Thinking of doing a lift and shift cloud migration rather than cloud modernization? It could be time for a rethink!
In a recent SourceFuse survey, which asked “To start your cloud computing journey, which path will you take?”, 14% of enterprises still say they would prefer the lift and shift path. While lift and shift may work for some, this preference comes when large enterprises believe relocating the existing infrastructure in the cloud means no change in day-to-day processes. It’s also a tempting proposition, since lift and shift is possibly the easiest and least expensive cloud migration approach. BUT, how will it pan out in reality, both now and in the long-term?
A good analogy is like migrating to a new CRM system: it’s only when you start using the new CRM that you realize what data you no longer need, what new data should be captured, and what possibilities there are for data analysis through, say, dashboards. Daily workflows might feel a bit chaotic for a bit, while you get your system just right for your business needs. But, wouldn’t it be great if you could switch to your new CRM, with redundant data stripped out and actionable insights from day 1? Well, when we think of cloud migration, that’s exactly what modernization-led migration does: assesses what you have, what to keep, what to update, and what new applications or services to incorporate.
As an enterprise, you may have many legacy applications still in everyday use, but there’s a good chance the software or original coding is outdated. There may also be security and regulatory implications to consider. All of this could mean running legacy apps in the cloud is difficult, if not impossible. That’s why enterprises need to think beyond lift and shift cloud migration, and uncover the full extent of possibilities with cloud modernization led migration to achieve business success. Now is the time to ‘rearrange the furniture’ and modernize before you go live, to align with your long-term strategic goals.
Encouragingly, in the same SourceFuse survey, 46% of enterprise businesses said they would like their cloud computing journey to start with cloud modernization. Now you’ve made that decision, the next key step is the ‘how’.
Five Key Steps Involved
Let’s think about what’s involved for cloud modernization led migration. If you work with the right provider, this does not need to be a formidable process, and will guarantee year-on-year continuity and optimization. Whether your enterprise already exists on several clouds, or whether you have a hybrid set-up (some applications still on-premise), cloud modernization can be seamless, all-encompassing, and lay solid foundations for taking your business to the next level.
At SourceFuse, we deliver end-to-end cloud modernization in a tried and tested five-step process, each time starting from the client’s unique perspective (see also SourceFuse Cloud Services Infrastructure).
- Analyze: Before deciding what systems or applications you will migrate to the cloud, SourceFuse will help to carry out a complete technology audit to:
- Assess your current portfolio of applications, whether legacy, on-premise, or hosted on different cloud servers
- Analyze your organization’s current readiness for operating in the cloud, including recognizing upfront timelines and budgets
- Identify any at-risk technologies, including data security,
- Establish what regulatory compliances need to be adhered to, for example, HIPAA
- Understand business workflows and interdependencies, to ensure a seamless migration
- Prepare: Next, SourceFuse collaborates closely with Project Managers and Subject Matter Experts, to propose all cloud migration options. This includes:
- Helping clients to prioritize applications in order of greatest business impact; for example, are customer-facing applications the highest priority? Which applications are responsible for the highest revenue?
- Proposing migration options, whether that’s rehosting, rebuilding, or replacing with new build application(s)
- Performing a risk assessment; this ensures precautions are taken for a secure cloud environment
- Mapping your cloud modernization long-term vision, to align with an enterprise’s strategic goals
- Supporting organizational readiness, which includes conducting a pilot test scheme
- Modernize: This is the exciting phase – implementing a lean operations architecture and bringing the vision to life. To truly modernize, this phase includes:
- Transforming and scaling your applications with a deeper understanding of the interdependencies between applications
- Building and configuring KPI’s for a continuous end-user experience and application performance
- Establishing security automation for analyzing, protecting and enforcing regulatory compliance
- Optimize: You’ve modernized, you’ve migrated, but the journey doesn’t end there – remember, this approach is about ensuring continuous business growth. So, once the new architecture is in place it’s time to start optimizing. SourceFuse will continue to support:
- Iteration on your new platform, turning off old systems, and constantly evolving towards a modern operating model
- Ongoing security and compliance assessment to mitigate risks
- Incorporation of machine-learning functionality to increase workflow automation
- Improved transparency of cost and usage information, for improved resource allocation
- Monitor: Lastly, SourceFuse doesn’t just implement your vision and walk away. Our goal is to maximize ongoing value, giving you the confidence to concentrate on your business. By providing 24-7 proactive managed services for your cloud environment, with Cloud Managed Services, we ensure:
- The new cloud architecture continues to improve business processes, proactively generating insights reports for better decision-making
- Continuous monitoring and visibility of costs, through cloud optimization tools and services, to help support you manage your budget effectively
- Ongoing performance testing, and network and infrastructure scans, to guarantee maximum uptimes
Cloud Modernization in Action
With over 15 years of deep expertise as a cloud-native company, and as a leading AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, our dedicated team of specialists help enterprises take their original vision to the next level. Even if a lift and shift migration is the client’s original plan, we will always go one step further, supporting our clients through cloud modernization led migration.
One such client was BluHorn, whose challenge was managing vast amounts of data operating on an in-house PHP framework. Over time, scalability and reliability had become limited, with the major challenge of peak demand data management. Choosing SourceFuse as its partner, BluHorn applications were successfully modernized and migrated to the cloud. And with SourceFuse’s ongoing cloud managed services, BluHorn has now realized some outstanding business achievements:
- 93% performance efficiency gains
- 35% cost optimization
- 99.9% application uptime
Read the full BluHorn Case Study below.
