A Guide to Successful Migration to the Cloud: Benefits, Approaches, and Best Practices

With a market worth of over $150 billion and an estimated 200 zettabytes of data storage by 2025, cloud computing has long become a go-to solution for businesses looking to enhance their agility, scalability, and efficiency. 

What’s all the buzz about though? Why is cloud migration so popular these days? What does it offer that businesses can’t refuse? 

What is Cloud Migration? 

Let’s start with the basics. What is cloud migration? Cloud migration entails the shift of your company’s digital assets, applications, services, databases, and IT resources from an on-premises or on-site server to a cloud environment. The shift can also be between different clouds. 

Migrating to the cloud can be quite a complicated and daunting endeavor though. From choosing the right cloud provider to ensuring proper integration with your existing systems and selecting the right cloud migration strategy, there are multiple considerations that business owners have to address for a seamless transition. However, don’t let this scare you. The following guide will walk you through the main stages of cloud migration to help you understand the whole process better. 

If you are a newbie in the world of cloud computing, we highly recommend that you work with a reliable partner. The latter will help you, first, decide whether or not your business needs to migrate to the cloud, and then guide you through the whole migration process, assisting you every step of the way. 

What are the Main Approaches of Cloud Migration? 

There are several strategies or approaches to cloud migration. We categorize them into the following 7 groups: 

   - Rehosting or Lift & Shift: This strategy entails moving your digital assets to the cloud without making any significant changes. The good thing is that you will have both your on-premises server and the cloud system running until the new environment is ready for use. 

   - Replatforming: This approach is better suited for more complex systems. It allows the tech team to change the configuration of your legacy systems so as to make them fit for the cloud server. Replatforming is like adding an additional modernization phase to the overall migration process to make the most of cloud computing. 

   - Repurchasing: In this case, you simply discard your existing application and buy a new cloud-native one. 

   - Refactoring (Re-architecting): When it comes to refactoring, your tech team will rewrite and restructure your applications in order to leverage the features of cloud native. However, this strategy can be time- and resource-consuming, so, it’s better to consult a specialist for your specific case before having your apps refactored. 

   - Rebuilding: As the term suggests, this strategy involves developing your applications from scratch while using cloud-native services. Bear in mind, that rebuilding can often be quite expensive and time-intensive. 

   - Retiring: When migrating to the cloud, you may find that some of your digital assets are so outdated that you simply do not need them in the cloud environment. This is when you can decommission or eliminate them. 

   - Retaining: And lastly, you can also do a partial shift of applications to the cloud and preserve the locality of some of your software. 

You should assess your existing digital infrastructure carefully before choosing the type of cloud migration you need. Remember that, depending on the complexity and volume of your digital assets, you can use two or more of these strategies. Here are some important factors we recommend that you to take into consideration in order to make the best possible decision for your business: 

   - Architecture
   - Workload
   - Pricing 
   - Risks
   - Security
   - Functionality
   - Complexity

Thoroughly evaluate your business goals and future plans, think of the amount of time and money you can dedicate to the migration process without compromising your business operations, and finally, talk to a knowledgeable partner - as cliché as it sounds, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. 

What are the Main Types of Cloud Environments? 

There are four main types of cloud environments you can choose from. The final decision again comes down to the specific requirements of both your business and your digital infrastructure. Let’s now have a look at each of these four cloud environments: 

Public Cloud

Public cloud is considered to be the most affordable of the four. Public cloud environments are owned and managed by third-party providers. The most renowned ones are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). All the resources in the public cloud, including computing power, storage, and networking, are available for many different customers over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis. 

Other than being essentially cost-efficient, public clouds also come with scalability and flexibility, offering users to scale up and down based on demand. There is no need for any upfront investments in infrastructure. 

Private Cloud

With a private cloud, you have a private server which you can use solely for your organization. Since you don’t share resources with other customers, you get greater control, better security, and more customization options. The only downside is the price which entails a high upfront investment and ongoing maintenance costs. 

You can host a private cloud on-premises within your organization’s data center or have a third-party provider do it for you. If your company has specific regulatory requirements, highly sensitive data, or the need for full control over infrastructure, then a private cloud can be the right choice for you.  

Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid clouds are a combination of public and private clouds, offering the best of both worlds - the security of a private cloud, and the scalability and cost-efficiency of a public cloud. You can use the elements of the public cloud for your non-sensitive workloads, while keeping your critical applications and data in the private cloud to ensure security and regulatory compliance. 

Hybrid clouds enable you to allocate your resources based on the requirements of your workloads without having to choose between private and public clouds, especially when you need both. 

However, we should note that managing resources across multiple environments can be quite challenging in terms of data consistency and network connectivity, not to mention the hidden costs that are a common occurrence with hybrid clouds. 

Multi-Cloud

In the case of multi-cloud, you can use services from different cloud providers, such as Azure, AWS, and GCP. The multi-cloud environment enables you to avoid vendor lock-in and leverage the best features of all the major cloud providers. 

Many businesses choose to use different cloud providers for different applications and workloads. The main determining factors are cost, performance, geographic presence, or specific services offered by each provider. 

When you allocate your workloads across multiple providers and regions, you encourage a more resilient and better performing cloud environment. 

Just as with the hybrid cloud, multi-cloud environments can also be complex to manage, in terms of security and integration. 

What are the Major Cloud Providers? 

Anyone who is somewhat familiar with cloud computing, knows that the market has three major players - Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. If you don’t know which one of these three cloud providers is the right choice for you, you may want to dig deeper into their offerings to make the right decision. 

All of them offer high-quality services, flexible features and functionalities, and various pricing options. To help you in your research, we have gathered some insights about each provider, displaying their main features and functionalities, as well as highlighting the ones that make them stand out from the crowd. 

Microsoft Azure 

First introduced in 2008, Microsoft Azure (or Windows Azure, as it was named at the time) became commercially available only in 2010. The platform initially offered a limited set of services. Over the years, the company came up with open-source software packages and solutions for big data, AI, ML, and IoT. 

Azure is integrated with the existing products and services of Microsoft, including Windows Server, Active Directory, Office 365, and Dynamics 365. Thanks to such a deep integration, you are able to leverage your existing investments (if you have been using Microsoft services at your company before), and easier migrate your on-premises infrastructure to the cloud. 

The Main Features of Microsoft Azure 

Let’s now explore the main features and functionalities of Microsoft Azure to help you understand whether this is the cloud provider you have been looking for. 

   - Data Storage and Management: Microsoft Azure offers a wide range of data storage and management services. Using Azure Blob Storage, you can safely store and retrieve large amounts of unstructured data, such as images, videos, and documents. As for the Azure SQL Database, it offers a fully managed and dependable relational database service. There is also Azure Cosmos DB which is a fully managed NoSQL and relational database with globally distributed functionalities for managing various types of data. 

   - AI and ML: To help you leverage advanced analytics and automation features, Azure offers integration with artificial intelligence and machine learning services. Azure’s ML capabilities enable you to build, train, and deploy ML models to acquire valuable insights from your data. Azure Cognitive Services comes with pre-built AI models to help you execute various tasks, from speech recognition to language understanding and computer vision. 

   - Single-Pane Operations: This feature offers a unified view of hybrid environments via the Operation Management Suite (OMS). The latter enables easy monitoring and management of various data sources, such as virtual machines, storage, network services, logs, and insights. OMS also provides solutions for better security in hybrid infrastructures. These solutions are threat intelligence, patch level monitoring, and malware detection. 

   - Hybrid Capabilities: Azure has hybrid cloud solutions that can help your organization effortlessly integrate on-premises data centers with the cloud. For example, Azure Stack allows you to run Azure services on your hardware, while Azure Arc enables Azure management and services for any infrastructure, including other cloud providers. 

Azure Pricing Models

Azure offers several pricing models: 

   - Azure Hybrid Benefit: This model allows you to save up to 40% on the cost of Azure virtual machines. To use this model, you need to have an existing on-premises license for Microsoft software (Windows Server or SQL Server). 

   - Reserved Instances: You can reserve Azure resources in advance for a year or for three years and receive a 72% discount. 

   - Enterprise Agreements: This model is for large-scale companies who want to implement Azure services long-term. Choosing this pricing option, you can get high discounts, flexible payment conditions, and access to support and other additional services. 

   - Azure Spot Virtual Machines: Through this model you can bid on the unused Azure compute capacity and if accepted, receive discounts. The discount rate depends on the current demand  of the unused compute capacity. Azure can sometimes reclaim the capacity without notice - this usually happens when the demand increases. If you need consistent, well-performing compute resources, we recommend against this model. 

Amazon Web Services

The launch of the Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) back in 2006 marked the introduction of Amazon Web Services or AWS. As one of the pioneers in cloud computing, AWS has a rich history of growth and development, boasting an annual growth rate of about 30%. Offering over 200 fully featured services, AWS covers all the sectors of modern innovative technologies, be it AI, ML, IoT, compute, or storage. 

The Main Features of AWS 

   - Services: From compute, storage, databases, networking, to machine learning, analytics, and IoT, AWS provides a wide range of cloud services across different categories. 

   - Customer Base: AWS boasts a large and quite diverse customer base. Businesses of all sizes, from startups and small businesses to multinational corporations and government agencies rely on AWS to help them with their digital initiatives. These businesses can be from all kinds of industries - technology, healthcare, media, and entertainment. 

   - Ecosystem and Community: AWS has a strong community of developers, partners, third-party vendors, offering a slew of tools and solutions that help improve the experience delivered by AWS. Additionally, the company offers training, certifications, and documentation which helps customers navigate the cloud migration journey better. 

AWS Pricing Models

Like Azure, AWS also offers several pricing models: 

   - On-Demand Instances: This model allows you to pay for compute capacity by the hour or second. There are requirements for advance payments or long-term contracts. 

   - Reserved Instances: You can reserve instances for specific periods and get a 75% discount with AWS too. 

   - Saving Plans: Using the AWS Saving Plan, you can receive up to 72% discount, as long as you commit to using the compute services for 1 to 3 years. 

   - Dedicated Hosts: This pricing model enables you to get a physical server with full control over the underlying hardware. 

   - Spot Instances: Through this model, you receive high discounts on unused EC2 instances capacity via bidding. 

Google Cloud Platform

First launched in 2008 under the name App Engine, Google Cloud was only introduced as a private preview for developers back then. Starting with just 10,000 users, the platform hit 75,000 user base within a month, with 80,000 more waiting for their turn. This encouraged Google to make the service available to everyone. By 2009, GCP came up with new paid services. However, it was not until 2011 that Google decided to take down the ‘preview’ label. 

The Main Features of GCP

   - Data Storage and Management: GCP comes with secure and scalable object storage for various types of data, such as images, videos, and documents. Google Cloud Storage Nearline and Coldline offer affordable archival storage options for data that is not accessed frequently. Google Cloud SQL offers fully managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server databases for relational database requirements. Google Cloud Spanner ensures a worldwide distributed, horizontally scalable SQL database service. 

   - Openness and Collaboration: Google Cloud supports an array of programming languages, frameworks, and open-source technologies. The company contributes to open-source projects and promotes a culture of collaboration with the developer community. 

   - Customer Success: GCP offers comprehensive support, consulting, and training services to help clients make the most of their cloud investments. Google Cloud Partners deliver assistance in such areas as migration, deployment, and optimization to further enhance the cloud experience for business owners. 

GCP Pricing Models 

The following pricing models are available for Google Cloud: 

   - Preemptible Virtual Machines: If your workloads won’t be harmed because of such interruptions as batch processing or testing, then this model is for you. It offers low prices for Compute Engine virtual machine instances - the only condition is that the instances can be reclaimed at any moment. 

   - Committed Use Discounts: This model allows you to get up to a 57% discount, as long as you commit to using certain services for one to three years. 

   - Sustained Use Discounts: You can receive up to a 30% discount using GCP services, depending on the amount of time you use virtual machine instances within a month. 

Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP: Which is More Reliable? 

Being the 3 major players in the market of cloud computing, all of them offer reliable and secure services. We have compared them in terms of reliability in the infographic below to help you understand the primary areas of focus for each provider and choose the one that meets your needs the best. 

Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP: Services Overview 

All three cloud providers offer a wide range of services, from compute and storage to databases, analytics, machine learning, and more. AWS comes with the most extensive range of services, followed by Azure and GCP. Here is a quick and detailed overview of the services offered by these three cloud providers: 

Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP: Which is More Secure? 

Each of these providers offers robust security systems and tools that ensure data privacy and safety. Here are the primary security measures that they all have in place: 

   - Data encryption to help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive or critical data. 

   - Identity and Access Management (IAM) to give you the option to decide who can access your data and resources. 

   - Network security features, such as VPNs and firewalls.

   - Compliance with the well-established industry standards and regulations, such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. 

   - Monitoring and logging services for data and infrastructure tracking and detecting possible threats and vulnerabilities. 

   - Incident response plans to help you quickly contain possible security breaches. 

Other than this, each provider also has platform-specific security measures too. Remember that regardless of how secure your cloud provider is, if your business doesn’t have a robust security system to match, you will still be vulnerable to cyber attacks. 

How to Choose the Right One? 

The final choice between the three comes down to the specific needs and demands of your business, your existing software solutions, the type of workload you have, etc. Here are a few tips to help you make the right decision:

   - Choose Microsoft Azure, if your organization relies on Microsoft software and runs on Windows. 

   - GCP could be the best choice if you are a startup on a tight budget. 

   - Go for AWS, if you own a large-scale organization that needs a cloud provider with a wide array of products and services.

What are the Benefits of Cloud Migration? 

Cloud migration brings a number of benefits to the table. If planned and executed wisely and accurately, businesses across different industries can highly benefit from migrating to the cloud. Below is a list of the main advantages of cloud migration that reflect the reasons why it is important in this day and age to migrate your digital infrastructure to the cloud: 

   - Cost Savings: By releasing you from upfront investments in hardware, reducing operational expenses in terms of maintenance and management, as well as providing the pay-as-you-go pricing model, cloud migration can help you save lots of money. 

   - Scalability: Cloud providers allow you to scale resources up and down quickly based on your business’ fluctuating demands. 

   - Flexibility: Cloud providers offer a comprehensive set of services and features which you can tailor to your company’s specific needs and demands. You are free to choose from such cloud service models as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, and build a diverse ecosystem of tools and solutions to address your unique requirements. 

   - Enhanced Performance: A huge reason why businesses are migrating to the cloud is the performance boost that it brings with. Backed by robust infrastructure and global networks, your organization can reap such benefits as improved availability, faster response time, and enhanced resilience against failures and vulnerabilities. 

   - Global Reach: Cloud migration offers global reach and availability in multiple regions around the world. Microsoft Azure is available in over 60 regions and 140 countries. AWS comes with 99 availability zones and 31 geographic regions. GCP is available in around 20 countries and 35 locations. 

Cloud Migration Roadmap

 

Stage 1: Do the Pre-Migration Preparations

Now that we have helped you understand the basics of cloud computing, it’s high time to look at the exact stages of cloud migration. What does the cloud migration roadmap look like? What steps do you need to take in order for your organization to seamlessly migrate to the cloud? 

The first stage starts way before the migration process proper. Here is what we believe you should be doing at the pre-migration stage. 

1. Gain Buy-In and Ensure Exec Team Approval 

It’s of crucial importance to get the approval of your senior staff members and all C-level executives. Cloud migration is not merely a technological change - it requires a change in mentality, and might also come with changes in the functional roles and business operations. This is why it is important for your leadership to introduce the change, to train the employees, prepare them for possible role changes, and have them reskilled. 

2. Build a Financial Plan

Plan your finances carefully and in advance. This will help prevent issues later. Keep in mind that the overall cloud migration cost can be impacted by many different factors - data storage, testing and monitoring tools, security services, and employee training and/or recruitment can all cause fluctuations in your migration costs. 

3. Cloud Migration Architect

You need an experienced cloud migration architect who will be responsible for all the planning and implementation of the migration. They will plan the cloud migration strategies, determine the cloud requirements, and migration priorities, and always stay on top of the migration process. You can either hire an in-house migration architect or outsource to a third-party. 

4. Assess Your Existing Infrastructure 

Carry out a comprehensive evaluation of your current systems, applications, and data to understand whether or not they are compatible with cloud environments. When you know the functionalities and dependencies of your current digital systems, you are able to build a way more efficient and tangible cloud transfer strategy. 

5. Define Your Cloud Migration KPIs

Set your cloud migration KPIs - make them measurable and as precise as possible. Remember that your end goal is achieving operational efficiency, improved user experience, and cost reduction through cloud migration. Your KPIs should reflect all of these. Here are some KPIs to put faces to names: 

   - Page load time
   - Lag
   - Response time
   - Session duration
   - Error rates
   - Availability
   - CPU usage (%)
   - Throughput
   - Apdex (app performance index)
   - Memory use
   - Disk performance
   - Cart adds
   - Engagement rates
   - Network throughput
   - Conversions and conversion rate 

6. Build a Risk Mitigation Plan

This step is of crucial importance - you need to devise a solid risk mitigation plan in order to be able to address issues seamlessly during the migration process. Take into consideration such potential issues as data loss, system downtime, or security vulnerabilities. A well-thought-out risk mitigation plan helps you prevent or at least, minimize the number of disruptions or difficulties that can happen when the migration is underway. 

7. Choose the Cloud Provider

Since we have already discussed the ins and outs of the three major cloud providers, all you need to know at this point is which one fits your organization best. Is it Microsoft Azure, AWS, or GCP? If you can’t make up your mind, consider consulting a specialist to avoid making irreversible and costly mistakes. Prevention is better than cure. 

8. Select the Cloud Environment

Public, private, hybrid, or multi-cloud - which one does your business need? Maybe a combination of the four is what would be the most optimal choice for your organization. Pick wisely. 

9. Decide on the Cloud Migration Strategy 

This is an important and quite a challenging step in your pre-migration preparations. The strategies are many and it can be confusing to decide which one you need. Consider such factors as architecture, workload, pricing, risks, security, functionality, and complexity - it will help you find the best cloud migration strategy for your company. Be sure to consider the amount of time you are willing to invest in cloud migration because some strategies require longer implementation than others and can put your operations on hold. 

Stage 2: Start the Cloud Migration Process 

As soon as you are all geared up for your cloud transformation, it’s time to get the ball rolling. Here are the most important steps for this stage: 

1. Carry out Schema Conversion

Schema conversion entails adapting the database schema so that it is compatible with the target cloud environment. This provides database structure optimization for the specific features and requirements of the selected cloud platform. We consider schema conversion important because it lays the foundation for data integrity and application functionality in the new cloud environment. 

2. Migrate the Data 

Transfer your data and applications to the new cloud environment. Make sure that such sensitive data as customer records, transactions, and business files are safely transferred to the cloud, without compromising data integrity and security. 

3. Monitor and Update 

Continuously track performance, security, and possible issues while the migration is underway. Don’t forget to update your apps as per the demands of the new infrastructure. Updating involves code adjustments, settings reconfigurations, or adapting interfaces to get the cloud benefits. 

4. Test 

Testing helps ensure that the data has been transferred precisely, the applications operate smoothly, and there are no other problems in the cloud environment that can hinder your business processes. It’s crucial to do migration testing before the final implementation. 

5. Make the Final Shift 

Once you have polished and tweaked all the configurations for efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, you can already switch to the new database and cloud environment. 

6. Coach Your Staff

Cloud migration might not be easily accepted by your in-house team. Make sure to help them understand its importance, show them the benefits and improvements, and finally, provide training on the new cloud tools and processes. 

Stage 3: Do Your Post-Migration Tasks 

Cloud migration is an ongoing process. You need to be ready to keep an eye on it even after your data and applications are in the cloud. We have gathered a to-do list for you to carry out after the migration is over. 

1. Ensure Continuous Maintenance 

To keep your data safe from potential attacks, you need to ensure continuous monitoring and implementation of all the needed security measures and best practices. Look out for the system performance, detect vulnerabilities and inefficiencies, and address them properly to keep your cloud a safe place for your business critical data. And finally, make sure to have solid disaster recovery and backup mechanisms. Set up regular data backups and deploy recovery procedures to protect your organization and ensure operational continuity even in case of an unforeseen failure. 

2. Optimize Costs and Scale Resources 

Always keep abreast of the resources that are spent on your cloud infrastructure. Knowing such details will help you identify areas for cost optimization and implement strategies that encourage better allocation of resources. Scale up and down based on your business needs and requirements. Adapt the cloud to the changing needs of your organization. 

3. Assess the Ongoing Cloud Benefits Against Your KPIs

If you want to see the actual benefits of your cloud migration, look at the ongoing results and benefits you are getting and measure them against your KPIs. It’s completely okay not to hit your initially set KPIs right away. It takes time but in the long run, you should be able to see tangible results.
 

What are the Challenges of Cloud Migration and How to Solve Them? 

Cloud migration is not for the faint of heart. It can be quite a complex and multilayered process with multiple challenges. To help you be informed and plan your cloud migration in the safest and most accurate way possible, we have gathered a list of the most common cloud migration challenges that businesses face. We also provide the solutions that you can apply to these challenges if any of them happen to come your way. 

Scope Creep 

This term describes the new features, functionalities, and other requirements that are added to the migration process beyond the project scope, beyond the initially planned scope of work. This can cause an endless cycle of work, delayed processes, and unforeseen expenses. 

To solve this issue, we recommend that you have clear migration objectives from the start with specific timelines, budget constraints, and expected outcomes. Your migration plan should include manageable phases for all the tasks. Be sure to establish governance mechanisms and keep all the stakeholders involved in the process to avoid last-minute change requests. Migrate the most important data first. And finally, implement agile practices for better flexibility. 

Cloud Adoption Resistance 

Your in-house team might not easily accept this whole cloud transformation thing that brings with it new systems, new processes, possible team changes, pressure to upskill, and a shift in mindset and culture. 

To address this, get your leadership to encourage the change and promote positive sentiments around migration. Train your employees and engage them in the process to boost motivation. 

Data Security and Compliance Risks

Cloud migration is a huge transition and it is natural that your data can become vulnerable during such a shift. Besides, you also need to be well-informed of the industry-specific compliance requirements. 

The solution here is data encryption and always checking that your cloud environment is compliant with all the corresponding regulations. Do regular security audits and vulnerability checks, and choose a cloud provider that is trustworthy and reputable. 

Legacy Systems

Since legacy systems function on outdated technology and architecture, they can have dependencies that are not cloud-compatible and will slow down the migration process. 

The only way out is singling out those apps that can be retired and those that can be modernized. You may also have apps that need to be re-architected. Plan this carefully in order not to waste time and money. 

Downtime

Many business owners are worried about downtime causing disruptions in their business continuity during migration. 

To address this issue, we encourage you to plan your migration processes during specifically scheduled maintenance hours. Other than this, implement failover mechanisms and have solid backout plans to be safe if your migration goes south. Always keep stakeholders and customers in the loop of possible downtime. And lastly, choose a cloud migration specialist who can mitigate downtime risks and eliminate operational disruptions. 

Skill Gaps

The lack of in-house cloud specialists or tech teams in general, is a common issue among businesses looking to migrate to the cloud and can result in a deadlock. 

The most optimal solution in this case is hiring a reliable cloud migration partner and trusting the cloud transformation process to the experts. This will allow you to focus on your core  business processes. Another way is providing your in-house team with training and certification programs on cloud migration. However, this will essentially prolong the migration process. 

Costs

Cloud migration costs can be hard to monitor and predict. To avoid unexpected expenses or wasting your money, you should implement the cost monitoring and reporting tools that cloud providers offer. Establish a cloud cost governance framework and have your finance and IT teams go over it frequently to achieve an efficient cost control process. 

Vendor Lock-In

When you become heavily dependent on a specific cloud provider, you may find yourself in a vendor lock-in. The latter results in limited cloud flexibility, making it hard to switch to another vendor. 

To avoid such a situation, we advise you to adopt a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud approach, use standardized APIs, leverage containerization, and regularly evaluate your technology choices. This will allow you to distribute workloads and apps across multiple cloud service providers, and not be dependent on one company. 

Cloud Performance and Results

It can be challenging to ensure that your cloud migration goals and expectations are met. To avoid undesired outcomes, we recommend that you do thorough cloud capacity planning, and analyze and measure your applications performance against predictive demand. 

DevOps Transformation

If you fail to incorporate the needed DevOps or IT infrastructure management practices into your cloud migration process, you may end up stuck in a static infrastructure, quite similar to your on-premises one. To prevent this, simply carry out continuous integration/continuous improvement (CI/CD), infrastructure as code (IaC) practices, and automated testing. This will essentially help you in your cloud migration and modernization endeavors. 

Parting Thoughts

Cloud migration can be an overwhelming process, especially if you are not familiar with it and don’t have the needed in-house specialists to help you. At VOLO, we have been working with organizations from various industries and of different sizes, helping them migrate their data and applications to the cloud safely for well over a decade. If you are thinking of cloud migration but are not sure where to start, our experts would happily help you navigate your cloud transformation journey efficiently and painlessly.

More helpful resources: 

   - Microsoft Azure vs. AWS vs. Google Cloud: Which One to Choose? 
   - How to Streamline the Process of Migration to the Cloud? 
   - Top 10 Cloud Migration Challenges and How to Overcome Them 
   - 7 Benefits of Azure Cloud Migration from On-Premises Data Centers