Citation :

Nikhil Bhagat, 2023. "Cloud Migration Strategies: Best Practices for Moving Legacy Applications to the Cloud", ESP International Journal of Advancements in Computational Technology (ESP-IJACT)  Volume 1, Issue 3: 97-103.

Abstract :

Migration to the cloud is a significant move for enterprises seeking to transform their IT platforms and remain relevant in a digital marketplace. Existing applications that are based on legacy frameworks are difficult to scale, adjust and maintain affordably. By moving these applications to the cloud, companies can benefit from modern cloud capabilities like on-demand scaling, faster performance and improved security. This paper presents best practices for migrating legacy applications to the cloud, covering various cloud migration techniques such as rehosting, replatforming, and refactoring. It also elaborates on the key elements involved in creating a successful cloud migration roadmap, from assessing the current state of deployment to selecting applications and ensuring secure deployment. Further, the paper goes into design considerations like performance optimization, resilience, and cost to ensure migrated applications are effectively running in the cloud. When implementing a systematic cloud migration while considering both the technical and business implications, businesses will not need to worry about the transition and can fully reap the benefits of cloud computing.

References :

[1] "Cloud adoption to accelerate IT modernization," Apr. 11, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/cloud-adoption-to-accelerate-it-modernization.

[2] R. K. Mallidi, M. Sharma, and J. Singh, "Legacy Digital Transformation: TCO and ROI Analysis," vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 163-170, Aug. 27, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.32985/ijeces.12.3.5

[3] R. Rai, S. Mehfuz, and G. Sahoo, "Efficient Migration of Application to Clouds: Analysis and Comparison," vol. 3, no. 3, Feb. 28, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.7603/s40601-013-0023-z

[4] S. Jain, M. Bhushan, A. Yadav, and D. C. Tiwari, "Incremental Architectural Re-engineering for the Cloud: An Overview," pp. 655-659, Feb. 1, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/cict.2016.135

[5] A. Greenberg, J. R. Hamilton, D. A. Maltz, and P. Patel, "The cost of a cloud," Assoc. Comput. Mach., vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 68-73, Dec. 31, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1145/1496091.1496103

[6] J. Kozhipurath, "Cloud Service Costing Challenges," pp. 1-6, Oct. 1, 2012. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/ccem.2012.6354604

[7] M. F. Zhani and R. Boutaba, "Survivability and Fault Tolerance in the Cloud," pp. 295-308, Apr. 3, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119042655.ch12

[8] Y. C. Hsu, Y. S. Wu, T. H. Tsai, Y. Chiu, C. H. Lin, and Z. Chen, "MicroApp: Architecting Web Application for Non-uniform Trustworthiness in Cloud Computing Environment," pp. 97-106, Jun. 1, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/sere-c.2014.27.

[9] S. S. Bhatia and V. Gupta, "A Multi-Tenant Framework for an Enterprise System on Cloud," vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 740-743, Feb. 5, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.21275/v5i2.nov153195

[10] R. Nazir, Z. Ahmed, Z. Ahmad, N. N. Shaikh, A. A. Laghari, and K. Kumar, "Cloud Computing Applications," May 21, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://eudl.eu/pdf/10.4108/eai.22-5-2020.164667

[11] S. Y. Nabavi and O. Bushehrian, "An adaptive plan-oriented and continuous software migration to cloud in dynamic enterprises," Wiley, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 1365-1378, Jun. 27, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.2725

[12] "Navigating Cloud Migration With These 6 Common Strategies," Dec. 31, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.rackwareinc.com/6-common-cloud-migration-strategies

[13] P. Jamshidi, A. Ahmad, and C. Pahl, "Cloud Migration Research: A Systematic Review," IEEE, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 142-157, Jan. 1, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/tcc.2013.10

[14] S. Li, Y. Zhang, and W. Sun, "Optimal Resource Allocation Model and Algorithm for Elastic Enterprise Applications Migration to the Cloud," Multidiscip. Digit. Publ. Inst., vol. 7, no. 10, p. 909, Oct. 1, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.3390/math7100909

[15] M. Armbrust et al., "Above the Clouds: A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing," Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. 53, pp. 07-013, Feb. 10, 2009. [Online]. Available: https://storagemadeeasy.com/files/e4c87f06d452ac24d9bffe15085c4189.pdf

[16] B. C. Tak and C. Tang, "AppCloak: Rapid Migration of Legacy Applications into Cloud," pp. 810-817, Jun. 1, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/cloud.2014.112

[17] "Migrating to AWS Method 3 - Replatforming, aka Lift-and-Shape," Mar. 26, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://cloudsoft.io/blog/migrating-to-aws-method-3-replatforming-aka-lift-and-shape

[18] V. Nuthula and N. R. Challa, "Cloudifying Apps - A Study of Design and Architectural Considerations for Developing Cloud-enabled Applications with Case Study," pp. 1-7, Oct. 1, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/ccem.2014.7015487

[19] J. Fritzsch, J. Bogner, A. Zimmermann, and S. Wagner, "From Monolith to Microservices: A Classification of Refactoring Approaches," Springer Science+Business Media, pp. 128-141, Jan. 1, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06019-0_10

[20] D. S. Linthicum, "Cloud-Native Applications and Cloud Migration: The Good, the Bad, and the Points Between," IEEE, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 12-14, Sep. 1, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/mcc.2017.4250932

[21] T. Offerman, R. Blinde, C. J. Stettina, and J. Visser, "A Study of Adoption and Effects of DevOps Practices," Jun. 19, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/ice/itmc-iamot55089.2022.10033313

[22] D. Yu et al., "A Practical Architecture of Cloudification of Legacy Applications," vol. 324, pp. 17-24, Jul. 1, 2011. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/services.2011.84

[23] S. Farah, "Cloud computing or software as a service—which makes the most sense for HR?," Wiley, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 31-37, Jan. 26, 2010. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1002/ert.20271

[24] Q. H. Vu and R. Asal, "Legacy Application Migration to the Cloud: Practicability and Methodology," pp. 270-277, Jun. 1, 2012. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/services.2012.47

[25] N. K. Singh, "Strategic Operating Model for Enterprise Architecture," RELX Group, Netherlands, Jan. 1, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3098864

[26] P. V. Beserra, A. Camara, R. M. Ximenes, A. B. Albuquerque, and N. C. Mendonça, "Cloudstep: A step-by-step decision process to support legacy application migration to the cloud," Jan. 1, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.3390/computers7020012

[27] Y. Yu and S. Madiraju, "Enterprise Application Transformation Strategy and Roadmap Design: A Business Value Driven and IT Supportability Based Approach," Aug. 1, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/es.2014.37

[28] R. Rai, G. Sahoo, and S. Mehfuz, "Advancements and approaches towards moving from legacy application to cloud," Inderscience Publ., vol. 16, no. 2, p. 114, Jan. 1, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1504/ijcnds.2016.074547

[29] O. Pfaff and S. Ries, "Avoiding security integration pitfalls in the cloud," Computer Weekly, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-46, Jan. 1, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/green.2017.7875380

[30] N. C. Mendonça, "Architectural Options for Cloud Migration," IEEE Comput. Soc., vol. 47, no. 8, pp. 62-66, Aug. 1, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/mc.2014.203

[31] M. Vuković and J. Hwang, "Cloud migration using automated planning," IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 121188-121198, Jan. 1, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2019.2934948

[32] P. J. A. Patel and P. N. Kansara, "Cloud Computing Deployment Models: A Comparative Study," pp. 205-210, May 1, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/ictac.2013.16

[33] C. J. Ward et al., "Workload Migration into Clouds Challenges, Experiences, Opportunities," pp. 164-171, Jul. 1, 2010. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/cloud.2010.84

[34] Y. Chou and J. Oetting, "Secure System Development for Integrated Cloud Applications," Mar. 2, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/cybersec.2022.9722897

[35] M. A. Chauhan and M. A. Babar, "Towards Process Support for Migrating Applications to Cloud Computing," Nov. 1, 2012. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/csc.2012.20

Keywords :

Cloud Migration Strategies Rehosting, Replatforming, Refactoring, Repurchasing, Best Practices.