Migrating a legacy system to the cloud can seem daunting, but with the right strategy and tools, it can be a transformative move for your business. Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a robust platform for cloud migration, offering various services and resources to make the process smoother.
But selecting the right partner can lead you to streamline these initiatives, with the right partner you can get into AWS backed programs such as MAP (Migration Application Program) where together Vendor and your team can assess, create and leverage the right migration strategy for your need.
Here are some tips to help you successfully transition your legacy systems to the cloud with AWS.
1. Assess Your Current Infrastructure
Before making any moves, conduct a thorough assessment of your existing infrastructure. Understand your applications, dependencies, and data flow. Identify what needs to be migrated, what can be optimized, and what might be retired. This assessment will help you create a clear roadmap for the migration process.
The MAP program consists of 3 phases:
- Assess
- Mobilize
- Migrate & Modernize (this is where the Cognits team excels)
2. Define Your Migration Strategy
AWS offers several migration strategies, often referred to as the “7 R’s”:
- Rehosting (Lift and Shift): Moving applications as-is to the cloud.
- Replatforming (Lift, Tinker, and Shift): Making a few cloud optimizations without changing the core architecture.
- Repurchasing: Moving to a different product, usually a SaaS platform.
- Refactoring/Re-architecting: Re-imagining how the application is architected and developed, typically using cloud-native features. Here is where Cognits can help with, we can leverage our talented team of AWS Certified professionals to help you move to the cloud, either via staff augmentation to complete your team or to help you from the strategy to deploy. We already have a framework that can help you speed up things in specific technologies such as typescript for Lambda or we can define together the best way to staff for your specific needs.
- Retiring: Decommissioning applications that are no longer useful.
- Retaining: Keeping certain applications on-premises for now.
- Relocate: Containers / VMWare Cloud on AWS.
- Choose the strategy that best fits each component of your legacy system.
3. Leverage AWS Migration Tools
AWS provides a suite of migration tools to facilitate the process:
- AWS Migration Hub: Centralizes your migration tracking across AWS and partner solutions.
- AWS Application Migration Service (MGN): Automates lift-and-shift migrations.
- AWS Database Migration Service (DMS): Helps migrate databases to AWS with minimal downtime.
- AWS Server Migration Service (SMS): Simplifies the migration of on-premises servers.
- Amazon Q: You can have your team assisted by AI on regards of improving and migrating legacy code into greatest and latest version of platform or moving to a different one.
- Using these tools can streamline the migration process and minimize risks.
4. Prioritize Security and Compliance
Security should be a top priority when migrating to the cloud. AWS offers a robust set of security tools and services:
- AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM): Manage access to AWS services and resources securely.
- AWS Key Management Service (KMS): Create and control encryption keys.
- AWS Security Hub: Centralize security alerts and automate compliance checks.
- Ensure that your migration plan includes measures to maintain compliance with relevant regulations and industry standards. And remember the Shared Responsibility Model from AWS allows you to focus on innovation while AWS helps your team’s operational burden.
5. Optimize Costs and Performance
Migrating to the cloud offers opportunities for cost optimization. Use AWS Cost Management tools to monitor and control your cloud spending:
- AWS Cost Explorer: Visualize and analyze your AWS spending.
- AWS Budgets: Set custom cost and usage budgets.
- AWS Trusted Advisor: Provides real-time guidance to help you provision your resources following AWS best practices.
- Additionally, leverage AWS’s performance optimization tools like AWS Auto Scaling, AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ELB), and Amazon CloudWatch to ensure your applications run efficiently in the cloud.
6. Train Your Team
A successful migration requires a skilled team. Invest in training your staff on AWS services and cloud best practices. AWS offers extensive training resources, including:
- AWS Training and Certification: Courses and certifications to build and validate your team’s cloud skills.
- AWS Documentation and Whitepapers: Comprehensive guides and best practices.
- Empowering your team with the right knowledge will help ensure a smooth migration and effective management of your new cloud environment.
7. Test and Iterate
Before fully committing to the migration, conduct thorough testing. Create a proof of concept (POC) to test the migration process, identify potential issues, and refine your approach. Use AWS testing environments like AWS CloudFormation to automate resource provisioning and management during this phase.
8. Plan for Post-Migration Operations
Post-migration, it’s crucial to have a plan for ongoing operations. This includes:
- Monitoring and Management: Use AWS CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager for continuous monitoring and management.
- Backup and Recovery: Implement AWS Backup and AWS Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions to ensure data protection.
- Regular Audits and Updates: Continuously audit your cloud environment and apply updates and patches to maintain security and performance.
- Migrating your legacy systems to the cloud with AWS can unlock significant benefits, including improved scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. By following these tips—assessing your infrastructure, defining a clear strategy, leveraging AWS tools, prioritizing security, optimizing costs, training your team, testing thoroughly, and planning for post-migration operations—you can navigate the complexities of cloud migration and position your business for future growth. Embrace the journey to the cloud and transform your legacy systems with AWS.
Want to talk to one of our AWS experts? Contact Us now.
References:
1 https://aws.amazon.com/
2. https://aws.amazon.com/migration-acceleration-program/
3. https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/enterprise-strategy/new-possibilities-seven-strategies-to-accelerate-your-application-migration-to-aws/
4. https://aws.amazon.com/q/
5. https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/shared-responsibility-model/