Moving workloads to AWS can give businesses greater flexibility, scalability and access to a wider range of cloud services. But deciding what to move, when to move it and how to move it requires careful planning.
A successful AWS migration starts long before the first workload is moved. Businesses need to understand their existing environment, costs, security requirements and the right migration approach for each workload.
Here are the key factors to consider before making the move.
Why Are Businesses Migrating to AWS?
Businesses move to AWS for different reasons, but the decision usually comes down to a need for greater flexibility, modernisation or scale.
AWS can help businesses:
Modernise legacy infrastructure without continuing to invest in ageing hardware.
Scale resources more easily as workloads and business demand change.
Support data, analytics and AI initiatives with access to a broad range of cloud services.
Improve business continuity and disaster recovery through flexible infrastructure and backup capabilities.
Reduce infrastructure management by moving away from maintaining physical servers and data centre environments.
However, the benefits of AWS depend on how well the migration is planned. Moving workloads without understanding their dependencies, costs or technical requirements can create unnecessary complexity.
What Should You Consider Before Migrating to AWS?
1. Assess Your Existing IT Environment
Before deciding what to migrate, you need a clear view of your current infrastructure.
Identify your applications, servers, databases, storage, integrations and workloads. Pay particular attention to dependencies between systems. An application that appears straightforward to move may rely on another system that needs to remain on-premises or be migrated first.
This assessment helps determine which workloads are ready for migration and which require additional preparation.
2. Define Your Business Objectives
Your AWS migration should have a clear purpose.
Are you trying to modernise legacy applications? Improve scalability? Reduce infrastructure management? Support new AI and analytics workloads? Improve resilience?
Defining these objectives upfront helps you choose the right migration approach and measure the results after migration.
3. Understand the Costs
AWS uses a consumption-based pricing model, so your costs will depend on the services and resources your workloads use.
Before migrating, consider compute, storage, data transfer, licensing, support and ongoing management costs. A proper cost assessment can help you identify where AWS can deliver value and prevent unexpected spending after migration.
4. Review Security and Compliance Requirements
Security needs to be considered before workloads move to AWS.
Review identity and access management, data protection, network security, monitoring and backup requirements. You should also consider any regulatory or industry-specific requirements that apply to your business and where your data needs to be stored and processed.
5. Consider Application and Data Dependencies
Not every workload can be migrated independently.
Applications may rely on specific databases, APIs, network connections or other systems. Mapping these dependencies helps you determine the right migration sequence and reduces the risk of service disruption.
6. Evaluate Your Internal Skills
Moving to AWS changes how your IT environment is managed.
Consider whether your existing team has the skills and capacity to manage AWS infrastructure, security, monitoring and cost optimisation. Where there are gaps, working with an experienced AWS partner can provide the technical expertise needed throughout the migration and beyond.
Choosing the Right AWS Migration Strategy
There is no single migration approach that works for every workload.
AWS defines seven commonly used migration strategies, known as the 7 Rs:
Rehost: Move a workload to AWS with minimal changes.
Replatform: Make selected changes to benefit from AWS capabilities without significantly changing the application.
Refactor: Redesign an application to take greater advantage of cloud-native capabilities.
Repurchase: Replace an existing application with a different product or service.
Relocate: Move workloads to another AWS environment with minimal changes.
Retain: Keep a workload in its existing environment when migration is not currently justified.
Retire: Remove workloads that are no longer needed.
The right choice depends on the workload, its business importance, technical complexity, cost and the outcome you want to achieve.
For some businesses, a phased approach that starts with lower-risk workloads may be more appropriate than attempting to migrate everything at once.
How to Prepare Your Business for AWS Migration
Good preparation can reduce migration risks and make the transition easier to manage.
Start by creating an inventory of your applications, infrastructure and data. Map dependencies and classify workloads based on their importance, complexity and readiness for migration.
Next, establish a migration roadmap that sets out priorities, timelines, costs, responsibilities and success metrics.
Your AWS environment should also be designed before production workloads are moved. This includes your network architecture, identity and access controls, security, monitoring, backup and disaster recovery.
Testing is equally important. Where possible, begin with a suitable workload or pilot migration. This allows your team to identify technical issues and refine the migration process before moving more critical systems.
Finally, plan for ongoing management. Migration is not the end of the project. AWS environments need continuous monitoring, security management, performance optimisation and cost control.
SATH Cloud: Trusted AWS Partner in Nigeria
Choosing the right AWS migration strategy can help your business avoid unnecessary costs, reduce disruption and build an environment that supports your long-term goals.
SATH Cloud is expanding its cloud capabilities to help businesses in Nigeria explore and adopt AWS solutions. Our approach focuses on understanding your existing environment and business requirements before recommending the right migration and cloud strategy.
Choosing the right AWS migration strategy can help your business reduce disruption, manage costs and build a cloud environment that supports long-term growth.
SATH Cloud helps businesses plan and implement cloud solutions based on their technology requirements and business objectives. Our team can support you through the AWS migration journey, from assessing your current environment and developing a migration strategy to implementing and managing your AWS environment.
Whether you are planning your first AWS workload migration or moving multiple workloads to the cloud, SATH Cloud can help you assess your environment, develop a migration strategy and implement the right AWS solutions for your business.
Talk to SATH Cloud about your AWS migration.
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