Many businesses are moving their applications & data to the cloud while modernizing their IT infrastructure to prepare for future needs. You would agree that the decision for cloud movement is a big one. It involves substantial organizational change and investment. And no company would enter cloud migration lightly.
If you’re also considering migrating your data and application from local data centers and servers to the cloud or planning to shift to another cloud platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the best options. It would enable your business to modernize all IT assets with the latest cloud-managed services over a secure, scalable, and affordable infrastructure.
If you don’t know where and how to start your on-premises to AWS cloud migration journey, this post is for you! It will not only help you overcome the challenges of cloud migration but also enable you to extract optimal business value quickly & efficiently with the proper steps.
Table of Contents
Why AWS Cloud Migration?
Amazon Web Services has rapidly surfaced as a prominent cloud provider regarding total enterprise use for the right reasons. AWS offers several templates & tools for workflow optimization that enable enterprises to improve their IT management capabilities by up to 62% compared to the regular environment. Interestingly AWS enjoys the lion’s share in the cloud market for its enhanced scalability, security, and accessibility to meet your long-term business needs & goals.
According to a recent study by Hackett Group, enterprises that have migrated their on-prem data centers to AWS, on average, observed:
- 20% cost savings in infrastructure
- 29% increase in employee focus on innovation
- 43% improvement in time to market for feature enhancements
- 45% reduction in security-related incidents
- 54% decline in downtime
- 66% rise in admin productivity
Reasons For Migrating To AWS:
There are several reasons why businesses are opting for on-premises to AWS cloud migration. The most common ones include;
- Reduced Cost
- Enhanced Speed & Agility
- Better Security & Compliance
- Increased Scalability
- Improved Business Continuity
- Cloud Native Capabilities
Explore the details of the business benefits of migrating to AWS cloud that could enable your enterprise to align with the global paradigm shift of cloud that is already underway.
AWS Cloud Migration Steps
A thorough planning ensures your cloud migration process fits your company’s technical needs and financial goals. Defining your expectations and planning will help you navigate the complexities and set you on the right track for a seamless, risk-free migration.
Here are the core steps to migrate the on-premise application to AWS & data to the cloud.
Step 1: Define Your Goals
What is the purpose of your AWS cloud migration? Robust security? Reduced cost? Enhanced responsiveness?
Define the KPIs around your cloud migration roadmap, including your cloud journey’s current status and the expected outcome post-migration. It will help you track your progress and pay off.
Step 2: Choose Your Cloud Type
Set to go all-in on the cloud? Then private or public cloud platforms might be the right fit for your business case. Want to keep some portion of your data center on-premise? Then a hybrid approach might be your best bet. But your decision should depend on how you will continue and maintain your chosen cloud type.
Step 3: Prep Your Team
Once the leadership is bought in, committed & has the right mindset, it’s time to train the teams up to get them up to the speed – on features & benefits with AWS. It is where you’d want to enlist the help of a specialist that is familiar with the AWS cloud migration process. Your tech partner should have the experience to guide you through the potential pitfalls and get your cloud transformation on the right foot.
Step 4: Compare the Cost
Before you leap to the cloud, consider hardware, software licenses, servers, infrastructure, maintenance, and network costs. It would help if you also accounted for the loss of productivity and poor user experience that might result from technical errors & downtime. AWS has created a calculator to help enterprises arrive at a total cost of ownership. We can also help you better understand your estimated costs and prepare for the unexpected expenses you might have to pay down the road.
Step 5: Determine Your Compliance Needs
Knowing your security standards will help you decide which policies & practices must be implemented. This is where we can help you better understand your cloud platform needs and identify data that need heightened security.
Step 6: Prepare Your Data & Workloads
Some apps fit for cloud migration and can be moved quickly, while others may take time due to complex interdependencies. We can help you identify which apps can be moved as it is and which ones need redesigning. With us, you can make the most of AWS services that enable seamless migration without reconfiguring your workloads.
Step 7: Chalk Out Your Migration Roadmap
Once you know which data, apps & workloads you’d like to move, you can define your strategy for application migration from on-premise to AWS cloud. A wide variety of migration services and tools help move your data and workloads. At Rishabh, our team follows the fundamental 6R cloud migration strategy to help you mitigate risks, maximize business value and make your migration seamless. Please read this blog to learn more about the 6Rs of a cloud migration strategy and the best practices we follow.
Step 8: Pick the Right AWS Tools
One of the most significant advantages of on-premises to AWS cloud migration is easy to access to an expansive list of services and tools. Irrespective of the amount of data you store, the intricacies of your existing business applications, or the location of your data center, AWS has a wide variety of tools with robust capabilities. Learn more about these AWS tools.
Step 9: Selection of Your Storage Option
Every business has unique technical, security, and financial needs. The same applies to storage. So, before you decide on your storage option, know your priorities – scalability, security, cost, responsiveness, availability, or hybrid storage capacity. Once you have decided on these factors, choosing the proper storage solution becomes much more accessible.
Step 10: Test & Validate
Now that your AWS migration process is complete, it’s time to focus on the next phase. It includes monitoring the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) previously set before the migration. It is crucial to continuously monitor operational performance while taking advantage of AWS support tools and familiarizing them.
AWS Migration Cost
Migrating to AWS can involve various costs depending on factors such as the size and complexity of your current IT infrastructure, the chosen AWS services, and the level of support you require. Here are some key cost factors to consider:
- Data transfer costs: If you need to transfer large amounts of data from your existing infrastructure to AWS, you may incur data transfer costs. These costs vary depending on the region you’re transferring data to and the amount of data being transmitted.
- Compute and storage costs: AWS charges for using compute and storage resources, such as EC2 instances and S3 storage. The cost will depend on the type and size of resources you choose and how long you use them.
- Database costs: If you use AWS databases, such as Amazon RDS, you will incur database costs based on the size of your database and the level of database usage.
- Application development and testing costs: If you’re developing or testing applications in AWS, you may incur expenses for using development and testing tools and services.
- Support costs: AWS provides different levels of support, from basic to premium. Depending on your needs, you may need to pay for a higher level of support.
- Professional services costs: If you need help migrating to AWS, you may need to engage professional services, such as AWS consulting partners, to assist with the process. These costs will depend on the level of support you require.
If you find that cloud migration costs you more than your on-premise data center, you’re comparing a single server with an AWS compute resource. Don’t make this mistake! It is a scenario highlighted by many of our customers. Therefore, just to put things in the right perspective.
- Comparing AWS’s memory sizing or processor with an on-premises server is like comparing an apple to an orange.
- On-premise pricing includes the workforce, electricity, labor, taxes, data center premises, heating, or cooling. But with AWS, all these expenses are already factored into the TCO.
The cloud offers undeniable benefits. But for a successful on-premises to aws migration, you need a well-planned strategy that aligns with your business needs and goals. Also, your plan should empower your teams and support your management methods. Sounds like a lot of work, isn’t it?
Teaming up with an AWS cloud migration consulting partner like Rishabh Software can help you extract maximum value from cloud infrastructure while minimizing risk, cost, and time.
Planning your AWS migration budget? Discover how to reduce AWS cost overruns with our expert AWS cost optimization eBook tailored for CTOs
How We at Rishabh Software Help Migrating to AWS
Technology has become the most significant enabler for fast-growing, forward-thinking enterprises. And as an experienced technology company for AWS migration, stay abreast of latest in tools and technologies. Whether it’s your databases, mainframe systems, or legacy business app, our cloud migration team can get them onto the cloud platform of choice. We offer seamless third-party integrations, backend app connections & APIs.
Our services include:
- AWS Consulting
- AWS Application Development
- AWS Cloud Migration
- AWS Cloud Managed Services
- Cloud Business Intelligence & Analytics
Learn more about our AWS development services and the right fit strategies we apply to enable customers to leverage the AWS cloud in-line with their business goals.
Success Story – Rishabh Software
We recognize the fact that every cloud journey is unique. And so, as a cloud consulting company, we have the knowledge & experience to help businesses overcome hassles, avoid unwanted costs, and maximize their ROI.
Here’s how we create real value for our clients:
Use Case – Cloud-Based Video Streaming App
A Middle East-based media company turned to Rishabh to build a user-friendly, Over-The-Top (OTT) platform for streaming anime-centric content across different regions. They pursued a scalable platform that could support their content infrastructure.
We developed an all-inclusive application with dynamic streamlining capability. Our team designed, ramped-to-production & deployed a scalable OTT infrastructure by leveraging several AWS Media Services. It helped them expand their reach and meet the dynamic needs of today’s tech-savvy users. Today, it serves as a central hub to store, transcode, upload, and manage an ever-growing volume of video content. Users can view and download TV episodes and movies with on-demand sorting and categorizing choices.
Results achieved:
- 40% increase in subscription renewals
- 100% customization with multi-language support
- Multi-platform access with high scalability
Final Words
To conclude, the move to the cloud offers several benefits. And AWS cloud provides scalability, resiliency, flexibility & reliability for modern enterprises. At the same time, application migration to AWS cloud is most undoubtedly cost-effective. Yet migrating to AWS can be an overwhelming process – considering the time & cost. While it can get tricky, you need the right team to make a move. Though, with the help of an AWS partner, you can automate these steps to lower the migration efforts while reducing the associated risks with each step.
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