Cloud Migration: Strategy and Best Practices Part 2

​In the previous article on Cloud Migration Strategy and Best Practice we discussed the importance of having a well-defined strategy, a clear scope and realistic timeline for successful cloud migration projects. We also highlighted the critical role that people play in the success of cloud migration projects.

In this article, we will shift our focus to the technology perspective of cloud migration. We will explore how technology can be used to achieve the scale and velocity required, while aligning with the strategy, scope and timelines of the migration project. The key principle is to automate wherever possible, utilizing tools such as discovery tools, migration implementation tools, configuration management databases, inventory spreadsheets, and project management tools.

​Once the necessary tools are selected, it's essential to ensure that the migration team has the skills to use them effectively. With the right tools and skills in place, technology can play a critical role in accelerating large migrations.

Technology Perspective

In order to accelerate large migrations, technology can provide a solid foundation. One example of this is the Cloud Migration Factory solution, which focuses on end-to-end automation for migrations. This section explores some best practices for using technology to achieve the scale and velocity required, while also aligning with the strategy, scope, and timelines of the migration project.
​
The key principle here is to automate wherever possible. When dealing with thousands of servers, performing manual tasks can be a costly and time-consuming effort. To aid in the migration process, several tools are typically used, including discovery tools, migration implementation tools, configuration management databases (CMDBs), inventory spreadsheets, and project management tools. These are utilized at various stages of the migration, from assessment to mobilization through to implementation. The selection of tools is determined by the business objectives and timelines.

Once the migration phases are planned and the necessary tools are selected, it's essential to ensure that the migration team has the skills to use them effectively. If there are any gaps in skills or experience, targeted training should be planned to ramp up the team's abilities. Additionally, it's beneficial to create events where teams can gain experience with the migration tooling in a safe environment.

​For example, are there sandpit or lab servers that teams can migrate to gain experience with the tooling? Alternatively, can initial development workloads be used for learning purposes? With the right tools and skills in place, technology can play a critical role in accelerating large migrations.

Automation, Tracking, and Tooling Integration

Automate Migration Discovery to Reduce the Time Required
​
When starting a large migration project, it's important to figure out what needs to be migrated and how to migrate it. This process is called discovery and it involves capturing key information about the workloads that will be migrated. To speed up the migration, it's essential to automate the discovery process and import the captured data into the migration factory. This significantly reduces the time and effort required to complete the discovery phase.

For example, you could automate your data intake process by hosting your migration metadata on Microsoft SharePoint and using an AWS Lambda function to load the data into the migration factory automatically. This would enable you to reduce manual work, minimize human error and speed up their migration process.

Automate Repetitive Tasks

During the migration implementation phase, there are many repetitive tasks that must be done frequently. For instance, if you're using AWS Application Migration Service (MGN), you'll need to install the agent on every server that's included in the migration. To handle these tasks efficiently and quickly, it's best to set up a migration factory tailored to your specific business and technical needs.

A migration factory uses a standardized dataset to speed up the migration process, and after identifying all the tasks involved, you can spend time automating as many manual tasks as possible with prescriptive runbooks. One example of a migration automation solution is the Cloud Migration Factory. It provides the foundations for automating aspects specific to your organization. For instance, you may want to update a flag in your CMDB to indicate that the on-premises servers can now be decommissioned.

You could create an automation script that performs this task at the end of the migration wave, and Cloud Migration Factory would provide the centralized metadata store with all the wave, application, and server metadata. This way, the automation script can connect to Cloud Migration Factory, retrieve a list of servers in that wave, and take appropriate actions. Additionally, Cloud Migration Factory supports AWS Application Migration Service, which can further streamline your migration process.
 
Automate Tracking and Reporting to Speed Decision Making

To speed up decision-making during migration projects, it's important to have a system in place that tracks and reports live data to all stakeholders involved in the project. This includes teams such as application, testing, decommissioning, architecture, infrastructure, and leadership. Each team needs access to live data to perform their roles and make decisions. To achieve this, we recommend building an automated migration reporting dashboard that tracks and reports on key performance indicators (KPIs) for the program.

For example, network teams need to know the upcoming migration waves to understand the impact on the shared connection between on-premises resources and AWS, while leadership teams need to know how much of the migration is complete. By having a dependable, automated live feed of data, miscommunications can be prevented, and decisions can be made based on reliable information. A large healthcare customer was able to simplify tracking and communications while increasing the migration velocity by using Amazon QuickSight to build automated dashboards that visualized the data.
 
Explore Tooling that Can Facilitate Your Migration
​
When it comes to managing a large migration, selecting the right tools is crucial. However, choosing the right tools can be a challenge, especially if your organization lacks experience in managing large migrations. To ensure a successful migration, we recommend investing time in exploring the available tooling options to find the best fit for your specific needs. While some tools may come with a licensing cost, they can offer significant cost benefits in the long run. Additionally, you may find that your organization already has tooling in place that can support your migration. For example, your application performance monitoring tooling can provide valuable discovery information about your estate.

Prerequisites and Post Migration Validation

Build the Landing Zone During the Pre-Migration Phase

To ensure a successful migration to AWS, it is recommended to build the target environment, or landing zone, ahead of time during the pre-migration phase. This means creating a well-designed and secure environment that includes monitoring, governance, and operational controls, among other things. By having the landing zone in place before the migration, you can minimize the risks and uncertainties that come with running your workloads in a new environment.

Instead of building the VPCs and subnets during the migration wave, focus on building and validating the landing zone. This approach will help you ensure that the environment is well-architected and meets your business and technical requirements. Once the landing zone is in place, you can then focus on migrating your workloads without worrying about managing the account or VPC-level aspects. By building the landing zone during the pre-migration phase, you can streamline the migration process and minimize disruptions to your business.
 
Outline Prerequisite Activities

To ensure a successful migration, it's crucial to outline the prerequisite activities that need to be completed before the migration takes place. Along with building the landing zone, it's essential to identify other technical prerequisites, especially those with a lengthy lead time, such as making necessary firewall changes. Communicating these requirements early on can help prepare and allocate the necessary resources, ensuring that the migration stays on track and meets the intended timeline.
 
Implement Post-Migration Checks for Continuing Improvement

To ensure continued improvement, it's equally important to implement post-migration checks. These checks can include operations integration, cost optimization, and governance and compliance checks, among others. The post-migration phase is an excellent opportunity to implement cost-control operations, such as using Amazon CloudWatch to assess instance utilization and determine whether a smaller-sized instance would be suitable.

A real-life example of the importance of the post-migration phase is a large technology customer who didn't include it initially. After migrating more than 100 servers, they discovered that the AWS Systems Manager Agent (SSM Agent) wasn't configured correctly, causing the migration to stall. Additionally, they found that the instances were much larger than initially estimated, which would have resulted in higher costs if left unchecked. As a result, the customer implemented a cost checkpoint at the end of each migration wave to avoid similar issues in the future.

Summary

Successful cloud migration projects require a holistic approach that considers people, process, and technology. In this article we have focused on the technology perspective of cloud migration, which is a critical aspect of any successful migration project. 

The automation of migration discovery, repetitive tasks, tracking, and reporting can significantly reduce the time and effort required to complete a migration project. By automating these aspects, migration projects can accelerate the migration process while aligning with the project's scope, strategy, and timelines. To ensure a successful migration, it is crucial to explore tooling that can facilitate the migration process.
 
​​In the next article, we will delve deeper into the process perspective and provide insights and best practices for navigating the procedural aspects of cloud migration.