Before You Migrate to the Cloud, You Need This 7-Step Plan

Most cloud migrations that go wrong had one thing in common: they started without a plan.

Here's the condensed version:

1. Appoint a migration architect- One person owns the roadmap. Not a committee.

2. Decide integration depth- Lift-and-shift (fast, but limited) vs. deep cloud-native integration (longer, but transformational)

3. Map dependencies- Use service maps. Migration order is determined by which services depend on which others. Skip this and you'll break things mid-migration.

4. Plan data migration separately- Data location affects app performance. Bi-directional syncing between cloud and on-prem DBs during transition is the safest approach.

5. Choose your switchover- En masse (all at once) or piecemeal (batched). The right choice depends on your architecture's complexity.

6. Build a disaster recovery plan- The migration window is your highest-risk period. RTO, RPO, failover testing, all before go-live.

7. Define KPIs upfront- Page load time, error rate, CPU %, conversion rate. Measure before migration starts so you know what "success" actually looks like.

Full framework with checklists, key activities, risk mitigations, key KPI's and governance, guidance: https://teleglobals.com/blog/7-steps-cloud-migration-plan

Which step does your team most often skip or underestimate?