What is a Cloud Migration Strategy and Why Do You Need One?

The assessment phase of a cloud migration is easily one of the most critical steps in successful cloud adoption. During this step, cloud experts assess your current IT environment’s systems, applications, and data. Once complete, the first draft of the cloud migration strategy can be created, identifying which areas of business are best suited for initial cloud migration activities.

Before migrating to the cloud, you must select which cloud model and vendor best fit your needs. Cloud models include public, private, and hybrid clouds, each with their own benefits. Meanwhile, a cloud vendor is the actual technology provider that supplies the necessary infrastructure and resources for your cloud migration. Popular examples of cloud vendors include Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure

When switching from a legacy system to a cloud-native infrastructure, your business likely has heaps of data to contend with. Developing a data migration plan is essential and must include a clear strategy for moving data securely to the cloud, minimizing downtime, and ensuring data consistency. Prioritizing data migration in the cloud migration process is a necessity for ensuring business continuity throughout the transition.

Depending on the legacy technology you are migrating from, your business will likely have applications and platform features in need of modernization in the cloud. This involves adapting or rewriting software code to be compatible with a cloud-native environment. The scope of application and platform modernization also depends on the solutions available to you through your chosen cloud services provider.

Anytime you deal with private data — especially data belonging to customers — you must adhere to all relevant data compliance regulations. Additionally, several industries have even tighter regulatory conditions to overcome, such as in the financial services and healthcare industries. As you migrate to the cloud, your migration strategy must account for data protection, security, and regulatory compliance within the cloud environment.

Managing the cloud can be costly without the right kind of support and expertise at your disposal. Most organizations rely on cloud service providers to supply the necessary resources and talent for simplifying cloud management processes. However, your cloud migration strategy should assess the current cloud skill level amongst your in-house team and consider how to develop those skills further.

The migration to the cloud is only the first step — once you have made the transition, you must test and update your cloud infrastructure regularly to ensure total operational resilience. Rigorous testing and monitoring are critical for a smooth transition to the cloud. Testing processes must include performance, security, and disaster recovery testing, while monitoring processes must be continuous and tailored to your needs.

A cloud migration solution must prioritize scalability and flexibility to accommodate your organization’s shifting needs and requirements. While the cloud inherently offers greater scalability than legacy solutions, finding a cloud services provider with the talent and resources to scale up alongside your business is incredibly important.

Generative AI is the latest AI development making waves in the cloud space. At a recent conference in Singapore, McKinsey partner Bhargs Srivathsan revealed that generative AI can reduce cloud migration efforts by 30% to 50% when implemented correctly. She added that the four most significant use cases for generative AI include content generation, customer engagement, creation of synthetic data, and coding. When selecting a cloud services provider to assist with your cloud migration strategy, choosing a provider well-versed in Generative AI is essential for taking an innovative lead in your industry.

There is more than one way to approach a cloud migration — and you need a cloud strategy solution that has the migration capabilities to meet your unique needs. Whether you are planning to rehost or fully rearchitect your current system, your cloud services providers should offer the support necessary to achieve your application and platform requirements. Especially important migration capabilities to pay attention to, include data migration and platform modernization.

Any cloud migration strategy solution you choose needs to ensure the security of data throughout the system, including data being stored long-term and data in transit. Depending on the industry you operate in, you may also have varied compliance requirements to adhere to. Your cloud services provider should supply you with the proper tools and security features to simplify compliance and easily maintain top-notch security.