Navigating the Azure Skies: A Comprehensive Guide to on-premises Application Migration

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, migrating from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud is no longer a luxury—it's a necessity. Let's embark on this exciting six-month expedition to migrate your legacy enterprise systems, database applications, web applications, and custom-built software to the Azure cloud.

The Migration Landscape: Understanding Your Terrain

Imagine your current IT infrastructure as a sprawling city: legacy systems as ancient monuments, databases as the foundation, web applications as bustling marketplaces, and custom software as unique architectural marvels. Now, picture transporting this entire city to a new, more efficient, and scalable location—the Azure cloud.

This migration isn't just about moving data; it's about reimagining your entire digital ecosystem. Let's break down the key components of this journey:

1. Legacy Enterprise Systems: These are the pillars of your organization, holding years of critical data and processes. Migrating them requires careful planning and execution.
2. Database Systems: The lifeblood of your operations, these systems need to be migrated without losing a single drop of data.
3. Web Applications: The face of your organization to the world, these need to be transitioned seamlessly to ensure uninterrupted service.
4. Custom-Built Software: Your unique solutions that give you a competitive edge, requiring special attention during migration.

The People: Your Cloud Migration Dream Team

Every great expedition needs a skilled team. Here are the key roles you'll need to assemble:

• Cloud Architect: Your visionary leader, charting the course of migration.
• Project Manager: The orchestrator, ensuring every move is coordinated and on time.
• Database Administrators: The guardians of your data, ensuring safe passage to the cloud.
• Network Engineers: The pathfinders, establishing secure connections between on-premises and cloud environments.
• Application Developers: The innovators, adapting your custom software for the cloud.
• Security Specialists: The protectors, ensuring your data remains safe during and after migration.
• Change Management Specialists: The communicators, helping your organization embrace the cloud culture.

Remember, this journey is as much about cultural transformation as it is about technological change. Invest in training and upskilling your team to thrive in the new cloud environment.

The Project Plan: Your Azure Migration Roadmap

Migrating on-premises applications to the cloud, specifically Azure, requires a comprehensive approach involving people, processes, and tools. The Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) provides guidance to help organizations adopt the cloud effectively. Here's how to align your migration with Azure CAF:

1. Strategy (Weeks 1-2)

Workstreams:

1. Define your business objectives.
2. Assess your current infrastructure.
3. Create a business case for migration.

People:

• Stakeholders: Identify key stakeholders, including IT leadership, application owners, business unit leaders, and end-users.
• Cloud Architect: Engage a cloud architect to lead the assessment and design phases.
• Application Owners: Involve application owners to provide insights into application dependencies, usage, and criticality.

Processes:

• Inventory and Classification: Create a detailed inventory of all applications, including their architecture, dependencies, and business criticality.
• Application Assessment: Evaluate each application for cloud readiness using the following criteria: Technical Complexity, Business Criticality, Compliance and Security, Performance and Scalability

Tools:

• Azure Migrate: Discover, assess, and migrate on-premises workloads.
• TCO Calculator: Estimate costs using Azure's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator.
• Dependency Mapping Tools: Tools like Dynatrace or AppDynamics can help map application dependencies.

2. Plan (Weeks 3-6)

Workstreams:

1. Inventory your digital estate.
2. Align your organization.
3. Define your migration approach (Rehost, Refactor, Rearchitect, Rebuild, or Replace).

People:

• Migration Team: Form a migration team, including cloud engineers, network engineers, security experts, and application developers.
• Change Management: Engage a change management team to manage the impact on end-users and business processes.

Processes:

• Migration Strategy: Define the migration strategy for each application (Rehost, Refactor, Rearchitect, Rebuild, or Replace).
• Risk Management: Develop a risk management plan, identifying potential risks and mitigation strategies.
• Communication Plan: Establish a communication plan to keep stakeholders informed throughout the migration process.

Tools:

• Azure DevOps: Use Azure DevOps for project management and collaboration.
• Migration Tools: Tools like Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for disaster recovery and migration, Azure Database Migration Service for database migrations.

3. Ready and Adopt (Weeks 7-16)

Workstreams:

1. Create your landing zone in Azure.
2. Establish your cloud governance model.
3. Prepare your on-premise environment for migration.

People:

• Migration Engineers: Engineers responsible for executing the migration plan.
• Security Team: Ensures that security controls are in place during and after migration.

Processes:

• Pilot Migration: Start with a pilot migration of a few non-critical applications to validate the plan and make adjustments.
• Data Migration: Use Azure Database Migration Service for databases, and Azure Data Factory for data integration.
• Application Migration: Migrate applications based on the chosen strategy.
• Testing and Validation: Perform thorough testing to validate functionality, performance, and security.

Tools:

• Azure Monitor: Monitor application performance and availability.
• Log Analytics: Collect and analyze log data for troubleshooting and optimization.

4. Govern and Manage

People:

• Cloud Operations Team: Manages and optimizes cloud resources post-migration.
• Governance Team: Ensures compliance with organizational policies and standards.
• Training and Enablement: Provide training for IT staff and end-users on new cloud-based processes and tools.

Processes:

• Cost Management: Implement cost management practices, such as resource tagging and budget alerts.
• Security and Compliance: Continuously monitor and enforce security and compliance policies.
• Performance Optimization: Optimize application performance and resource utilization.
• Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE): Establish a CCoE to drive cloud adoption and best practices across the organization.
• Continuous Improvement: Continuously evaluate and improve cloud processes and technologies.

Tools:

• Azure Cost Management: Track and optimize cloud spending.
• Azure Policy: Implement policies for resource management and compliance.
• Azure Security Center: Monitor security posture and protect against threats.
• Azure Blueprint: Use Azure Blueprint for compliance and governance.
• Azure Automation: Automate recurring tasks and processes.

This plan aligns with the Azure CAF's structured approach, providing a clear path for moving on-premises applications to Azure, ensuring a smooth and secure transition.

5R’s Application Rationalization Strategy

A key aspect of this framework is the 5 Rs rationalization, which helps determine the appropriate migration strategy for each application. Let's explore these strategies:

1. Rehost ("Lift and Shift"): Move applications to the cloud with minimal changes. Suitable for applications that can run efficiently in the cloud without modification.
2. Refactor ("Replatform"): Make minor changes to applications to leverage cloud infrastructure better, such as updating the runtime or adopting managed services like Azure SQL Database.
3. Rearchitect: Make significant changes to an application's architecture to fully leverage cloud capabilities, such as breaking down monolithic applications into microservices.
4. Rebuild ("Recode"): Completely overhaul an application, often necessary for outdated systems that can't meet modern business needs.
5. Replace ("Drop and Shop"): Switch from an existing application to a new SaaS solution, providing quick access to the latest features and updates without the overhead of managing infrastructure.