Cloud Migration Steps and its Role in Digital Transformation

Mar 16, 2021

Cloud Migration

The growth of digital transformation has been drastic, especially in the last year, as Covid-19 has driven the demands for cloud infrastructures to an all-time high all across the world. 

As the demand for cloud computing skyrockets, people are looking for ways to migrate their existing systems to a cloud infrastructure. Keeping that in mind, here I have formulated a step-by-step piece to guide your cloud migration journey. Let’s take a look.

Step 1: Outline your purpose

Before beginning with the actual procedure, you must know your reasons to migrate. Conduct an in-depth analysis of your existing system to answer the following questions?

• Why do you want to migrate to cloud?
• What are the loopholes in your present system that you wish to cover?
• What kind of enhanced outcomes are you expecting after cloud migration?
• What are your objectives?

By finding answers to these questions, you will have a thoroughly researched and well-drafted business plan in your hands for the cloud migration project you’re about to take on. These answers will guide you to take well-informed decisions in the upcoming stages of the migration process. 

Step 2: Form a team

Once you outline your purpose, you’ll get an idea of the kind of skills you need in your team for your project. Some important roles you may require are:

• Project manager
• Business analysts
• Migration architect
• Cloud infrastructure specialists (depending on the kind of cloud you require)

Step 3: Select a cloud vendor

There are many cloud vendors available out there. AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are some of the most notable cloud platforms with multiple services you can choose from. 

You would also have to decide the environment for your migration project – whether you need a public/private/hybrid cloud or a multi-cloud environment. 

Step 4: Formulate a roadmap and establish KPIs

Formulate a cloud migration roadmap with your team. This will include a detailed layout of all the components you wish to migrate, the series in which they’ll be migrated, the kind of technologies you’ll be incorporating, the approaches, etc. The more comprehensive roadmap you make, the smoother the process will be.

Also, make sure that you establish key performance indicators (KPIs) according to which you’ll be examining the performance of your application.

Step 5: Data migration

Data migration is an extremely crucial step that needs to be done carefully. You must always back-up your data and enforce all security measures while migrating it. 

Putting a good data migration strategy in action can help you to seamlessly migrate your data while handling any unexpected problems that may surface and keeping the safety of your data intact.

Step 6: Testing and Production

Testing is important in cloud migration services. However, sometimes due to the complexity of the infrastructure, cloud migration can fail even after rigorous testing. Hence, it is always beneficial to move towards production incrementally. Instead of moving it all at once, you can divide your project into modules and do it one module at a time. 

Believe it or not, cloud migration plays a huge role in the digital transformation of businesses. But how is cloud migration adding value to digital transformation? Let’s see:

• The cloud offers flexibility, which is very beneficial as every business modifies its strategies every few years. 
• Cloud migration will empower you to seamlessly scale your business.
• Cloud facilitates collaboration, making it easier for people to virtually work together even from different locations.
• Migration to the cloud will give you the benefit of multiple backups and high security of data.
• Cloud is cost-effective. If you choose the right platforms, you’ll only have to pay for the services you avail, without having to worry about the maintenance costs.

Some of the top entrepreneurs also believe that the cloud has a massive role to play in Digital Transformation strategy. We are living in the era of the third industrial revolution. Every company is aiming to provide the best and most convenient-to-use services to their clients, and cloud migration is very helpful with that.