may require more resources due to increased complexity of its implementation. But as an advantage it allows the full use of cloud-native benefits, such as disaster recovery, CI/CD automation, self-healing, automated recovery, containerization of the application environment and many more.
Fact: In the long run, this strategy can be more cost-efficient due to additional features as described above.
Retaining / Hybrid model
When you have recently upgraded your applications and it is still riding out some depreciation or maybe you are not inclined to migrate some of your applications. But still, you are looking for some optimization.
Therefore, under this strategy you can retain what you do not want to migrate on-premises and rest you can migrate to cloud in order to optimize your business applications ensuring business continuity.
Retiring
When the organizations IT portfolio is no longer useful them it can be simply turned off. As s result there is a substantial reduction in computing complexity, storage, licensing, backup, architecture.
Thereby making your infrastructure much leaner.
Fact: on an average most of the IT organizations find that up to 10% of their IT portfolio can be retired.