Migration Strategy
6 Rs of Migration
Transition strategies commonly seen in cloud migration projects. Your cloud migration strategy is your vision of how to take your applications into the cloud.
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Re-architecting the application, typically using cloud-native features.
A refactor migration is the most transformational transition type for our custom applications.
This is usually driven by a strong business need to add features, scale, or performance that would otherwise be difficult to achieve in the application’s existing environment.
In a refactor, you remove unnecessary components, leverage advanced application technologies in the cloud, and provide improved user experience and performance.
This pattern tends to involve the largest upfront investment, and is generally reserved for applications that (a) are core to the organization, (b) have no suitable SaaS solutions existing, and (c) offer the greatest business value, either through savings or other agility metrics.
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Changing the underlying infrastructure that an application runs on before moving it to the cloud.
Some application changes may be required, but not a complete refactor. For example, changing operating systems, moving from AIX to x86, changing database versions or engines, and containerizing applications.
With small modifications, your applications can be deployed to cloud-native services via pipelines. This transition type generally allows you to take advantage of the most compelling cloud computing tenets (elasticity, security, cost-efficiency), with the least amount of effort.
You can replatform databases from proprietary engines such as Oracle, to cloud services which remove the operational burdens and are generally priced on a consumption basis. Additionally, you can replatform application code to one or more cloud-native services, such as serverless functions and queuing systems, as well as containers.
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Lifting and shifting. Replicating virtual machines into a cloud environment.
Generally employed as a last resort driven by compelling events like a datacenter closure, hardware lease, or supportability period ending. This provides little incremental value to your applications, but will get you using the cloud on some level. Rehost transitions can be automated with data replication and disaster recovery tools.
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Purchasing a SaaS solution that meets the needs and requirements of the current application.
This can sometimes result in a data-migration and transformation project of its own.
In this transition, you move to a different product to replace an existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or custom application. For COTS applications, the vendors are now more likely to have SaaS offerings providing the same service. This path usually offers the simplest path to doing less “IT” while still retaining the service.
For example, moving MS Exchange to Office 365 removes the operational burden of email infrastructure while arguably providing more than the legacy on-premise solution. Other relevant examples include moving CRM solutions to Microsoft Dynamics or Salesforce.com, and an HR system to Workday.
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Maintaining the application in its current environment
You may choose to do this for applications that are deemed as out of scope for your current migration project, to be revisited later on a subsequent project. Sometimes, it may also be because your application is becoming end of life, and will eventually be Retired or “die on the vine”.
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Getting rid of an application.
Often used in application rationalization scenarios, this application is no longer delivering value, or being used. Decommission it immediately.
Which Migration Strategy?
6 R Recommendations, Tailored to You
One of the first steps in the planning stage of your cloud migration is choosing from the 6 Rs.
With a large portfolio, it can be difficult to know where to start, eg. Which apps are worth refactoring? Rehost or Replatform?
- Tidal's recommendation engine will point you in the right direction for each of your applications, by weighing your organizations priorities to your application value and technical composition.
- Bring a consistent, value oriented approach to your migration assessment. Available with Tidal Accelerator.
Cloud Readiness Assessment
Assessment for organizational readiness, application discovery and application assessments. Available with Tidal Accelerator.
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