How to Move Custom Application Developments to the Cloud

Migrating your custom cloud application developments to a new cloud-based platform may seem like a daunting process. That’s why it’s a best practice to create a checklist for successful cloud computing:

Establish the Migration-Architect Role

A well-established cloud services provider can help you make a seamless transition to your new platform. When you hire a cloud-based consulting company to help you, they’re responsible for designing strategies for data migration, defining solution requirements, and determining migration priorities and operation switchover mechanisms. Whether you have a small or large migration project, hiring an IT expert to help you with the transition is essential for success.

Choose Your Level of Integration

When you move an application from an on-premises data center to a cloud platform, you can migrate with shallow cloud integration or deep cloud integration. Shallow integration involves little to no changes to the application before and after the migration. A deep integration involves modifying your application during the migration process to take advantage of key cloud capabilities once the migration is complete.

Establish Cloud KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics gathered about your application or service to measure how it’s performing against your expectations. The best KPIs for a cloud migration show how your migration is doing, showcasing invisible or visible issues that may be happening within your application. Examples of cloud-based KPIs include user-experience, infrastructure, application/performance, and business engagement.

Set Performance Baselines

Set a baseline metric for each KPI you want to measure, determining how long you will collect data to analyze the baseline performance. Choosing a short-term baseline, such as one to two days, allows you to move faster, but you risk not collecting enough data to get an accurate baseline measurement. Selecting a longer period of time, such as one month, to collect data may take longer but you get better results.

Prioritize Migration Components

You also need to decide if you’re going to migrate your entire cloud app at once or migrate one component at a time. Start by determining which components of your application depend on other factors or services. In most cloud migration projects, it makes sense to migrate the application components with fewer dependencies first.

Create a Migration Plan

Use a prominent cloud data migration service, such as an option available from Microsoft Azure, and create a well-developed data plan for migration success. Ignoring details and failing to customize your migration plan can result in a failed process or a complex transition that doesn’t meet expectations. But developing a specific migration plan with an experienced cloud provider results in a streamlined process and minimized downtime.