How To Migrate From On-Premise to the Cloud? | Axon

Consider a retail company that struggles with server overloads during peak shopping seasons, causing slowdowns and customer frustration. Now, imagine this company after migrating to the cloud: they effortlessly scale resources to handle the surge, ensuring smooth customer experiences.

This scenario highlights the transformative impact of moving from on-premise infrastructure to the cloud. Reasons to move to the cloud are diverse. Cloud migration is essential for businesses aiming to enhance operational flexibility, reduce costs, and improve scalability. Moving from on-premise to cloud storage can improve data accessibility, allowing employees to work remotely with ease.

In this blog post, we explore why transitioning to the cloud is crucial for operational optimization and growth, offering businesses a robust platform for innovation and competitive advantage. Have you thought about something like “Should I move to the cloud?”? If yes, this material is really for you! Whether you lead a startup or a large enterprise, understanding the benefits of cloud migration is key to future success.

What Is On Premises to Cloud Migration?

On-premises to cloud migration refers to the process of moving digital business operations from the local, physical servers of a company to a cloud-based infrastructure. This shift enables organizations to utilize computing services and storage offered by cloud providers over the internet, which often enhances scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency.

The migration process typically involves several steps, starting with the assessment of the current on-premises architecture. This is crucial to identify which applications and data can be moved to the cloud and to determine the best strategy for the migration. The strategies can vary from a simple "lift-and-shift" approach, where applications are moved without modification, to a more complex re-architecting or refactoring approach, where applications are significantly modified to optimize cloud capabilities.

Why move to cloud computing? Reasons to move to the cloud as well as its benefits include reduced IT costs, as companies no longer need to maintain and update physical servers; improved scalability, with resources that can be adjusted according to demand; enhanced disaster recovery capabilities; and the potential for better security, although this can depend on the cloud provider and the specific implementations.

Here are two more reasons why move from on premise to cloud computing is beneficial:

1. Transitioning from on-premise to the cloud enhances collaboration across teams by allowing employees to access, share, and work on documents and applications simultaneously from anywhere in the world.
2. Cloud platforms offer robust disaster recovery solutions, ensuring data continuity and minimal downtime in the event of hardware failure or other disruptions, which can be challenging and costly to manage with on-premise systems.

However, the migration process also presents challenges such as data security concerns, the need for new skills and training for IT staff, potential downtime during the migration, and the complexities of managing cloud services. Effective planning, using the right tools and partners, and ongoing management are essential for a successful migration from on-premises to cloud environments.

What are the benefits of moving from on-premise to the cloud?

Migrating from on-premise to cloud platforms helps companies innovate faster by leveraging cutting-edge technologies available through cloud services. Reasons to move to the cloud comprise the following arguments:

Easier administration

With cloud providers, there is no need to spend additional time configuring firewalls, certificates, and policies. All this stuff goes out of the box.

Better security

Advantages of moving to the cloud imply that cloud providers invest heavily in security measures to protect data and infrastructure. This includes physical security at data centers, encryption of data in transit and at rest, identity and access management controls, and compliance certifications.

Compliance

Cloud providers offer compliance certifications and adhere to industry standards to ensure data protection and regulatory compliance. This includes certifications such as SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS.

Deployment automation

With such services as CodePipeline and CodeDeploy, it is possible to easily set up the CI/CD pipeline for any complexity and any development processes and delivery needs.

Managed databases

Why move to cloud computing? These kinds of services remove a huge amount of headaches for developers like easier deployment, maintenance, and security configuration, managed and automatic backups, and disaster recovery.

Easier automatic scalability

Advantages of moving to the cloud also offer scalability. If necessary, cloud services provide a lot of services like AWS EC, to configure automatically scalable solutions

Monitoring and alarms

Cloud services provide robust monitoring tools that enable us to gain insights into the infrastructure performance and usage patterns. It is also easy to set up a bunch of alarms and notify the development team regarding unpredictable infrastructure behavior.

Easier team augmentation

Skilled developers are often attracted to projects that utilize modern technologies and offer opportunities for professional growth and learning.

Thus, reasons to move to the cloud include enhanced flexibility and scalability, allowing businesses to adjust resources based on demand without the need for upfront capital investments. Additionally, cloud environments often offer improved security features, which can protect data more effectively than traditional on-premise solutions.

Why Are Companies Moving To The Cloud?

Why are companies moving to the cloud? Companies are increasingly transitioning from on-premise to cloud due to compelling benefits such as cost efficiency, scalability, and flexibility, which allow businesses to adjust their resource usage without significant upfront investments in hardware. This move facilitates enhanced collaboration through real-time data access across global teams, improves disaster recovery with robust data backup systems, and automates software updates, reducing the IT maintenance burden. Furthermore, the cloud grants access to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, which can be prohibitively expensive and complex to implement on-premise. Cloud services also adhere to stringent security standards, helping businesses meet regulatory compliance more effectively while potentially reducing environmental impact through more efficient resource use. These advantages make cloud computing an attractive option for businesses aiming to boost efficiency, foster innovation, and maintain competitiveness in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

What are the 5 important tools for data migration from on-premise to the cloud?

AWS Data Migration Service (AWS DMS)

• Homogeneous and heterogeneous database migrations (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, MariaDB). It can directly copy data between identical database engines and automatically transform data between different engines, including schema conversion.
• Minimal downtime during migration
• Real-time replication
• Conversion via AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)

Azure Migrate

• All-in-one solution for infrastructure, app, and database on premise to cloud migration
• Pre-migration assessment and readiness analysis
• Dependency mapping between workloads
• Integration with Azure Database Migration Service
  

Google Cloud Migrate

• Supports VMs, databases, and Kubernetes environments
• Live migration with zero service interruption
• Hybrid and multi-cloud support
• Easy scalability for large workloads
  

CloudEndure Migration (AWS)

• Near-zero downtime migration
• OS- and application-agnostic
• Ideal for large-scale rehosting projects
• Built-in disaster recovery capabilities

Apache NiFi

• Flexible handling of real-time and batch data flows
• Suitable for a complex on-premises to cloud migration strategy
• Secure data transmission (TLS, encryption)
• Drag-and-drop visual interface for flow design

What is the suggested architectural approach for moving to the cloud?

A robust architectural approach for cloud migration focuses on modern methodologies and technologies that facilitate a seamless transition. By adopting these strategies, organizations can achieve optimized performance, improved security, and increased agility:

• REST architectural style - is the de-facto approach used in today’s applications utilizing modern technologies. It emphasizes statelessness, standardized HTTP methods, and resource-based communication. By adhering to the REST principles, developers can build distributed systems that are scalable, cacheable, and easily extensible
• Service-oriented architecture - provides benefits such as reusability, scalability, interoperability, flexibility, maintainability, and cost-effectiveness. It enables modular and reusable services, allows independent scaling, simplifies maintenance, and reduces development costs. A setup where each service stores its data in its separate database improves isolation and security. In the case of a small application with a small amount of functionality, - a monolithic application could be considered.
• OAuth with JWT - provides stateless and scalable authentication, ensuring enhanced security and data integrity. It enables efficient authorization by including self-contained claims, supports decentralized architectures, and is compatible with mobile and single-page web apps. It reduces database queries for user information validation and access control
• Containerization - with the containers we are able to run isolated and reproducible services that are easy to set up and execute on different environments and platforms
• Cloud-native approach - usage of cloud services providers such as AWS, reduces system administration costs and provides the possibility to set up secure and scalable solutions in hours. Additional services like S3, SQS, etc. reduce the development time. With CodePipeline service we have CI/CD tools out of the box

Data Storage

For structured data, PostgreSQL is an excellent choice. It supports complex queries, ACID transactions, and ensures data consistency and integrity. Its capabilities in handling scalability and promoting data normalization make it ideal for cloud-based applications.

Technology Stack

• Cloud: AWS, augmented with Docker for containerization, offers a comprehensive and scalable infrastructure.
• Backend: Statically typed languages like Java or Golang are recommended for their robustness and performance efficiency.
• Frontend: TypeScript combined with React and the MUI UI toolkit provides a rich, responsive user experience.
• Mobile Development:
  • iOS: Swift, paired with Combine for handling asynchronous events.
  • Android: Kotlin, with modern Android development tools like MVVM architecture, Coroutines for asynchronous tasks, Room for database access, Hilt for dependency injection, and Retrofit2 for network operations.

Seamless Data Migration To The Cloud

Benefits of moving from on premise to cloud are huge. Migrating data to the cloud represents a complex challenge, largely influenced by the existing relational database schema. To achieve a successful transition, several critical steps must be meticulously planned and executed:

1. Development of a Robust New Architecture: The new system architecture must be thoughtfully designed to accommodate the complexities of the existing database while enhancing scalability and performance in the cloud environment.
2. Creation of Comprehensive Migration Scripts: These scripts are vital for ensuring that every piece of data is accurately transferred to the cloud platform without loss or corruption. The scripts must be tested extensively to guarantee they function as intended.
3. Detailed Migration Plan for the Development Team: This plan should outline every phase of the migration process, assigning clear roles and responsibilities to each team member. It serves as a roadmap that guides the development team through the complexities of the migration.
4. Conducting Multiple Migration Rehearsals: Before the final migration, several trial runs should be conducted. These rehearsals help identify and rectify any issues in the migration scripts or processes, ensuring a smooth transition during the actual migration to production.
5. User Experience Considerations: Post-migration, users will benefit from continuity in their interactions with the platform. There is no need for them to download a new mobile application; instead, they will simply update their existing app. This approach minimizes disruption and maintains user engagement.

Do You Really Need To Move To The Cloud? Key Takeaways

Deciding whether to migrate to the cloud is a significant strategic decision that requires careful consideration of advantages of moving to the cloud, as well as technical and business implications. Before making final decision, think about the following factors of why move to cloud computing:

• Cost efficiency: Migrating from on-premise to the cloud can potentially reduce operational costs by optimizing resource usage and maintenance expenses. However, it's important to conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis to determine if the savings justify the initial investment.
• Scalability and flexibility: The cloud offers unparalleled scalability and flexibility, allowing businesses to adjust their resources according to fluctuating demands. This adaptability is crucial for businesses looking to grow or those with varying workload intensities.
• Enhanced collaboration: Cloud platforms facilitate better collaboration among team members, providing tools that enable seamless sharing and management of resources across different locations.
• Security considerations: While cloud providers generally offer robust security measures, businesses must understand their own responsibility in securing their data and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. The shift from on-premise to cloud enables organizations to benefit from automatic software updates and security enhancements.
• Business continuity: The cloud enhances business continuity planning by providing reliable data backup solutions that ensure data integrity and quick recovery in the event of a disaster.

Ultimately, whether to move to the cloud depends on your specific business needs, goals, and readiness to adopt new technologies. It's essential to weigh these factors carefully, consult with IT experts, and possibly pilot the cloud solution before making a full transition. The journey from on-premise to cloud computing facilitates better data management and integration capabilities across diverse business applications.

Moving from on-premise to the cloud is not just a technological upgrade but a strategic choice that could redefine your business operations. Contact us today to get a detailed consultation on your specific case!