How to Realize On-Premise to Cloud Migration: Quick Guide

Migrating from own on-premise IT infrastructure to the cloud is a complicated venture, which must be carefully prepared for and carried out. Cloud services offer the ability to scale and the flexibility to perform all these and whatever an organization may need that is why a successful migration for a company that looks to make use of the cloud solutions is a must. This post brings out the essential factors and guidelines for moving on your business’s or organization’s information systems from on-premise environment to the cloud.

Assessing Readiness

Prior to starting migration, organizations should be in words, come clean about their own readiness. This entails establishing the business environment, staff competencies, organizational culture, finances and the purposes of the technological implementation. Key questions to ask:

1. What are our motivations for migrating? Cost savings? Agility? Focus on core business?
2. What workloads make the most sense to migrate based on our goals?
3. Do we have personnel with cloud expertise to support this initiative? If not, can we train our staff?
4. Are there regulatory compliance or data security considerations we need to address?

Getting clear on readiness determines the scope, timeline, costs and success factors of an on-premise to cloud migration process.

Creating a Detailed Migration Plan

A detailed migration plan is crucial for organizing all the moving parts of a cloud transition. The plan should outline:

• Inventory of all existing on-premise applications and infrastructure
• Prioritization of which workloads move to the cloud first based on goals
• Cloud platform selection for each application (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)
• Network and security requirements per cloud environment
• Testing and cutover procedures for each workload
• Rollback contingencies
• Roles and responsibilities across technology and business teams
• Communication plans for keeping staff and stakeholders informed

Involving cross-functional teams in planning ensures buy-in and thoughtful adoption of new cloud processes.

Choosing the Right Cloud Model

Companies can leverage different cloud migration services and solutions models depending on business needs, including IaaS, PaaS or SaaS.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

IaaS offers the basic building blocks of computing infrastructure - servers, storage, and networks - delivered as a cloud service. It provides flexibility similar to an on-premise data center without capital expenditure. AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform are leading IaaS providers.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS provides a managed application development and deployment environment in the cloud, avoiding the need to set up infrastructure. This allows companies to focus dev resources on application innovation. Salesforce Heroku, AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Azure App Service are popular PaaS options.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS delivers cloud-hosted applications on a subscription basis, eliminating the need for companies to install and maintain software themselves. Common SaaS apps include email, collaboration tools, ERP, CRM and more.

Many companies utilize a hybrid model that combines IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS as needed.

Migrating Data

Data migration presents one of the biggest challenges in cloud adoption. Key best practices include:

• Map source on-premise data sources to target cloud data stores
• Design data models in the cloud to support desired reporting and analytics
• Extract, transform and load (ETL) data into cloud databases
• Validate data accuracy post-migration
• Decommission legacy data sources once the migration is complete

For large data sets, companies often use automation tools to reduce errors and minimize downtime during cutover.

Refactoring Applications

In addition to data migration, applications need to be refactored to run optimally in the cloud:

1. Assess on-premise applications (age, technical debt, complexity) to determine which to rehost, replatform or rebuild for the cloud
2. Audit application code and dependencies to outline the effort required for cloud-readinessModify application architecture using cloud-native features like autoscaling and serverless where applicable
3. Ensure security, compliance and governance controls are adequately maintained post-migration

Significant upfront analysis is required to determine workload alignment to cloud architecture before proceeding with application migrations.

Managing the Cultural Shift

Beyond technology implications, migrating to the cloud requires companies to adopt new ways of working. IT teams need to develop cloud-based skill sets around provisioning, automation, orchestration, monitoring and optimization. Business users must get accustomed to on-demand self-service and consumption-based pricing models.

Leaders play a key role in driving cloud adoption by communicating changes transparently, providing training opportunities and celebrating wins. Embracing a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement is critical for cloud success.

Monitoring Performance

Post-migration, companies need to monitor cloud performance just as they did on-premise environments. Key indicators to track:

• Utilization rates for cloud resources – compute, storage, network, memory
• Uptime and response times for cloud-hosted applications
• Data residency compliance and security standards
• Overall cloud spending aligned to budgets
• Achievement of business and IT goals outlined pre-migration

Cloud platforms provide advanced monitoring, cost management and operations tools to maintain visibility and control.

Conclusion

Migrating from on-premise infrastructure to the cloud has far-reaching technical and organizational implications. With careful assessment, planning and governance, companies can benefit from the cloud’s flexibility while managing risks. A phased approach focused on priority workloads and steady progress tracking ensures a smooth transition over time. Cloud adoption is a journey – organizations must embrace continuous learning and innovation to steer it in the right direction for business growth.