Cloud to Cloud Migration (C2C), also known as Cloud to Application migration (CAM), is the relocation of virtual or physical machines – both, including their underlying operating systems, software and applications, and their configurations – from one cloud platform to another. In simple terms, a user of a particular web application would need to move his/her data from one server to another, or from one application to another on demand. However, it’s not only webmasters who require such services. Businesses ranging from colleges to multinational companies find such services very helpful in expediting back-end processes. This is primarily because such services help users to migrate data across multiple platforms without the need to purchase new hardware or software. Moving the data is also much easier when businesses have their own dedicated cloud servers.
But why choose cloud-based solutions when conventional on-premises IT environments provide the same data centers with same applications and files? Cloud providers offer the following advantages over IT-based alternatives: They are highly reliable and secure, and also have the advantage of reducing the maintenance and management costs. The migration of apps and data is also easy, as they can be easily moved from one physical machine to another, and thus can be made use of to create a “clustered load balancing” setup. Moreover, cloud providers do not require the creation or provisioning of custom applications, and thus, can offer a wide range of standardized software that are already established and tested.
However, Cloud Migration requires careful planning and execution for it to be successful. A business should decide which apps to move and which ones to discard or move to another platform. The data migration process may vary from simple shifting of data from one server to another to moving large volumes of data from one application server to another. Experts recommend that a business should first consider the number of apps hosted on the site, their type (applications like email, CRM, or content) and the size of the site. Then, migrate these apps in stages, according to the availability of available resources.
The main challenges that businesses have to deal with while migrating apps and data are scalability and flexibility. As the number of apps increase in a cloud environment, the infrastructure starts getting heavy and complex. This calls for a faster and more reliable implementation of Cloud Architecture techniques and tools that help in lowering the operational costs. While optimizing for flexibility and scalability, business owners should also ensure that the cloud environment is elastic and scalable according to their business needs.
Flexibility refers to the ability of the architecture of the site to change and adapt to changing business needs. Business owners often set out with an idea about their future business needs, and the site’s functionality should respond to those needs in the best possible manner. When considering cloud migration, the service provider must first analyze your business needs. It must then determine the appropriate Cloud architecture solution that best suits your business. The solution provided must also work well with other components such as networking, mobile devices, and the user interface.
Many organizations face Cloud Migration issues that can reduce the overall efficiency of the project. Incorrect cloud migration processes can lead to a lot of wasted effort, time, and money. These mistakes are often the result of lack of knowledge and training on the part of the organization or IT team that is responsible for the implementation process. To prevent Cloud Migration failures and subsequent downtime, it is important for companies to understand the entire migration process well.
