- This is an updated version of this article: The Best Cloud Migration Strategies for 2020. Find more ideas for your cloud migration strategy.
Due to the recent shift from a traditional workplace to a digital one and changing requirements for businesses, a lot of companies are finding cloud-based solutions to be the best option for organizing their work. This is why they are now looking into moving their IT infrastructure to the cloud. This can be a major undertaking. And, without a proper strategy in place, things can quickly get complicated.
This is why we have dedicated this post to looking over 6 trusted cloud migration strategies that businesses should use in 2021. Before we get into it, however, let’s remind ourselves what cloud migration is and what this process involves.
What Is a Cloud Migration Strategy?
Before getting into what cloud migration is, let’s take a quick look at cloud storage in general and why it is essential for most businesses.
Today, when we are talking about storing our files “in the cloud”, we are actually referring to servers that we can access via the internet and the software and databases that are run on these servers. Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and iCloud are all examples of cloud storage providers.
When we talk about cloud migration, we are referring to the process of moving digital assets, system resources, databases, and IT to the cloud. While it may sound like a simple enough undertaking, moving all your data assets to the cloud is a process that demands research and a good plan.
What Are the Main Phases of Cloud Migration?
Typically, there are five key steps to performing data cloud migration. This doesn’t mean that you will have to go through all of them. Or, on the contrary, there may be more stages in your cloud migration endeavour. However, these are the basic steps that you should take into account and get ready for:
Step 1: Planning and Preparation
At this stage, you will need to make a decision on what elements of your business you want to move to the cloud and which of these elements take priority. You will then need to set up a team of IT professionals who will be responsible for bringing this project to life. You will also need to evaluate how long the process will take and what budget to set aside for it.
Step 2: Setting Up a Portfolio
Here, you will need to consider the interdependencies between the different applications you plan to migrate and determine what method you will use to move them. Your decision will be mostly guided by how complex and important the applications you are migrating are. It is generally advised to test out your selected migration method on the less important applications first. This way, if anything goes wrong, you will be able to make adjustments when you move on to the applications that are essential for your business. Plus, it will give your IT team a way to gain some valuable experience in migrating your data.
Steps 3 & 4: Considering Application Design and Selecting a Migration Strategy
We've put these two together because they are usually performed in tandem. At this point, applications are looked at individually, and your IT team develops methods for migrating them. And here is where the different cloud migration strategies come in. There are six main strategies for migrating data: rehosting, replatforming, repurchasing, refactoring, retiring, and retaining. We will look into each of these strategies in more detail right down below.
Step 5: Analyzing the Effectiveness of the Chosen Platform
It is essential that you choose a modern and effective platform for migrating your data. Before actually performing the migration, make sure that the platform you are using is optimized and up to date.
Now that we’ve covered the main phases of cloud migration, let’s look into the actual process of moving your data to the cloud. So, what are the major cloud migration techniques?
The Top 6 Cloud Migration Strategies
There are six key strategies of cloud migration. Below, we will look into each one of them in a bit more detail.
Rehosting or the lift-and-shift model
This is probably the most straightforward out of the main cloud migration models. The strategy is true to its name and basically involves “lifting” applications from their current locations and “shifting” them to the cloud infrastructure without making any changes.
Replatforming
Replatforming is similar to rehosting — but with one important change. In this case, the applications are also lifted and shifted to the cloud. However, this time, your IT team will make certain changes and apply certain optimizations to the operating system to ensure that the landscape is adjusted to the cloud.
Repurchasing
As you may have guessed from the name of the strategy, it means that you will need to start from scratch. It involves discarding an existing application or application platform and using new
software available on the market that performs the same functions.
Refactoring or re-architecting
This approach involves a complete overhaul of your existing application environment. This strategy is typically adopted by large-scale organizations that are willing (and have the resources) to rebuild all their applications from scratch. While this is definitely one of the more time-consuming strategies, it allows a business to explore all the benefits that cloud capabilities offer — beyond its existing environment.
Retiring
This strategy includes an overview of your current applications and the elimination of the ones that are no longer in active use before performing migration. This doesn’t mean that you are getting rid of these elements permanently — it focuses on turning certain components off to minimize procedural complexity.
Retaining
This is not necessarily a cloud migration strategy by nature — but it is often included in the list of migration models. Retaining basically means that a business decides to retain from or put off cloud migration. This may be because cloud migration is not a suitable option for this particular business — or because it doesn’t have the resources needed to complete the cloud migration process at this point.
Why Should Businesses Go for Cloud Migration in 2021?
As we’ve mentioned right at the very beginning of this article, the workplace went through some significant changes in 2020. This makes 2021 the perfect time to make proper adjustments to make sure your business is fully set up for what’s to come.
Some other benefits associated with cloud migration are as follows:
Lower costs
Moving your operations to the cloud can help significantly cut the costs of running your business. This can free up financial resources that you can invest elsewhere: innovation, your team, better faculties, and more.
Sustainable progress
Migrating your operations to the cloud can help minimize time-consuming activities for your IT team and give them time to focus on more pressing issues like improving the effectiveness of your operations and reaching a higher KPI.
Higher efficiency
Migrating your operations to the cloud can help you achieve higher efficiency. A comprehensive cloud migration strategy involves the use of different technologies — with a lot of them aimed at making your business processes as efficient as they can possibly be.
Overall, cloud storage is an effective and contemporary way of managing and storing data. It can help a workplace stay organized and optimize a variety of business operations, making your company future-proof.
Transfer Large Files and Folders Online Easily
With businesses becoming more and more digitalized, you need an efficient toolkit to work with large amounts of data online. Here’s where we are happy to introduce you to a new service called FileWhopper. With FileWhopper, you can transfer files and folders of any size online with no strings attached. Here’s why it’s a good idea:
First, FileWhopper lets you transfer files and folders of actually any size. Unlike with a lot of cloud storage platforms that set file size limits, FileWhopper doesn’t do that. With it, you can easily send a 10TB folder with no questions asked.
Unlike with cloud services, there is no subscription. So, you won’t have to commit to a long-term investment. FileWhopper works on a pay-as-you-go basis, and you will only pay for the file or folder you need to transfer right now based on its size. You can also arrange for the recipient of the data to pay for the transfer — or pay for it yourself.
Transferring data with FileWhopper is safe. This is especially important when dealing with confidential information and files containing important data. The service uses zero-knowledge encryption: it doesn’t store your password on its servers, and only you and your recipient have access to your file or folder.
Your transfers are also protected against interruptions. If your connection is lost, your transfer will simply be paused and then resume when everything gets back to normal.
FileWhopper is exceptionally easy to use. Even if you’ve never had to transfer data over the web, doing it with FileWhopper will be a piece of cake. It only takes a few simple steps:
- Head to FileWhopper.com.
- Download FileWhopper’s tiny app to guide you through the transfer.
- Get a quote for your transfer and make a secure payment.
- Transfer your file or folder and wait for the delivery report.
That’s it: the process is complete.
Yet another great thing about FileWhopper is that the recipient of your data won’t have to wait until you complete the upload on your side. They can start downloading the file or folder as soon as you start uploading it. This can be a great time saver and can make the whole data transfer process much more efficient.
Once your transfer is done, the tiny FileWhopper app will auto-delete — so you won’t have to remove it manually.
To get started with FileWhopper, you can head to the website right now and try out your first 5GB transfer for free. This way, you will be able to test out all the above features first-hand and see if FileWhopper works for you.
Loading...