Cloud migration moves your applications, data, and infrastructure from on-premise servers to cloud providers. A clear strategy prevents costly mistakes.
Why Migrate to the Cloud
- Scalability. Scale up or down instantly
- Cost efficiency. Pay for what you use, no upfront hardware
- Reliability. Cloud providers offer 99.9%+ uptime
- Security. Enterprise-grade security that most companies cannot match
- Innovation speed. Access to AI, ML, and managed services
- Global reach. Deploy in regions worldwide
Cloud Providers
- AWS. Largest ecosystem, most services, complex pricing
- Azure. Best for Microsoft shops, enterprise integration
- Google Cloud. Strong in data, AI, and containers
- Others. DigitalOcean (simple), Linode, Vultr (budget)
Migration Approaches (The 6 Rs)
Rehost (Lift and Shift)
- Move applications as-is to the cloud
- Fastest, least effort
- Does not take advantage of cloud features
- Good for getting started or legacy systems
Replatform (Lift, Tinker, and Shift)
- Make small optimizations during migration
- Move to managed services (e.g., RDS instead of self-managed database)
- Moderate effort, some cloud benefits
Refactor (Re-architect)
- Redesign applications for cloud-native architecture
- Microservices, containers, serverless
- Highest effort, maximum cloud benefit
- Best for applications you plan to invest in long-term
Repurchase
- Move to a different product (e.g., CRM to SaaS)
- Replace custom app with off-the-shelf solution
- Good when the current system is outdated
Retain
- Keep some systems on-premise for now
- Not everything needs to move immediately
- Good for compliance or cost reasons
Retire
- Decompose and remove systems no longer needed
- Simplify before migrating
Migration Steps
- Assess. Inventory applications, dependencies, costs
- Plan. Choose approach per application, set timeline
- Prepare. Set up cloud accounts, networking, security
- Migrate. Move data and applications in phases
- Test. Validate functionality and performance
- Optimize. Right-size resources, implement cost controls
- Operate. Monitor, maintain, and continuously improve
Common Pitfalls
- Migrating everything at once. Do it in phases
- Ignoring data gravity. Large datasets take time and bandwidth
- Security afterthought. Design security in from the start
- Cost surprises. Cloud can cost more if not managed
- No rollback plan. Always have a way back
Cost Management
- Right-size. Don't over-provision resources
- Reserved instances. Commit for discounts
- Auto-scaling. Scale down when not needed
- Tagging. Track costs by project, team, environment
- Budgets and alerts. Get notified before overspending
How Switch 2 One Helps
We plan and execute cloud migrations that minimize risk. Book a free strategy session.