07 Aug 2020
6 MINS READ
In these times of uncertainity, businesses are looking to digital leapfrogging to embrace agility, build resilience and future-proof themselves for all weather scenarios. A holistic approach to cloud adoption to realize intended value is easily said than done. This post takes a birds-eye view of migrating applications to the cloud, the strategies involved, how automation can make a difference, the business benefits and how the cloud can be an enabler of business transformation.
Application cloud migration is the process of moving on-premises or legacy infrastructure to the cloud. It also would apply to moving applications, databases and IT processes from one cloud to another. Moving applications to the cloud would require organizations to review each application architecture, assess its feasibility for the new platform and make empowered choices. It is imperative to take a close look at your application migration criteria holistically factoring in specific compute requirements, resource allocation, business continuity, compliance, security and cost parameters.
The cloud has firmly taken root as the definitive destination for digital evolution. The enticing mix of massive computing muscle, unmatched agility and immediate scalability resting on a sustainable cost model is too hard to ignore. The benefits are pragmatic and boundless. In an era of uncertainty and disruption, businesses need to look beyond the horizon. They need to work on an IT system that would create a growth model built on agility, resilience and disruptive innovation. The cloud fits the bill perfectly. The silver lining is all too obvious. A holistic cloud strategy is a natural part of the broader business roadmap, the pivot to an IT transformation plan focussed on tangible outcomes. Cloud computing is here to stay and grow – for enterprises, vendors, brokers, service providers and the entire ecosystem.
It is very important to have your feet on the ground when looking to shift to the cloud. Your application migration strategy should be tightly aligned with core business goals and also take a deep dive into the environment, the interdependencies, the architecture and current licensing arrangements. The three most common application migration strategies at the broader level are
Let’s look at each of these approaches in a little more detail.
Also known as “lift and shift”, organizations gravitate towards this approach when there is a need to get the migration done quickly based on supporting business cases. Moving applications to the cloud using the Rehost route is a rapid and smoother migration process with minimal application disruption. It will only require a change to the host configuration since there is new cloud-based hardware in play. A lift and shift context would also entail ruling out cloud-native benefits like continuous real-time deployment. There is also the possibility of sub-optimal performance. Organizations with time and cost constraints or have a lot of commercial or off-the-shelf applications find the lift and shift method a better fit for their business goals.
Also referred to as “lift-tinker-and-shift”, the application or a part is optimized to increase resilience and enhance scalability before moving to the cloud. This approach which is increasingly become popular involves due diligence and analysis. The code is refactored by adopting modern frameworks like APIs and microservices. It might involve transformation from old technology to a new one or code generation for new features needed on the cloud. Optimization allows for faster lifecycles for applications through real-time updates once they are in the cloud. Organizations looking to automate certain defined processes before moving to the cloud are more likely to adopt this migration path. Replatforming is ideal for legacy application modernization and offers the highest TCO reduction possible.
Refactoring is the way to go if you are looking at market competitiveness with major code modifications for enhanced service capabilities, improved performance and speed. It might involve changes in the application architecture and leverage cloud-native features for performance benefits. The disadvantage though is that the more cloud-native the application is, you will be tightly coupled to the cloud you are using. The refactoring route offers greater opportunities for innovation and automation but also comes at higher costs and longer implementation times. Since there are changes to the application at many levels there are a higher probability for errors at the code, configuration and infrastructure levels. It is thus essential to ensure that your cloud readiness assessment is spot on when deciding on the migration journey.
Cloud computing, adoption, and migration is an essential strategy to accelerate digital transformation at lower costs. In the age of the digital disruptive, businesses with on-premise legacy infrastructures simply cannot afford to lag behind. A holistic roadmap with a differentiated approach aligned to enterprise goals makes all the difference to thrive in a cloud-first world. Being re-born-in-the-cloud today can offer unparalleled benefits as listed down below.
While cloud computing has the ability to unlock deep strategic value through increased business agility, the path towards migrating applications to the cloud is dotted with many challenges. Your strategic cloud migration strategy needs to plan for potential bottlenecks, costs, security and flaws in the implementation process. The primary challenges that needs careful review and clear navigation at a broader level are listed down below.
While cloud migration approach strategies work on a horses for courses best-fit model, one increasingly popular approach is application replatforming driven by automation. Automation offers replatforming the highest TCO reduction promise, perfect for legacy systems with substantial returns in migration times and cost savings. Getting on the automation bandwagon can ensure that your application code assessment for refactoring and cloud readiness can be finished in a matter of hours. The entire replatforming journey for legacy applications when using the right automation led tool can be closed in just six weeks while manual methods can take anywhere between six to nine months.
Pushing the envelope of automated cloud refactoring is Hexaware’s Amaze™ for Applications, a re-platforming solution that can accelerate the cloud journey by reducing cloud adoption time by 75% and implementation costs by up to 60%. Amaze™ can automatically analyze applications, replatform them based on criticality and move them to any public cloud platform. Its automation expertise has been specifically tailored to move your legacy Java and C# sharp applications along with all its dependencies like databases, message brokers and schedulers to a cloud-friendly stack and design pattern.
Amaze™ cuts down on time across all stages to deliver application mass migration with great efficiency and does the following
The pace of automation led replatforming makes for an accelerated journey – 2 weeks to analyze your application, 24 hours for a readiness report and just 4 weeks to refactor and move to the cloud. The considerable benefits including a 50% reduction in the total cost of transforming and refactoring an application, a 30 % increase in productivity and a 40 per cent reduction in time to market.
The most crucial key question that is on top of the mind of every CxO would be TCO savings. Especially in uncertain times when organizations need to keep abreast of twin fold objectives of treading caution and yet unravel opportunities for resilience and growth. Also, different cloud migration approaches have varied impacts on TCO and are aligned to each organization’s unique needs. The road ahead for ROI then pivots to a model that has automation at its core and has the pragmatic potential to do away with various license costs and score big on increased application performance and development productivity.
Taking Amaze™ as a ready reference for better understanding, in most cloud replatforming initiatives, ROI starts at the singular point, the break-even, when the cost to replatform the application to the cloud is recovered by a reduction in the monthly operating cost. Due to automation accelerating the journey, the attractive proposition is that investments start giving positive returns from the first month itself. Adopting open-source software like Tomcat, Spring and Postgres can further reduce licensing costs substantially. An outcome based delivery model will strengthen the ROI paradigm even further.
As the cloud creates significant opportunities for increased business agility, early as well as high adopters have realized multi-fold business value. Costs savings, increased operational efficiencies, enhanced security and innovation in enabling new technologies have helped organizations win on many fronts. Agile organizations looking to move the needle for competitive advantage also understand it is about the right time to future-proof themselves for all weather scenarios. The importance of the cloud has never been greater today. While the basic building blocks for migrating applications to the cloud remain the same – application prioritization, risk assessment and cost evaluation, Automation is the definitive game changer for the morrow and beyond.
Talk to our cloud experts to know how we can simplify, automate and accelerate your cloud journey. Lets have a conversation now.
About the Author
Prakash likes to blog on digital marketing, technology and nature. He sees the writing process as an intrinsic journey of the heart, mind and the soul. He loves trekking and is passionate about wildlife conservation.
Application Transformation Mgmt.
17 Dec 2020
14 Dec 2020
11 Dec 2020
27 Nov 2020
13 Nov 2020
12 Nov 2020
09 Nov 2020
06 Nov 2020
22 Oct 2020
13 Oct 2020
06 Oct 2020
17 Sep 2020
15 Sep 2020
26 Aug 2020
11 Aug 2020
31 Jul 2020
22 Jun 2020
19 Jun 2020
11 Jun 2020
20 Apr 2020
31 Jan 2020
03 Sep 2019
31 Aug 2019
03 Jul 2019
26 Apr 2019
28 Mar 2019
13 Aug 2018
19 Jun 2018
Application Transformation Mgmt., Healthcare, Insurance
18 Jun 2018
28 Nov 2017
14 Sep 2016
03 Sep 2016
25 Aug 2016
11 Jul 2016
BI & Analytics
19 Mar 2009
26 Nov 2010
Digital Assurance
02 Jan 2012
17 Feb 2012
Infrastructure Mgmt. Services
02 Mar 2012
03 Jan 2013
04 Feb 2013
06 Feb 2013
Digital Assurance, Enterprise Solutions
14 Feb 2013
18 Feb 2013
21 Feb 2013
27 Feb 2013
Others
01 Mar 2013
04 Mar 2013
Enterprise Solutions
05 Mar 2013
18 Mar 2013
Digital Assurance, Enterprise Solutions, Others
22 Mar 2013
12 Apr 2013
26 Apr 2013
29 Apr 2013
13 May 2013
11 Jun 2013
17 Jun 2013
25 Jun 2013
19 Aug 2013
26 Aug 2013
27 Aug 2013
03 Sep 2013
10 Sep 2013
19 Sep 2013
24 Sep 2013
26 Sep 2013
30 Sep 2013
01 Oct 2013
03 Oct 2013
01 Nov 2013
19 Nov 2013
Enterprise Solutions, Manufacturing and Consumer
28 Nov 2013
03 Dec 2013
20 Dec 2013
03 Jan 2014
22 Jan 2014
27 Jan 2014
31 Jan 2014
12 Feb 2014
13 Feb 2014
20 Mar 2014
24 Mar 2014
17 Apr 2014
11 Jun 2014
Manufacturing and Consumer
26 Jun 2014
30 Jun 2014
10 Jul 2014
15 Jul 2014
16 Jul 2014
18 Jul 2014
28 Oct 2014
13 Jul 2015
06 Aug 2015
26 Aug 2015
28 Sep 2015
07 Oct 2015
26 Oct 2015
07 Mar 2016
22 Mar 2016
13 May 2016
23 May 2016
15 Nov 2016
22 Nov 2016
25 Nov 2016
Business Process Services
25 Apr 2017
Banking and Financial Services
18 May 2017
30 May 2017
23 Jun 2017
27 Jun 2017
18 Jul 2017
26 Oct 2017
Healthcare, Insurance
11 Dec 2017
25 Jan 2018
21 Feb 2018
14 Mar 2018
( Mandatory field * )
The information you provide will be used in accordance with our terms ofPrivacy Policy
Please Check on "I Agree" to register for the blog.