The process of cloud migration might seem very overwhelming and complex, but trust us, it is one of the easiest tasks ever if done correctly! We have accumulated the fundamental five steps that are an absolute necessity for a smooth AWS migration process. Let’s check out the following steps to migrate to cloud.

Step 1: Create a customised cloud management team

For every process and strategy, a complete team handles different departments and aspects of the process. Likewise, your cloud migration plan’s first step is to create a full-fledged cloud management team according to your requirements. This team will carry out the migration, monitoring, analysing, etc., right from start to finish! The team will be the centre point of contact and will be responsible for handling all the concerns and will implement the strategy in the right manner.

Step 2: Analyzing pre-migration situation

Before proceeding with the migration process, one of the best practices to move to cloud easily is to have an in-depth analysis of every possible application. Analyse and monitor the data and then save it for comparing the post-migration performance, which is our last step. This way, you can easily understand how the speed, user experience, and other metrics are improved. This will also help you analyse any possible flAWS too, which might occur during the transition process. A few key performance indicators(KPIs) that you should track are error rates, daily traffic, average session length, CPU usage, and so on. Also, you can collect data and statistics by sending various types of surveys to your customers and employees, which can also give you great insight.

Step 3: Check for security concerns.

The next step for a seamless AWS migration is for proper evaluation and security checks. There are numerous sensitive data involved within a company, and protecting it is the top priority. Therefore, the process of migration should be fully safe and secure. You should ensure that all the security guidelines and compliance regulations are followed before initiating the transfer of data and applications.

According to the resources by Forest research, around 43% of internal data breaches result from mishandling of sensitive data. Thus, installing the right cybersecurity measures is vital for preventing any possible cyber threats or data breaches. Check out the security measures like firewalls, etc., that the cloud service providers like AWS and others supply. This will help you analyse if you require any additional third-party security measures too.

Step 4: Check all application dependencies

Now when you have all the details enlisted right in front of you, it is time to map all application dependencies. Certain applications depend on the other application to work, which is essential to maintain beforehand. This map will offer you insight into the possible applications required to move or migrate together during the AWS migration process. AWS also provides a free application dependency service that will assist you in this step. Suppose you intend to opt for the hybrid cloud. In that case, application dependency is critical since not all applications are hosted in the same place, resulting in overall hindrances in the long run. You can also analyse this in a better manner by transferring a single application in the beginning. Starting small will give you a better grip on the entire process since this way, you can know which applications might have chances of having an error for dependency-related issues. The prevalent AWS migration trends include transferring a low requirements app and then proceed onto the important ones. This way, you will have fewer chances of incurring any loss. Make the necessary adjustments and gradually proceed with the migration process if things go fine until now.

Step 5: Post-migration analysis

When you have everything figured out regarding this cloud migration plan and have already transferred a few applications, you know how it works. A perfect practice to move to the cloud easily is to monitor the post-migration performance. You can just measure the performance for the applications which are already migrated and compare them with the KPIs mentioned above. This will help you analyse if you need changes in the next migration process. If things go well, you can easily leverage this data and justify the investment to the cloud platform to the stakeholders and other executives if required. It is advisable to keep the KPI comparison continuous even after completing the migration process to analyse every application’s performance. Many leading cloud service providers like AWS also offer automatic analytics and statistics for your convenience.