The Seven Rs of AWS Migration Strategy: Your Guide to a Successful Migration
If you are planning to migrate your applications or workloads to the cloud, you might be wondering how to do it effectively and efficiently. There are many factors to consider, such as the complexity, size, performance, security, and cost of your migration project. Fortunately, AWS has developed a framework to help you choose the best migration strategy for your needs. This framework is based on the seven Rs of cloud migration: Re-host, Re-platform, Repurchase, Refactor, Retain, Retire, and Relocate. In this blog post, we will explain what each of these strategies entails, and how to decide which one is right for you. Let’s start with the initial question.
Why Migrate to AWS?
Cost Savings
Moving to the cloud can help you reduce costs by eliminating the need to maintain on-premises infrastructure.
Scalability
The cloud provides a scalable environment that can keep up with your business needs as they grow and change over time.
Global Reach
AWS has a presence in regions around the world, allowing you to expand your business into new markets.
What are some common migration challenges?
Migrating your applications or data to the cloud is not a trivial task. It can involve many challenges and risks that need to be addressed and mitigated. Some of the common migration challenges are:
- Compatibility:
You need to ensure that your applications or data are compatible with the cloud environment and services. For example, you might need to check the operating system, database engine, middleware, or application framework versions and features that are supported by AWS. You might also need to test the functionality and performance of your applications or data after migrating them to the cloud.
- Security:
You need to ensure that your applications or data are secure and compliant with the relevant standards and regulations in the cloud. For example, you might need to encrypt your data at rest and in transit; implement identity and access management policies; configure firewalls and network security groups; monitor and audit your activities; and adhere to the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.
- Cost:
You need to ensure that your migration project is cost-effective and aligned with your budget and expectations. For example, you might need to estimate the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your applications or data in the cloud; compare the pricing models and options offered by AWS; optimize your resource utilization and allocation; and leverage the cost management tools and best practices provided by AWS.
- Skills:
You need to ensure that you have the necessary skills and expertise to plan and execute your migration project successfully. For example, you might need to learn about the AWS services and features that are relevant for your migration strategy; use the tools and frameworks that can facilitate and automate your migration process; adopt the methodologies and best practices that can guide you through each stage of your migration journey; and seek help from AWS or third-party experts if needed.
To help you overcome these challenges, AWS offers various resources and support that can assist you with your migration project. For example, you can use:
AWS Migration Hub:
A service that provides a single place to track the progress of your application migrations across multiple AWS and partner solutions.
AWS Migration Evaluator:
A service that helps you assess your current on-premises environment and provides data-driven recommendations for migrating to AWS.
AWS Application Discovery Service:
AWS Application Discovery Service helps you plan cloud migration projects by gathering information about your on-premises data centers.
AWS Application Migration Service:
AWS Application Migration Service minimizes time-intensive, error-prone manual processes by automating the conversion of your source servers to run natively on AWS.
AWS Database Migration Service:
AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) is a managed migration and replication service that helps move your database and analytics workloads to AWS quickly, securely, and with minimal downtime and zero data loss.
AWS Well-Architected Framework:
A set of guidelines that helps you design and operate reliable, secure, efficient, and cost-effective systems in the cloud.
AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP):
A program that provides consulting support, training, tools, and financial incentives to help you migrate faster, easier, and more securely.
By using these resources and support, you can reduce the risks and complexity of your migration project and achieve a successful outcome.
How do I choose the right strategy?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The best strategy for your migration project depends on numerous factors, such as:
- The type and characteristics of your applications or data
- The business value and strategic importance of your applications or data
- The current and future requirements and expectations of your applications or data
- The technical feasibility and complexity of migrating your applications or data
- The time and resources available for your migration project
- The risks and benefits associated with each migration strategy
To help you choose the right strategy, you can use the following steps:
1. Assess your current IT portfolio and identify which applications or data you want to migrate to the cloud.
2. Analyze each application or data and determine its suitability for each migration strategy based on the factors mentioned above.
3. Compare the pros and cons of each migration strategy for each application or data and prioritize them based on your goals and preferences.
4. Plan and execute your migration project using the appropriate tools and services offered by AWS or third-party vendors.
To illustrate these steps, let’s look at some examples of how different applications or data might fit into different migration strategies.
Re-host
Re-hosting, also known as lift-and-shift, is the simplest and fastest migration strategy. It involves moving your applications and data from your on-premises servers to AWS without making any significant changes to the architecture or code. This way, you can leverage the benefits of the cloud, such as scalability, reliability, and security, without spending much time and resources on the migration process. Re-hosting is suitable for applications that are already well-designed and optimized for the cloud, or for applications that need to be migrated quickly due to business or technical reasons.
For example, you might want to rehost an e-commerce website that has a high demand during peak seasons. By re-hosting it to AWS, you can easily scale up or down your resources according to the traffic fluctuations. You can also improve the availability and security of your website by using services like Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, Amazon Elastic Load Balancing, Amazon CloudFront, and Amazon S3.
For more details on this subject, you can check AWS Prescriptive Guidance
Re-platform
Re-platforming, also known as lift-tinker-and-shift, is a slightly more complex migration strategy. It involves making some minor changes to your applications or data to optimize them for the cloud environment. For example, you might change the operating system, database engine, middleware, or application framework to take advantage of AWS services and features. Re-platforming can help you improve the performance, availability, and cost-efficiency of your applications without requiring major code modifications or re-architecting. Re-platforming is suitable for applications that can benefit from some cloud-native capabilities, but do not need a complete overhaul.
For example, you might want to re-platform a legacy application that runs on a Windows server with a SQL Server database. By re-platforming it to AWS, you can switch to a Linux server with an Amazon RDS for SQL Server database. This way, you can reduce the licensing costs and improve the manageability of your application. You can also use services like AWS Systems Manager, AWS CloudFormation, and AWS CloudTrail to automate and monitor your application deployment and operations.
For more details on this subject, you can check AWS Prescriptive Guidance
Re-purchase
Re-purchasing, also known as drop-and-shop, is a migration strategy that involves replacing your existing applications or software licenses with new ones that are offered by AWS or third-party vendors as cloud-based solutions. For example, you might switch from a self-hosted CRM system to a SaaS-based one like Salesforce. Re-purchasing can help you reduce the operational and maintenance costs of your applications, as well as gain access to the latest features and updates. Re-purchasing is suitable for applications that are outdated, unsupported, or incompatible with the cloud, or for applications that can be easily replaced by off-the-shelf products.
For example, you might want to re-purchase an email server that runs on old hardware with limited storage capacity. By re-purchasing it to AWS Work Mail (or another email service provider), you can eliminate the need for managing and upgrading your own server hardware and software. You can also enjoy features like encryption at rest and in transit; integration with other AWS services like AWS Directory Service and AWS Key Management Service; and compliance with standards like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS.
Refactor
Refactoring, also known as re-architecting or cloud-native development, is the most complex and time-consuming migration strategy. It involves redesigning and rewriting your applications or data from scratch to fully leverage the cloud-native capabilities and services offered by AWS. For example, you might adopt a microservices architecture, use serverless computing, or implement DevOps practices. Refactoring can help you achieve the highest level of performance, scalability, resilience, and innovation for your applications. However, it also requires significant investment in terms of time, money, and skills. Refactoring is suitable for applications that have high business value or strategic importance, or for applications that need to meet new or changing requirements.
For example, you might want to refactor a monolithic application that has become too complex and difficult to maintain and update. By refactoring it to AWS, you can break it down into smaller and independent components that can be developed, deployed, and scaled separately. You can also use services like AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway, Amazon SQS, Amazon SNS, and Amazon DynamoDB to create a serverless and event-driven architecture that can handle high concurrency and low latency. You can also use services like AWS CodeCommit, AWS CodeBuild, AWS CodeDeploy, AWS CodePipeline, and AWS X-Ray to implement a continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipeline that can automate and streamline your application development and testing.
For more details on this subject, you can check AWS Prescriptive Guidance
Retain
Retaining is a migration strategy that involves keeping some or all of your applications or data on-premises while migrating others to the cloud. This way, you can have a hybrid cloud environment that combines the best of both worlds. Retaining can help you address some challenges or constraints that might prevent you from migrating everything to the cloud at once. For example, you might have some legacy applications that are difficult or costly to migrate; some sensitive data that are subject to regulatory or compliance requirements; or some workloads that have low latency or high bandwidth needs. Retaining is suitable for applications or data that have specific technical or business reasons to stay on-premises.
For example, you might want to retain a database that contains sensitive customer information that is needed to comply with local data sovereignty laws. By retaining it on premises, you can ensure that your data stays within your jurisdiction and meets the legal requirements. However, you can also migrate some of your applications that access this database to the cloud using services like AWS Direct Connect or AWS VPN. This way, you can benefit from the cloud features while maintaining a secure and reliable connection between your on-premises and cloud resources.
Retire
Retiring is a migration strategy that involves decommissioning and eliminating some of your applications or data that are no longer needed or used. This way, you can reduce the complexity and cost of your IT portfolio and focus on the ones that matter most. Retiring can help you improve the efficiency and agility of your organization by getting rid of unnecessary overhead and clutter. Retiring is suitable for applications or data that have low business value or relevance; duplicate functionality; high maintenance costs; security risks; or poor performance.
For example, you might want to retire an application that was used for a one-time project that has been completed. By retiring it from your on-premises servers, you can free up valuable space and resources for other applications. You can also avoid paying for the licenses, support contracts, or security patches for this application. However, before retiring an application or data, you should make sure that you have backed up any vital information or documents that might be needed in the future.
Relocate
Relocating is a migration strategy that involves moving some of your virtual machines (VMs) from your on-premises hypervisor (such as VMware) to AWS using tools like AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) or AWS Application Migration Service (MGN). This way, you can migrate your VMs as-is without converting them into Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). Relocating can help you simplify and accelerate your migration process by minimizing downtime and disruption. Relocating is suitable for VMs that are compatible with AWS and do not require any changes to the configuration or settings.
For example, you might want to relocate a VM that runs a web application that does not need any cloud-specific features or optimizations. By relocating it to AWS using SMS or MGN, you can migrate it in minutes without affecting its functionality or performance. You can also use services like Amazon EC2 Image Builder or AWS Systems Manager Distributor to create custom AMIs from your migrated VMs if needed.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to migrate your applications or data to AWS, depending on your goals, needs, and preferences. By following the seven Rs of cloud migration, you can choose the best strategy for each of your workloads and achieve a successful migration.
Next Steps
To learn more about how AWS and APN Partner Company can help your business, visit AWS Advanced Consulting Partner — VNGRS
If you need any help or guidance with your migration project, AWS Professional Services or AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) you can contact us via the links below. We are here to help you migrate faster, easier, and more securely.
