Lift and Shift Migration: Everything You Need to Know

Quick Summary

Many enterprises with on-premises applications and software need help to keep up with enhancing client demands and technological advancements. Key challenges with extraordinary capital expenses, scalability, complicated management procedures and hardware replacements are the reasons for the struggles.

Cloud computing is a boon for enterprises that minimizes the operational burden and reduces IT budgets. People are becoming aware of the advantages of cloud computing, and The number of businesses choosing cloud migration is on the rise. The ‘lift and shift’ approach allows organizations to migrate to the cloud by transferring their on-premises applications without significant modifications. This cloud strategy has its set of advantages and disadvantages. Let’s explore its mechanics and assess its suitability for your needs.

What is Cloud Migration?

Cloud migration involves transferring applications and associated data from on-premise infrastructure to various cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and others. The primary objective of cloud migration is to enhance efficiency and achieve optimal outcomes with minimal costs. Organizations that seamlessly migrate to the cloud enjoy numerous advantages, including improved scalability, cost-effectiveness, resilience, availability, and security.

Lift and Shift Migration Assessment and Planning

You need to carefully prepare and assess many factors before you start working with lift and shift migration, as it can impact the cost, difficulty and undertaking value. It includes

Application Lifespan

Assess the duration you plan to continue using the application or running the workload. Migrating an application for retirement within the next 12 months may take much work.

API Access Restrictions

Ensure that migrating to the cloud won’t create bottlenecks for your existing API tools, maintaining smooth access.

Migration Automation Tools

Check if your chosen cloud hosting provider offers automated migration tools and incorporate them into your plan for efficiency.

Migration Priority

If migrating multiple applications, establish a runbook to prioritize migrating mission-critical applications, aligning with your business priorities.

Compliance: Evaluate your migration plan and the cloud provider’s infrastructure to guarantee compliance with all regulatory requirements during and after migrating from on-premises to cloud environments

Feature and Scope Creep

Be cautious of feature-rich cloud environments that may tempt you to integrate additional capabilities spontaneously. Stick to a defined project scope throughout the migration to avoid delays and resource drains.

Limitations of the Lift and Shift Strategy

Here are some lift and shift migration limitations

Unexpectedly strong performance

When running in an on-premises environment, legacy programs are highly tuned to operate as efficiently as possible. Transferring these programs to the cloud may only result in the desired results. As a result, with the necessary modifications, applications executing slowly or efficiently on-premises are likely to function better on the cloud.

However, many cloud service providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), offer services that deal with performance issues. EC2 Auto Scaling from Amazon Web Services helps companies enhance the performance of their applications. It also provides relational database services, Amazon Aurora, and a low-latency content delivery network (CDN), Amazon CloudFront. It is Amazon that provides both of these services.

Threats to Security

Applications designed for on-premises environments might be accessible to several users, and their access privileges might be more generous than in other situations. When you deploy mission-critical programs to the cloud, you can also move these access privileges to the cloud environment.

Apps deployed with loose access control guidelines run the risk of exposing vulnerabilities due to the shared and complex architecture that the cloud offers. However, there are numerous approaches to enhancing the security of your apps in the cloud environment.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) services like Identity and Access Management, Security Hub, and AWS Key Management Services can help improve security.

Expensive

You will incur more operating expenses when you move from an on-premises to a cloud environment, changing your initial capital expenditure. Additionally, programs that are just partially optimized may cost more in the long term since they cannot fully provide the savings and benefits that the cloud offers.

Your company can use Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services at a reasonable cost by utilizing AWS Savings Plans, Budgets, and Cost Explorer. This allows you to keep an eye on and optimize cloud service prices. 

Top Cloud Migration Approaches

Rehosting

Many of us have already discussed rehosting, also called the “lift and shift” migration strategy. Applications hosted on-premises can be quickly moved to the cloud without requiring code modifications. Businesses can migrate their present programs to a new environment or the cloud.

Restructuring

One method for cloud migration is called refactoring, which prioritizes increasing productivity as much as speed. Because relatively little code is changed throughout This process, programs can quickly adapt to the cloud environment and use its benefits.

Replatforms

There are two basic techniques for cloud migration: refactoring and the ‘lift and shift’ strategy. The apps are moved to the cloud using this method’s framework with little code changes. On the other hand, the transfer of apps depends on several factors, such as the program itself, specific requirements, and the cloud service that is being targeted. The apps are moved to the cloud, which ensures optimal system compliance and performance, following a few tweaks and changes to the code. For example, a re-platforming strategy used for cloud migration is called Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS.

Rebuild

Another way to migrate to the cloud is to rebuild your application to make it compatible with the platform. With the PaaS platform, you may design customized cloud apps to meet your unique requirements. Building a cloud application for your company will require examining several technologies and other factors. This is a difficult task. However, it is necessary in cases where your programs’ utility or longevity is significantly limited.

Redesign

Application rearchitecting is an option for businesses using the cloud to achieve scalability. This process entails updating the capabilities and code of the application to increase the program’s scalability and performance. The application has been developed considering the needs of the cloud environment. The program’s general code, data infrastructure, and architecture have all been updated.

Replace

If, after all of your improvements, your application still cannot meet the present or future needs, you may have to replace it with a pre-made alternative. When applications are deployed this way instead of completely rewritten for the cloud, they can be deployed faster. However, there are several disadvantages to this migration approach, including the difficulty of modernizing apps and the potential for business process disruptions.

Process of List and Shift Migration

Below is the step-by-step procedure for list and shift migration

The initial assessments

Determine which programs and the associated data require migration and any dependencies between them. Compile a list of each application’s resources, including memory, computing, storage, and other resources. The next step is to evaluate and select the cloud platform you want to switch to. After that, you should investigate the terms and conditions, fees, SLAs, and other cloud provider features.

Planning a Budget and Allocating Resources

Allocate the necessary relocation resources, including funds, equipment, and individual assets.

Getting Ready

create a thorough plan for every step and record the procedures. For example, consider looking into the possibilities of automating the transfer process if you are migrating and moving many applications. You should provide explicit backup procedures and rollback strategies if something goes wrong. Ensure that everyone taking part in the migration understands their responsibilities. Should you need more internal expertise in managing cloud environments or migration procedures, you should arrange to work with an outside service provider with prior experience in cloud migration. 

Data that have been backed up

Before migrating, backups of the databases, binaries, application code, and file data should be kept in the system. As such, assessing how well these backups are restored using particular test configurations is imperative before the ultimate migration. In some instances, programs and data have already been set up in the cloud environment from the start, and applying a delta backup is all that needs to be done during the final migration. Using this technique, the system’s downtime can be reduced.

Establish the cloud environment

The following steps include creating a cloud account and setting up landing zones, virtual machines (VMs), virtual private clouds (VPCs), role-based access controls, security groups, policies, and other relevant duties. Other industry experts heed the advice of the cloud provider regarding best practices. If you need assistance, use the services of an outside vendor.

Migrate and Test

Execute the migration procedures within the prearranged maintenance window. Every component needs to be carefully tested after the software and all related data have been relocated. Run the validation checks on the just-moved application that are conventional for you. It is not advisable to add new features during the transfer process. Because of this, you might have to conduct additional testing for a considerable time to ensure that you haven’t added any new flaws.

Maintenance of the system

Once the migrated apps are up and running, monitoring the infrastructure and applications is essential to ensure everything is running well and that the right amount of resources are being used. See whether there are any errors or warnings by looking through the log files. Furthermore, you ought to utilize the cloud dashboards and monitors to scrutinize the utilization of the infrastructure resources (CPU, Memory, and Disk) and perform any essential adjustments.

Retire

You can turn off your older systems when your testing is complete, and everything operates as it should.

Benefits of Lift and Shift Migration

Here is the list of lift and shift migration benefits

No significant changes

Apps can be rehosted in the cloud without requiring substantial changes using the lift and shift methodology. Companies can move their programs to the cloud without redesigning the application’s architecture or paying extra costs. Lift and shift are already there. Therefore, there is no need to rewrite or rework the code. Furthermore, there is no influence whatsoever on the administrative and monitoring interfaces for the program.

Prevents disruption

You can quickly move your application using the Lift and Shift methodology without requiring a large team to finish the task. Furthermore, the on-premises apps keep working regularly even after they are moved to the cloud, guaranteeing that the service won’t be interrupted. The migration has no problems, and the application is not interrupted.

Greater Degree of Security

When it comes to earning clients’ trust and defending against the dangers of malware and hacking, the significance of security cannot be emphasized. Once your cloud migration is complete, you can utilize the extensive protection the cloud architecture provides. It can even be used with your heritage apps. Your applications’ security will increase if you employ role-based access control, unified security mechanisms, and user authentication based on many factors.

An Improved Performance 

You can access performance-driven and optimized computer resources without buying them yourself if you want to proceed with the Lift and Shift process. Cloud services are provided on a pay-for-what-you-get basis; you may allocate your cash wisely and increase the processing power available to your business. Investing in cloud services is more economical than building your on-site IT infrastructure.

Decreased Expenses for On-Premises

Moving your programs to the cloud will ease the burden of running on-premises operations for you. This lowers the expenses associated with monitoring and maintaining your IT resources. It also eliminates the headaches that come with having to keep an eye on and update the infrastructure all the time to match the demands of contemporary enterprises

Conclusion

Embracing application modernization is essential for cost reduction, enhanced business agility, and staying in sync with market dynamics. Transitioning on-premises applications to a cloud-first model demands a thorough assessment of your needs to make informed choices. It is crucial to grasp the advantages and risks of cloud migration before embarking on the journey, ensuring a well-informed decision-making process. The ‘lift and shift’ approach facilitates a smooth application modernization by seamlessly transferring on-premises applications to the cloud.

FAQ’S