Best Practices for Lift-and-Shift Migration
Businesses are constantly seeking ways to adapt and thrive. One significant aspect of this adaptation is migrating their applications and workloads to the cloud. Cloud migration has been the talk of the town over the past few years now that cloud computing has firmly established itself as a critical part of any successful business. Now, considering that cloud migration is the key to embracing cloud computing, the market offers a variety of approaches for migration to suit the varied requirements of different businesses. One such approach, and decidedly among the most popular, is the lift and shift strategy. It involves moving existing on-premises applications to a cloud environment with minimal modifications.
However, as with any migration strategy, a few best practices can make or break the success of a lift and shift migration.
With this blog, I’ll explore these lift and shift cloud migration best practices to help organizations embark on their journey to the cloud. So, whether you’re a seasoned cloud expert or just beginning to explore migration options, I’m confident this blog will help you navigate the intricate terrain of lift and shift migrations confidently.
What is Lift and Shift Cloud Migration?
It is like moving one’s belongings to a new house without upgrading or rearranging anything. In more technical terms, life and shift cloud migration drives a company’s existing data, apps, and systems from their servers or data centers to another place, i.e., a cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). However, the critical point to note here is that all this movement to the cloud happens without significantly changing how the data and apps work. Now, one is bound to wonder what makes the lift and shift strategy so popular.
You can chalk that up to the many benefits it offers.
Key Benefits
a. It is a relatively simple approach to moving a company’s systems to the cloud
b. The lift and shift strategy is usually less expensive than other migration strategies, such as re-platforming and refactoring
c. Lift and shift is low-risk because it does not involve any significant changes to the systems
Well, folks, next up are the best lift and shift strategy practices.
Best Practices for Lift and Shift Migration
●Consider app lifespan and priority: Some apps are bound to be more critical for your business than others, and then some will be more likely to be updated or replaced shortly. So, when you plan your lift and shift migration, consider each app’s lifespan and importance. Apps that are more critical to your business or less likely to be replaced or updated soon should be higher on the priority list.
●Cost-benefit analysis: It would also be a good idea to do a cost-benefit analysis for every app you plan to move to the cloud. This cost-benefit analysis must include calculating potential savings or benefits of migrating to the cloud. Then, these potential savings and benefits must be compared against the cost and effort of migration.
●Compliance requirements: Regulatory compliance must also be on your radar when strategizing for migrating your apps to the cloud. So, before you take the plunge and move your apps to the cloud, ensure you understand the regulations applicable to your business and industry and the data the apps in question process. Do not forget to analyze your cloud provider’s compliance-related offerings.
Now, before you start working on your plan, it is essential to remember that though the lift and shift strategy is a quick way to transition to the cloud, it is imperative that you plan carefully to maximize the benefits of cloud adoption while also minimizing risks.
