Domain 1.0: Cloud Concepts
1.3. Understand the benefits of and strategies for migration to the AWS Cloud

1.3 Understand the Benefits of and Strategies for Migration to the AWS Cloud

Migrating to the AWS Cloud can offer businesses several significant benefits.

Key Benefits of Migration

• Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Moving to AWS can eliminate the need for physical infrastructure, lowering CapEx and moving to a pay-as-you-go OpEx model.
• Increased Agility and Innovation: Cloud-native tools like AWS Lambda, SageMaker, and Elastic Beanstalk allow faster experimentation and innovation.
• Improved Security and Compliance: AWS offers a secure, compliant infrastructure, helping organizations meet regulatory requirements.
• Operational Efficiency: AWS offers managed services (e.g., RDS, DynamoDB) to handle routine infrastructure management tasks, allowing teams to focus on higher-value activities.

Migration Strategies (“The 6 R’s of Migration”)

1. Rehosting (“Lift and Shift”):
   • Moving applications as-is to the cloud without changes. AWS services like the Migration Hub and Application Migration Service can help simplify rehosting.
2. Replatforming (“Lift, Tinker, and Shift”):
   • Making a few optimizations (e.g., moving to managed databases like RDS) without changing the core architecture.
3. Refactoring/Re-architecting:
   • Modifying the application architecture to take full advantage of cloud-native capabilities like serverless computing (Lambda) or microservices.
4. Repurchasing:
   • Migrating from on-premises software to a SaaS model like moving from an on-prem CRM to Salesforce or an ERP system.
5. Retiring:
   • Decommissioning applications that are no longer needed.
6. Retaining:
   • Keeping some workloads on-premises for regulatory or technical reasons while integrating them with AWS through hybrid models.

Phases of AWS Cloud Migration

• Assessment phase: Analyzing the current on-premises environment using AWS tools like the AWS Migration Hub and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculators.
• Mobilize phase: Preparing the business case, identifying applications to migrate, and addressing potential challenges.
• Migration and Modernization phase: Migrating applications, data, and workloads to the cloud and optimizing the architecture post-migration.