Your app migration readiness would define items & priorities on the checklist. Based on our experience, moving smaller applications to AWS Cloud would usually take 1-2 months. Whereas it could take ~6 months and longer to migrate the first medium or large application. It would include factors like the number of workloads moved daily, the chosen approach, applicable compliance regulations, and the complexity of security.

Moving your existing business apps to the AWS Cloud works across stages,

• Before the Migration
• During the Migration
• After the Migration

Before the Migration

During this stage, it is imperative to evaluate financial readiness, detailed scope & execution schedule. For this, you need to define the following:

Auditing IT infrastructure & assigning roles

• Short- & long-term goals to be achieved from the migration
• Resources for migrating data and apps
• Teams responsible for every resource
• The size of data centers, databases & apps
• Timelines for each stage
• Data backup tools
• App dependencies & integrations

Creating migrations teams

• Core team – to synchronize resources, build automation solutions, assess risks, and optimize backlogs
• Migration team – to execute the move, automate low-complexity workflows and transfer apps

Assessing financial & technical readiness

• Detailed analysis of the cost for migrating server, network, storage, and other relevant components in the targeted environment.
• App’s architectures & data to be transferred first.
• Possible security risks
• Critical assets to be kept off the cloud

Finding the right technology partner

• Relevant AWS migration case studies of successful transitions
• A proven framework to mitigate risk, reduce cost & ensure data security
• Agile methodology is driven by an industry-leading AWS tech stack
• An experienced and proficient team to assist in hassle-free migration

During the Migration

Here you would review the tools & methodologies required to speed up and simplify the migration,

AWS migration tools

Some popular cloud data migration tools that can you leverage for a  seamless transition include:

• AWS Application Discovery Service (360-degree assessment)
• AWS Migration Acceleration Program (successfully execute migration)
• AWS Management Portal for vCenter (migrate virtual machines)
• AWS Server Migration Service (automate, schedule, and monitor)
• AWS Database Migration Service (migrate database securely)
• TSO Logic (determine the best-fit)
• CloudEndure (rehost several machines)
• AWS Migration Hub (track your progress)

Cloud storage operations

Storage options can be narrowed down based on

• Cost
• Accessibility
• Response time
• Reliability
• Cache-ability
• Update frequency
• Consistency
• Size of transferable items

AWS migration strategy

You can leverage the listed below tried-and-tested 7R framework to simplify and speed up your approach to migrate each of the applications in the portfolio.

• Rehost – for business apps that can be moved without making any modifications
• Retire – For legacy apps & tech stacks that are no longer serving the purpose
• Relocate – Migrate vSphere-based applications to AWS cloud with no app changes
• Retain – Imperative business apps that need major changes before the transition
• Recover – Permanent apps that you can substitute with SaaS solutions
• Replatform – Apps that need negligible optimization for improved efficiency
• Rearchitect – A big-ticket strategy for apps that need feature enhancements with cloud-native functionality

AWS cloud migration steps

Forklift migration

• A popular strategy that deals with considering all the apps in one go and moving them to the cloud.
• Highly recommended for tightly coupled apps that are stateless and self-contained.
• This approach not only accelerates your infrastructure handling time but also helps optimize resource allocation.

Hybrid migration

• Allows businesses to integrate Office 365 with their existing directory services and on-premises exchange servers for efficient management of user accounts across environments.
• Best suited for businesses with several apps where some are kept intact, and others are moved to the cloud.
• This low-risk approach is time-consuming but if offers optimal results.

Review app migration options

Some widely popular & preferred app migration options are listed below;

• Live migration – moving a running app from its existing physical setup to the cloud platform, without any disruption
• App containerization – adopting an OS-level virtualization approach to deploy distributed business apps
• Data migration – synchronizing business data stored in the machines with the cloud by taking the file format and storage type into consideration
• VM conversion – converting virtual machine disk into a relevant format and transforming the business data using APIs

After the Migration

The task is not yet complete, post the migration exercise, here are few essential considerations;

Leveraging the full potential of cloud

If you want to reap the full benefits of moving to AWS cloud platform, it’s essential to understand AWS enterprise support and services like Amazon Elastic MapReduce, Amazon CloudFront, and auto-scaling.

Tracking & Optimizing

Some cloud monitoring tools that you can use for a hassle-free experience include AWS CloudWatch Logs, APPDYNAMICS, and New Relic. Examine, analyze, and track for more insights on load patterns for efficient management of the cloud environment.

Testing

Perform user acceptance testing to evaluate if the migration was successful. To avoid failure and save time and resources, you can consider working with an experienced AWS consulting partner who is well-versed with the best tools and techniques.