Thinking about moving your business from on-premise servers to the cloud? You’re in the right place. An on-premise to cloud migration is a big step, but a well-planned move can bring huge benefits in flexibility, cost, and performance. A guide like the current one offers a clear, step-by-step plan for your on premise to cloud migration strategy. We’ll also look at the kinds of on premise to cloud migration tools that can make the process smoother, especially within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.
So, what is the shift from on-premise to cloud? Simply put, a process like this involves moving your company’s digital assets—like applications, data, and IT infrastructure—from your own physical servers (on-premise) to servers hosted on the internet by a provider like Microsoft Azure. A move like this is a core part of any modern digital transformation cloud migration strategy.
Why you should consider on-premise to cloud migration
The reasons for making the move to the cloud are compelling, especially for enterprises looking to stay competitive. A successful on-premise to cloud migration isn’t just about changing where your data lives; a migration is about unlocking new capabilities and achieving better business outcomes.
Here are some of the main business drivers:
- Cloud migration cost optimization: Managing your own data center is expensive. You have costs for hardware, software licenses, real estate, power, and the IT staff to maintain everything. With the cloud, you shift from a capital expense (CapEx) model to an operational expense (OpEx) model, paying only for the resources you use. A clear cloud migration business case development process often highlights significant long-term savings.
- Increased agility and scalability: The cloud offers incredible flexibility. You can scale your computing resources up or down almost instantly to meet demand. A setup like this is something on-premise infrastructure can’t match without significant time and investment. A benefit like this allows your business to respond quickly to new opportunities or unexpected peaks in activity.
- Improved performance and accessibility: Major cloud providers like Microsoft Azure have a global network of data centers. A network like this means your applications can run closer to your users, reducing latency and improving performance. A setup also gives your teams secure access to data and applications from anywhere, which is essential for today’s hybrid work environments.
- Enhanced security and compliance: Top-tier cloud platforms often have more advanced security measures than a single organization can afford to implement. A provider like Microsoft invests heavily in security, helping you meet cloud migration compliance and security requirements for various industries. Advaiya’s own ISO 27001 certification reflects a deep commitment to such security standards.
How to choose a cloud migration strategy
There’s no single “best” on premise to cloud migration strategy; the right approach depends on your specific applications, business goals, and resources. A common question is, “What are the 7 types of cloud migration?” People often refer to the “7 Rs” of migration. Let’s look at the most common ones.
- Rehosting (lift and shift): A lift and shift cloud migration is the most straightforward approach. You move your applications and data from your on-premise servers to the cloud with minimal or no changes. A method like this is fast and relatively low-risk, making a good starting point for organizations new to the cloud.
- Replatforming (lift and reshape): A step up from rehosting, replatforming involves making some optimizations to your applications to take better advantage of cloud capabilities, without changing the core architecture. An example would be moving an on-premise database to a managed cloud database service like Azure SQL. A comparison of rehosting vs replatforming migration often shows replatforming offers better performance for a modest increase in effort.
- Repurchasing (drop and shop): In a strategy like this, you move to a different product, typically a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. For example, you might replace an on-premise CRM system with a cloud-based one like Dynamics 365. A Microsoft 365 cloud migration is a common example of a repurchasing strategy.
- Refactoring / Rearchitecting: A strategy like this involves significantly modifying or completely redesigning your application to be cloud-native. A process like this is the most complex and resource-intensive, but a process also allows you to fully use cloud features like microservices and serverless computing for maximum agility and scalability. A process like this is often part of a legacy system cloud modernization effort.
- Retaining: Sometimes, the best strategy is to do nothing for now. You might choose to retain certain applications on-premise due to regulatory constraints, high costs of migration, or because an application is working perfectly fine where a application is. A hybrid cloud migration strategy often involves retaining some workloads on-premise while moving others to the cloud.
- Retiring: During your assessment, you’ll likely find applications that are no longer needed. Retiring such applications and decommissioning their infrastructure can lead to immediate cost savings.
Choosing the right path requires a thorough cloud readiness assessment. A partner like Advaiya can help you evaluate your application portfolio and develop a custom cloud migration roadmap that uses the right strategies for the right workloads.
The 5 phases of a successful cloud migration
A structured approach is key to a successful on-premise to cloud migration. People often ask, “What are the 5 phases of cloud migration?” While specifics can vary, a typical phased cloud migration approach follows a logical progression from planning to ongoing management.
Phase 1: assessment and planning
A successful migration starts with a solid plan. A phase like this is where you define your goals and assess your current environment.
- Define your business case: Why are you moving to the cloud? What outcomes do you expect? A clear cloud migration business case development process is essential for getting stakeholder buy-in.
- Conduct a cloud readiness assessment: A process like this involves a complete inventory of your applications, infrastructure, and data. You need to understand what you have before you can plan how to move a system.
- Map dependencies: A critical step is cloud migration dependency mapping. You need to understand how your applications and systems interact with each other to avoid breaking things during the migration.
- Choose your strategy and provider: Based on your assessment, you’ll select the right migration strategies (rehost, replatform, etc.) for your applications and choose a cloud provider, like Microsoft Azure.
Phase 2: design and architecture
Once you have a plan, you need to design your new cloud environment.
- Architect your cloud infrastructure: A process like this involves setting up your virtual networks, storage, and computing resources in the cloud. A design should be secure, scalable, and cost-effective.
- Plan for security and compliance: Design your security controls, identity and access management, and data protection measures to meet your cloud migration compliance and security needs.
- Develop a migration plan: Create a detailed project plan for the migration itself, including timelines, resource assignments, and testing procedures. A focus on cloud migration project management is crucial here.
Phase 3: migration execution
A phase like this is where the actual move happens.
- Build and test the cloud environment: Set up your cloud infrastructure according to your design and test a setup thoroughly.
- Migrate applications and data: Execute the migration of your applications and data using your chosen strategies and on premise to cloud migration tools. A process like this is often done in waves, starting with less critical applications to minimize risk.
- Use automated cloud migration tools: Tools like Azure Migration tools and services can significantly simplify and accelerate the migration process, especially for large-scale moves like a data center cloud migration.
Phase 4: testing and validation
After the move, you need to make sure everything is working correctly.
- Conduct thorough testing: Cloud migration testing and validation involves functional testing, performance testing, and security testing to ensure your applications are running as expected or better in their new environment.
- Validate business processes: Ensure that your business processes that rely on the migrated applications are functioning correctly.
Phase 5: optimization and management
Your cloud journey doesn’t end after the migration.
- Monitor performance: Use cloud migration performance monitoring tools to keep an eye on your applications’ performance, security, and costs.
- Optimize for cost and performance: Continuously look for opportunities for cloud migration cost optimization. A process like this might involve right-sizing your virtual machines, using reserved instances, or adopting new cloud services. A focus on post-migration cloud optimization is key to maximizing your ROI.
- Manage and govern your cloud environment: Implement strong governance policies for your cloud environment to manage costs, security, and compliance on an ongoing basis.
On-premise to cloud migration tools
The right on premise to cloud migration tools can make a huge difference in the speed, efficiency, and success of your migration. For organizations moving to Microsoft Azure, a rich ecosystem of tools is available.
- Azure migrate: A central hub for Azure migration tools and services. A platform provides a unified experience for assessment, migration, and modernization of on-premise infrastructure, applications, and data. A platform helps with server assessment, database migration, and even moving web apps.
- Azure database migration service: A fully managed service designed to enable seamless migrations from multiple database sources to Azure data platforms with minimal downtime. A service like this is essential for any SQL Server cloud migration or migration of other database types.
- Azure app service migration assistant: A tool that helps you assess and migrate your on-premise web applications to Azure App Service, a platform for building and deploying web apps.
- Microsoft 365 and SharePoint migration tools: For organizations undertaking a Microsoft 365 cloud migration or a SharePoint cloud migration, Microsoft provides specific tools to help move files, sites, and user data from on-premise versions of SharePoint and file shares to the cloud.
- Third-Party tools: In addition to native Azure tools, a wide range of third-party automated cloud migration tools and enterprise cloud migration platforms are available that can assist with specific aspects of the migration, from assessment and dependency mapping to data replication and testing.
Choosing the right combination of tools requires expertise. As a provider of Microsoft partner cloud migration services, Advaiya has deep experience in using such tools to execute complex migrations, including ERP cloud migration strategy and legacy system cloud modernization.
The Advaiya advantage in your cloud migration journey
An on-premise to cloud migration is a complex undertaking. Partnering with an experienced consultant can be the difference between a smooth transition and a costly failure. Advaiya brings over 20 years of digital transformation experience and a deep partnership with Microsoft to every enterprise cloud migration consulting engagement.
Our approach is built on a few key principles:
- Comprehensive planning: We start with a “comprehensive decomposition of business needs and technical execution steps.” A process like this ensures your on premise to cloud migration strategy is perfectly aligned with your business goals. We create a custom cloud migration roadmap that minimizes disruption.
- Enterprise architecture expertise: We focus on platform best practices for extensibility and upgradability, ensuring your new cloud environment is built for the future. We also help you get better value from existing technology investments as part of a hybrid cloud migration strategy.
- End-to-end project management: We provide robust cloud migration project management from start to finish, ensuring your migration is delivered on time and on budget. Our case studies, like the CRM unification for a Fortune 500 manufacturer, demonstrate our ability to manage large-scale, complex projects.
- AI-enabled approach: Our teams are trained on the latest AI tools, and we actively incorporate AI-based use cases into our solutions, helping you build a smarter cloud environment.
- Post-migration optimization: Our work doesn’t stop at go-live. We provide post-migration cloud optimization services to help you manage costs, improve performance, and continue to get the most value from your cloud investment.
An on-premise to cloud migration is a foundational step in your digital transformation journey. A well-executed migration can provide the agility, scalability, and innovation platform your business needs to thrive. A clear on premise to cloud migration strategy, a structured, phased approach, and the right on premise to cloud migration tools are all critical components of success.
If you’re ready to start your cloud journey or looking for expert guidance on your migration plan, Advaiya is here to help. Our experience as a provider of Microsoft partner cloud migration services can help you navigate the complexities and achieve your business goals.
Ready to move to the cloud with confidence? Let’s discuss your cloud migration project.
Frequently asked questions
A cloud migration timeline estimation varies greatly. A simple lift and shift cloud migration of a few applications might take weeks, while a complex data center cloud migration involving refactoring legacy systems could take many months or even years.
- The biggest cloud migration risks and mitigation challenges often involve inadequate planning, leading to cost overruns, security vulnerabilities, and unexpected downtime. Poor dependency mapping and insufficient testing are also common pitfalls.
- Minimizing downtime is a key goal. Strategies like a phased cloud migration approach and using specialized on premise to cloud migration tools for live data replication can significantly reduce or even eliminate downtime for critical applications.
- A cloud migration vs on-premise costs analysis shows on-premise has high upfront hardware costs and ongoing maintenance expenses. The cloud uses a pay-as-you-go model, which can be more cost-effective, but requires careful management to avoid unexpected spending.
- Yes, absolutely. A hybrid cloud migration strategy, where some applications move to the cloud while others remain on-premise, is a very common and practical approach for many enterprises.
