A glimpse into migration

Whether you are going through a migration effort from legacy systems to a new system, from one vendor’s software to another’s, or from on-premises to the cloud, data migration has become one of the most challenging initiatives for IT managers.

The average cost for a data migration is $875,000. 83 percent of data migration projects fail to meet expectations. 34% of migrations have missing or lost data; 38% have some form of data corruption; 64% of migration projects have unexpected outage/downtime. More than 80% of data migration projects run over time and/or over budget. Cost overruns average 30%. Time overruns average 41%.

More than 95% of new digital workloads is expected to be on the cloud by 2025, up from just 30% in 2021. The telecom cloud market size is estimated to surpass 105.7 billion USD by 2030 at a CAGR of 14.45% from 2022 to 2030. A telco cloud brings together the following key elements:

Software-defined infrastructure. This means that the network’s setup and management are done using software, not only physical hardware. It allows for more flexibility and control over the network, making it simpler to adapt and change as needed.

Network functions virtualization (NFV). This is a way to separate different network functions from the specific hardware they run on. It makes it easier to add new services and features without having to change the physical equipment.

Cloud-native technology. This refers to using technology that works like cloud-based applications. Cloud-native brings more flexibility, scalability, and resilience to network resources, making the process of handling large amounts of data and demand more seamless.

Automation and orchestration. Automation means letting computers do repetitive tasks, reducing the need for manual work. Orchestration means coordinating different parts of the network to work together smoothly. Both help make the network more efficient and easier to manage.

Service assurance. This deals with making sure that the services provided by the telecom company work well and meet certain standards. It involves monitoring and managing the network to make sure everything runs well and customers get the best experience possible.

There are seven cloud migration strategies: rehosting, redeployment, repackaging, refactoring, repurchasing, retiring, and retaining.

Refactor/Re-architect. Transform an application by altering its architecture and leveraging cloud-native features to enhance agility, performance, and scalability. This usually involves porting the operating system and database.

Replatform (Lift and Reshape). Transfer an application to the cloud, incorporating some optimization to benefit from cloud capabilities.

Repurchase (Drop and Shop). Transition to another product, often by adopting a SaaS model instead of a traditional licensing approach.

Rehost (Lift and Shift). Migrate an application to the cloud without implementing changes to utilize cloud features.

Relocate (Hypervisor-Level Lift and Shift). Shift infrastructure to the cloud without the need for new hardware, application rewrites, or adjustments to current operations.

Retain (Revisit). Maintain applications in their original environment. This can include applications that need significant refactoring, which can be deferred to a future time, or legacy applications that remain in place due to a lack of business justification for migration.

Retire. Discontinue or eliminate applications that are no longer required in the source environment.

The cloud transformation process is broken down into five phases: prepare, plan, migrate, operate, and optimize. These phases provide a holistic approach to moving workloads and data to the cloud.

In the preparation phase, organizations establish their business goals for cloud migration. These goals might include increased agility, cost savings, improved performance, or enhanced scalability. In this phase, organizations should perform an initial assessment of their IT infrastructure.

The next phase is to create a detailed migration plan. This plan should include a roadmap for the migration process, detailing which workloads will be migrated and in what order. Organizations should also decide on their preferred cloud architecture and identify any necessary modifications.

The migrate phase is where the actual process of moving data, applications, and other workloads to the cloud occurs. This phase can involve a variety of techniques, including lift-and-shift, refactoring, or even completely rebuilding applications.

The operate phase involves management of workloads in the cloud environment, including monitoring performance, managing resources, and maintaining security and compliance. Organizations should continue to refine their operations based on feedback and performance data.

In the optimization phase, organizations look for ways to improve the performance and efficiency of their cloud environment. This can involve refining cloud operations, identifying opportunities for cost savings, and implementing cloud-native features or services to enhance performance.

Glow’s role

Here at Glow, we understand migration, performed seamlessly to maintain customer connectivity and service requirements, is crucial to a network service provider’s continued success. We take up careful planning and execution to make sure that the network can support the demands of today’s applications and technologies. Glow has over 20 years of experience performing migration activities.