logo
Menu
Navigating your large-scale migration to AWS

Navigating your large-scale migration to AWS

This blog post offers a comprehensive AWS Migration guide that consolidates best practices into a single, cohesive reference to accelerate your journey to AWS.

Evans Tinga
Amazon Employee
Published Sep 27, 2024
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, migrating to the cloud has become a strategic step for organizations seeking to enhance agility, scalability, security and capacity for innovation. At Amazon Web Services (AWS), we developed a three-phase approach to guide you through this transformative journey.
In this blog post, we will take you through each phase of the migration process in detail, highlighting the key activities and providing valuable resources to help you dive deeper into specific areas.
Whether you're just starting your cloud transformation, or looking to refine your existing migration strategy, this guide equips you with insights and guidance needed to navigate your journey to the cloud successfully.

The AWS migration journey overview

The AWS migration three phase-phase journey
Our approach for large-scale migrations consists of three main phases:
  1. Assess
  2. Mobilize
  3. Migrate and Modernize
Each phase plays a vital role in ensuring a successful, large-scale migration to AWS. Let's explore each phase in detail, incorporating key strategies, guides, playbooks, and patterns.

Phase 1: Assess

The Assess phase is about building the foundation for your migration. It involves evaluating your organization's readiness for operating in the cloud, identifying migration opportunities, and building a solid business case.
Key activities in this phase include:
For a deeper dive into the Assess phase, check out our guide on strategies for assessing large-scale migrations to AWS.

Phase 2: Mobilize

The Mobilize phase is crucial for building your organization's capability to migrate at scale. It involves setting up foundational infrastructure, establishing operational processes, refining the business case and addressing gaps identified in the Assess phase. This phase consists of several key workstreams:
Throughout the Mobilize phase, it's crucial to:
For more detailed insights on the Mobilize phase, refer to our comprehensive guide on mobilizing your organization to accelerate large-scale migrations.

Phase 3: Migrate and Modernize

In this final phase, you'll start the migration of your applications and data, leveraging the foundation and capabilities built during the Mobilize phase. It's also an opportunity to optimize your applications to take full advantage of cloud capabilities.
Key activities include:
For practical examples of migration and modernization, check out our Migration & Modernization patterns.

Best practices for large-scale migrations

Based on our experience with numerous large-scale migrations, we've identified several best practices:
  • Establish a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE): Create a dedicated team to lead the cloud adoption effort and drive best practices across the organization.
  • Establish a Migration Governance Framework: Develop a structured governance framework to oversee the migration program, including decision-making processes, risk management, and change control procedures.
  • Adopt a Factory Approach: Standardize and automate migration processes to increase efficiency and reduce errors.
  • Implement Continuous Learning: Regularly review and refine your migration processes based on lessons learned from each wave.
  • Focus on Business Outcomes: Align your migration efforts with specific business goals and regularly measure progress against these objectives.
  • Embrace Security and Compliance: Integrate security and compliance considerations into every stage of your migration journey.
  • Leverage AWS Partners or AWS Professional Services team: Work with AWS Partners or AWS Professional Services to accelerate your migration and benefit from their expertise.
For more detailed insights, check out our best practices arranged by migration phase.

How AWS support your migration journey

At AWS, we're committed to being your trusted partner throughout your cloud migration. Our AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) provides a structured framework, specialized migration tools, and expert guidance to help you accelerate your journey to the cloud.
Through MAP, you access:
  • Prescriptive migration guidance from our team of AWS migration experts
  • Financial incentives, such as service credits, to offset migration costs
  • A suite of migration enablement resources, including tools, training and workshops
In addition, our AWS Migration and Modernization team, AWS Professional Services team and extensive network of AWS Partners are available to offer tailored support and expertise at every stage of your migration.
Regardless of where you are in your cloud transformation, we're here to help you navigate the complexities and ensure a successful, large-scale migration to AWS. Reach out to your AWS account team or an AWS Partner to learn more about the programs and resources available to support your journey.

Conclusion

Large-scale migration to AWS is a transformative journey that drives significant business value. By following this comprehensive approach and leveraging rich AWS toolset, resources, and partner ecosystem, you ensure a smooth, efficient, and successful migration to the cloud.
Remember, every organization's journey is unique. We encourage you to explore the linked resources and reach out to your AWS account team or an AWS Partner for personalized guidance on your migration journey.
For more in-depth information, be sure to check out:
Are you ready to start your large-scale AWS migration journey? We're here to help you every step of the way!

Author

Evans Tinga - Evans is a Specialist Solutions Architect at AWS, focusing on Migration & Modernization. He helps customers across EMEA accelerate their cloud adoption journey and maximize value at every stage of their digital transformation. With over 13 years of experience in telecommunications and cloud technologies, Evans brings a wealth of knowledge from his previous roles at a telecom company and an AWS partner before joining AWS.

 

Any opinions in this post are those of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of AWS.

Comments