How Cloud Data Migration Can Help Your Business

Cloud operations were once the logical next step for streamlining business processes, but now they have become the go-to solution for maximizing operational efficiency. With the advent of ‘cloud-first’ architectures and strategies, cloud computing is the rule, not the exception.

This transformation is evident in data management where the cloud has made a prominent impact, offering much more than just storage. Today, with cloud technology, you can readily extract, process, transform, and export data from anywhere in the world. The cloud-first methodology has also made its mark in this area, prompting data migration from on-prem storage and legacy systems to cloud solutions. According to Statista, enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services totaled $270 billion just last year.

Here’s an in-depth look at cloud data migration to help you understand its potential benefits for your business.

What is Cloud Data Migration?

Cloud data migration is the planned and structured transfer of data and related applications from an organization’s on-premises infrastructure to a cloud computing environment. It can also involve moving data from one cloud provider to another. Data migration to cloud follows a strategy that determines its scope, function, and objectives — it’s what differentiates a structured approach from isolated or ad hoc instances of cloud usage.

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A straightforward cloud data migration project may involve phased consolidation and transfer from on-prem data warehouses to their cloud–based counterparts. Alternatively, more extensive migration initiatives can require new cloud data warehouses built from scratch.

You can choose from one of several approaches listed below:

• Rehost/Lift and Shift: Moving data and applications with little to no changes.

• Refactoring/Re-architecting: Modifying applications to better leverage cloud features.

• Re-platform/Lift and Reshape: Keeping the core architecture intact while making some cloud optimizations.

• Rebuilding: Redesigning applications from scratch for the cloud environment.

• Repurchase/Drop and Shop: Transitioning to another product, often by ditching the conventional licensing approach (drop) and opting for a SaaS model (shop).

Why Should Businesses Migrate Their Data to The Cloud?

Besides speed and efficiency, there are several compelling reasons why businesses should work on cloud data migration, such as:

• Better Scalability: The cloud allows for rapid scaling to keep up with dynamic business requirements and industry conditions.

• Cost-Effectiveness: The cloud eliminates costs associated with on-premises solutions — such as hardware acquisition, maintenance, depreciation, and end-of-life disposal. With ‘pay for what you use’ being the norm, there’s no shelling out money for extraneous features.

• Faster Analytics: Cloud processing accelerates analytics and reduces the time-to-insights.

• Futureproofing: The cloud protects your data infrastructure from obsolescence by keeping it flexible and agile. You can innovate as you go and ensure preparedness for future data use cases.

• Global Access: High availability and easy access keep data and applications usable from anywhere in the world. This improves collaborative efficiency and equips businesses to tap into remote work models and a global talent pool.

Use cases that warrant data migration to cloud include legacy data modernization, backup and disaster recovery, and building data lakes in the cloud.

What Makes an Effective Cloud Data Migration Strategy?

An effective cloud data migration strategy prepares your business to transition smoothly to the cloud and minimizes potential disruptions. Some critical components of such a strategy include:

• Assessment and Planning: Every migration project, regardless of its scope, needs to be adequately planned. Examine your current data, infrastructure, and applications and establish clear objectives for the migration. These objectives can vary depending on your priorities, such as scalability, cost savings, and high availability. Lastly, assess the potential risks and create mitigation plans to address them.

• Choosing a Cloud Provider: Selecting a cloud provider is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Consider different providers — such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure — and compare their pricing, offerings, and support options. Evaluate their data security, compliance, availability, and any business-specific requirements your cloud provider needs to meet.

• Data Governance and Security: Create comprehensive data governance policies to ensure data quality and compliance with industry standards and applicable regulations. Implement measures such as encryption and access control for both at-rest and in-transit data to safeguard your information.

• Migration Plan: Your migration plan is at the core of your data migration initiative. This plan should establish a clear timeline, outline milestones, assign responsibilities, and detail the selected approach.

• Post-Migration Testing: Conduct post-migration testing to ensure data integrity and assess application functionality in the cloud. This testing helps identify and resolve any errors that may have occurred during the migration process.

• Personnel Training: Training is essential to prepare your staff for using new cloud technologies and processes without problems. Provide them with adequate support to help them adapt smoothly and resolve any issues that may arise.

Cloud Data Migration Checklist

A data migration checklist can help you track the tasks involved in your migration initiative as it moves from one stage to the next, covering all the critical aspects. A typical checklist can look something like this:

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Cloud Data Migration Challenges

While cloud data migration offers considerable benefits, it also presents several challenges, such as:

• Data Security

Your data in transit must be appropriately encrypted and protected since it’s vulnerable to breaches. Post-migration, you need to implement security measures such as access controls, network security protocols, and encryption to keep your data safe.

• Compliance 

You must ensure that your data handling, storage, and management comply with regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Ensuring compliance in a cloud environment requires your resources and thorough planning.

• Downtime and Disruption

Migrating your data to the cloud can lead to downtime, disrupting your business operations and affecting everyday processes. You should anticipate the extent of the disruption and account for it during the planning stages to mitigate risk. Additionally, effective communication with your stakeholders can help them prepare for downtime and deal with its effects.

• Vendor Lock-In

Migrating to a single cloud service provider can result in vendor lock-in, which might affect your ability to diversify in the future and prevent you from implementing a multi-cloud strategy. This is why you must carefully consider your cloud provider options before selecting one. Additionally, evaluate possible measures to prevent vendor lock-in, such as working with open standards and portable technologies.

• Optimization

Your on-premises applications and data systems won’t necessarily work well on the cloud unless they’re optimized. It’s important not to immediately expect the same efficient performance you experienced in your earlier environments. A more realistic approach is to account for fine-tuning and optimization, allowing a window of time while you identify and resolve performance issues.

Cloud Data Migration Best Practices

Ensuring a successful cloud data migration requires careful planning and execution. Here are some best practices to guide you through the process:

• Data Preparation and Quality Assurance:

Before transferring data to a new system, review and refine the data to ensure that it’s accurate, comprehensive, and error-free. Data preparation includes identifying and eliminating duplicate entries, rectifying any errors, and verifying the data’s integrity.

• Backup and Recovery Planning:

Establish reliable backup strategies to safeguard your data throughout the migration process. Additionally, it’s crucial to develop comprehensive disaster recovery plans to ensure the restoration of data in the event of any issues or data loss.

• Security Measures and Compliance:

Ensure you follow security protocols and compliance regulations consistently during the migration process. This involves implementing robust data encryption measures, managing access controls meticulously, and meeting all relevant industry standards and best practices.

• Data Mapping and Transformation:

Reconfigure the data from its current format to match the required format for the cloud system. Adjust the data as necessary to ensure compatibility and user-friendliness within the new environment.

• Documentation and Audit Trails:

Keep thorough records of the entire migration process. This includes documenting each step, tools used, and any challenges that arise during the process. Additionally, maintain audit trails to ensure that all procedures comply with the relevant standards and regulations and to identify any areas in need of improvement.

• Incremental and Parallel Migration:

It’s important to migrate data in small, manageable increments or parallel streams to minimize the risk of errors and downtime. This approach allows for early identification and resolution of any issues.

Read more about data migration to cloud best practices.

What are Cloud Data Migration Tools?

Cloud data migration tools are vital in simplifying the transfer of data, applications, and workloads from on-prem environments to cloud platforms or between different cloud environments. These sophisticated tools ensure data integrity, minimize downtime, and optimize overall performance throughout the migration process.

They offer a range of valuable features, including automated data transfer, real-time synchronization, data transformation capabilities, and robust security measures to safeguard data. Additionally, these tools provide comprehensive pre-migration assessments, monitor migration progress, and validate data accuracy post-migration, empowering you to execute a smooth and efficient process.

Some examples of cloud data migration tools include:

• Astera: Astera provides an easy-to-use, intuitive interface and supports a variety of cloud platforms for streamlined migration.

• AWS Migration Hub: Offers an end-to-end solution for monitoring migrations to the AWS cloud.

• Azure Migrate: Offers migration, modernization, and optimization capabilities for Microsoft Azure.

• Google Cloud Migration: A range of tools for migration and optimization to the Google Cloud, such as the Migration Center.

These tools significantly lower the complexity and risk associated with cloud data migration.

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How Astera Helps Migrate Data to The Cloud

Cloud data migration can require considerable time and resources to pull off correctly. However, its advantages make it worth the effort and planning involved. You can make the most of what it offers by preparing thoroughly, adhering to best practices, and using the right tools. These factors contribute to a successful migration and help you understand what to expect — so you can hit the ground running.

Astera is an end-to-end data management solution that delivers a zero-code migration process. It ensures that even non-technical users can easily understand and execute data processes.

Astera generates data models and ETL pipelines without manual involvement. Simply configure your source and destination, and it recreates the former in the latter for fast and hassle-free data migration while maintaining data quality.

Find out how Astera can cater to your data migration use case. Contact our team or start your free trial today.