• Image Management
• Logging and Monitoring
• Data and Databases
Once the gaps are identified, we implement the MVC and prepare the nest to
receive the application and data.
By the way, clients tend to assume their applications work, but we often find something no one ever saw, like the scratch on your car you never noticed until someone else drove it. Depending on the complexity, age and architecture of the application, the effort it takes to migrate to the cloud can range greatly. Therefore, we
recommend a migration workbench approach leading up to Migration at Scale.
Using a Migration Workbench Model
A migration workbench is a team of engineers who perform a specific set of
migration tasks. There are five migration workbench types. They are as follows:
Rehost -- Generally referred to as ‘Lift and Shift’, this workbench is a machine
to machine migration of the application and data to the cloud platform. This is
the easiest of the migration tracks and can be done using automation for most
of the tasks. However, you don’t realize all of the cloud benefits, because the
applications have not been developed or rewritten for the cloud
Replatform -- The replatform workbench is a team of engineers who perform
minor, but critical replatforming functions to enable the application servers
and software to run on the new cloud platform. Typically, this involves environment changes, not code level changes. Replatforming includes:
• OS and or database version upgrades
• Significant DNS and networking changes
• INI and Configuration file changes
Refactor -- Refactoring an application occurs when code level changes are
required. This should include code scans for blockers that would prevent
migration to the cloud. At CTP we use a tool called PaaSLane, which scans .NET
and Java code for problem areas that may restrict migration to the cloud.
Refactoring is a complex function and requires the team to have domain skills
in cloud services, as well as security and infrastructure knowledge.
Retire -- Retiring applications appears to be straightforward, but many clients
overlook a lot of the benefits. On average, 30% of your data center applications
will be retired due to replicated services within the cloud platforms. In addition, there are often applications running in the data centers that are maintained for compliance requirements only. They could be retired early in the
cloud by building the system in software, testing it and then turning it off, thus
using the services only when needed. This creates significant cost savings.
74 | THE DOPPLER | FALL 2016