What are the benefits of using a lift-and-shift strategy for IaaS migration?

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing model where users access and manage virtualized computing resources over the internet instead of maintaining physical infrastructure. In Amazon Web Services (AWS), Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) offers scalable virtual servers.Google Cloud Platform's (GCP) Compute Engine offers customizable virtual machines.Microsoft Azure offers Azure Virtual Machines for on-demand computing.

Lift-and-shift cloud migration is a strategy where applications are moved from on-premises environments to the cloud without significant modifications. In Amazon Web Services (AWS), this can involve migrating virtual machines to EC2 instances or databases to RDS. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers similar options with Compute Engine and Cloud SQL. Microsoft Azure provides a lift and shift approach with Azure Virtual Machines and Azure SQL Database. While this strategy allows for a quick migration, it may not fully optimize applications for the cloud. Consideration should be given to refactoring or re-architecting for better utilization of native cloud features.

If your workloads fall under the following categories, it might make a lot of sense to do a lift and shift IaaS migration 1) When you are dealing with highly packaged applications (e.g. Dynamics AX) that are not compatible to be modernized for PaaS 2) When you are dealing with a scenario wherein you do not have the budget to take up a modernization immediately. 3) When you are facing a Data Center exit scenario and need to do a rapid exit. 4) When the applications have a plan to be retired and hence would not need modernization While lift and shift are typically not suggested if you ask anyone in the world of cloud, it has its place in specific scenarios. So it is important to look at the context/situation and decide appropriately

Moving to the cloud quickly with lift-and-shift has its challenges.It might not use the cloud's best features, costing more and not performing as well. Some applications may not work smoothly, and security could be a problem.Security concerns emerge as on-premises security models may not seamlessly align with the cloud. Lift-and-shift may not take full advantage of cloud scalability features and might not handle big changes in usage well. Moving data can take a lot of time, causing downtime. People need to learn new things for managing in the cloud. Some might resist the change, and using old tools may not work well.

The choice of lift and shift approach itself could be a challenge for your overall cloud transformation journey if you choose the wrong candidates which could be potentially modernized. There is an opportunity cost that you need to consider if you miss out on workloads that could be potentially modernised to a cloud-native architecture. From a technical point of view, there could be multiple challenges depending on the current architecture that you have on-premise. While there are several, one of the critical challenges includes latency-related issues if you decide not to replicate the existing setup (due to the non-availability of regions/zones matching your current setup). This can severely hamper the performance of the applications

Additionally, focus on the seamless integration of existing systems with cloud infrastructure, emphasizing efficient data transfer and minimizing network latency. Strive for adaptability to cloud-specific features, such as auto-scaling, and carefully manage costs by optimizing resource usage. Continuous monitoring and proactive management are essential for identifying and addressing any post-migration issues promptly.

Some of the best practices can help in succeeding in the lift and shift migration are as follows 1. A clear and defined assessment approach to understand the workloads and their application mapping and decide on the suitability for a lift and shift migration. Some of the workloads might be better off on-premise and hence it is important to identify them 2. Have a move group planning that is done based on a pilot-based approach to build confidence. Trying to attack the most complex set of workloads first will be suicidal. 3. Following an agile approach is key. Most often such projects are run in a traditional project setup leading to issues identified quite late. 4. Clear handover process handbook to operations teams

Lift-and-shift cloud migration involves moving applications to the cloud without major changes. Consider compatibility, performance, costs, security, data migration, networking, monitoring, scalability, training, testing, documentation, and backup. Addressing these ensures a successful migration, optimizing performance, meeting security standards, and adapting to the cloud environment while minimizing downtime and disruptions.Encourage continuous learning in the IT team to stay updated on the latest cloud technologies and best practices, ensuring success in the long run.