Like any journey, it starts with the first step and is completed in a series of further steps. It is as important to choose the right strategy for each application step.
There are seven commonly used strategies for migrating applications to the Cloud. There will be a ‘right’ strategy for each application, and it’s possible you’ll use many, or even all of them, considering your whole IT portfolio.
Retire — Decommission
Decommission the application from on-premise which includes many components like,
Retain — Do nothing and revisit later
Retain is basically a point-in-time strategy – you’ve decided to retain certain applications in place on-premises for the time being. Organizations considers few applications to continue run on on-premises.
Relocate — hypervisor-level lift and shift
Move infrastructure to the cloud without purchasing new hardware.
AWS mentioned that this migration scenario is specific to VMware Cloud on AWS. Also, AWS mentioned below as an example.
Example: Relocate the hypervisor hosting your Oracle database to VMware Cloud on AWS
Rehost — Lift and Shift
The fastest way to move an enterprise workload to the cloud, and therefore commonly chosen for migrating legacy applications, is the re-host option. Lift and shift can be automated to maximize the speed of your migration, or it can be handled manually to enable work in parallel. But, in either case, re-hosting simply moves your existing application into the cloud without making any changes.
Repurchase — Drop and Shop
This is a decision to move to a newer version or different solutions. Organizations those who willing to change existing license model can opt this.
There is a very strong movement to use SaaS instead of purchasing replacement on-premises systems and being locked into perpetual licenses.
Replatform — Lift-Tinker-and-Shift
Core application architecture will not be changed in replatform strategy.
· Code changes applicable
· Functionality changes not applicable
Example: Moving the Oracle database from on-premises to database-as-a-service offering like Amazon RDS.
Refactor / Re-Architect — Cloud native based architect solution
This option is typically the most expensive migration path, but it has enabled modernization of outdated legacy applications not suited to a cloud environment. Traditionally, enterprises chose this option only when there were compelling business reasons to make significant changes – such as adding features, increasing performance, or enabling scalability – that were difficult to achieve without entirely re-architecting the application.
Ajay Soni: Head – Cloud and Data Services
Ajay Soni is an Industry Veteran with 30+ years of experience in the IT Services Industry. He is BU head of Cloud and Data services in Writer Information. An astute professional with a successful track record of spearheading multiple Practices and leading high-performance Teams. Over the last three decades he has worked with many global customers around the world in multiple industries segments. He has rich and diverse experience in Global IT Infrastructure Management, Cloud Lifecycle Management and Cyber Security. He is tracking multiple emerging technologies in Networking, Cloud and Cyber Security.
- Category: Cloud
- Date: 25-03-2022