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What are the key phases of migrating legacy systems to the cloud?Legacy systems can hinder a business's growth. Scalability, improved performance, strong security, and compatibility with modern apps are just some of the advantages of moving these legacy systems to cloud platforms. It employs a planned strategy that ensures a safe and seamless transition.
Assessment, planning, preparation, migration, and post-migration are five phases of the legacy system cloud migration process. Every phase of the legacy to cloud migration addresses specific challenges, such as analyzing existing infrastructure, designing suitable migration plans according to business requirements, and ensuring that proper testing and training for users are in place for a smooth transition.
ArticlesLegacy systems, often referred to as ‘vintage systems ‘, are outdated and inefficient, making them vulnerable to many potential risks. These systems are typically built on older technologies and may not be compatible with modern software or hardware. Therefore, organizations look for different legacy systems cloud migration options or move their legacy systems to a new environment to improve their system’s performance and security.
Migrating legacy application has several benefits, such as scalability, enhanced performance, and robust security. McKinsey reports that cloud migration can help IT teams save 20-30% on operational costs. Even better? An article by the New York Post states that the US Army saved $89 million annually by moving legacy workloads to the cloud.
The success of this process depends on meticulous planning. A ‘seamless migration’ refers to a migration process that is smooth and uninterrupted, with minimal downtime and disruption to business operations. To achieve a seamless migration, businesses need to follow multiple phases across stakeholders, teams, and technologies.
Here are five phases for ensuring migration runs efficiently without many disruptions:
Migration of legacy systems can be highly challenging for businesses. It is crucial that the existing systems be thoroughly evaluated, and any challenges or issues identified. This comprehensive assessment will guide the steps to be taken for a smooth migration process. Here are some measures for assessing the legacy applications:
Evaluating the legacy system before migration is necessary as it helps understand which areas need improvement and what is already functioning. It also helps clarify the strengths and weaknesses, along with how much work will be required for a smooth migration. Moreover, evaluating the existing aging legacy application will allow us to identify the potentially vulnerable areas that could gain from this migration process.
Once the evaluation of current aging systems is complete, the next important task is to identify any related issues. The issues can be related to compatibility issues or technical problems due to scalability or performance. Once the issue is identified, it becomes easier to formulate solutions that will address the challenges with the existing system.
Once potential risk areas are identified, businesses need to decide on their migration objectives. These objectives will help enhance the customer experience, minimize costs, streamline processes, and increase efficiency while maintaining consistency in functionalities throughout the transition period. Setting clear goals before initiating the migration process is recommended to achieve a successful outcome.
Taking time for assessment helps businesses make more informed decisions about migration, which in turn helps them achieve long-term results.
Many factors impact effective migration, such as a detailed migration plan, selection of the right approach, and identification of potential challenges and risk areas.
This procedure includes detailed information regarding budget requirements during each phase of the process, the timeline for the project, and any specific resources required for the successful completion. This plan should also include details about constraints that must be addressed or timeline issues during the project. It is an essential step to be taken for a successful result.
As the creation of a detailed legacy systems cloud migration plan is completed, it’s time to select the appropriate approach regarding the specific requirements for this legacy cloud migration project. Depending upon the complexity of the existing aging legacy system, different approaches are available. Manual re-engineering involves rewriting the entire application code, direct porting involves moving the application as is to the cloud, and automated transformation tools use software to convert the application code to a cloud-compatible format. Each approach has its own merits and demerits, so it is recommended to do in-depth research and understand which approach is best for this process.
No solution is risk-proof, so no matter what approach is selected for legacy system migration, it will always have challenges and risks. Therefore, it is essential to identify any potential risks and address them proactively before any issues arise during the process. Also, one should always be prepared for any challenges that could occur due to any change in technology or customer-centric issues over time, and proactive measures should be taken to address those issues ahead of time to ensure a smooth transition process. By considering these issues ahead of time, the migrations of legacy systems becomes easy.
The preparation phase requires three significant steps. They are as follows:
Creating a detailed project plan is essential for an efficient legacy systems cloud migration. This plan should include an overview of the project and information on team members working on it. Depending on it, multiple steps will be taken to cover all aspects of the migration of a legacy application. It is also important to consider the timelines and deadlines while creating a project plan so that the team involved can be better informed.
The next step is forming a migration team, a crucial part of the process. This team should include individuals with expertise and experience in legacy system migration, as well as those who are highly organized and have good communication skills.
Eliminate Risk Today! Move Your Legacy Apps to the Cloud for Optimum Efficiency.
Once the migration team is formed, the next step is to guide them and help them understand their role and responsibilities within this project. Each individual should be clear about their work and should ensure proper communication throughout the entire migration process. Proper preparation is necessary for greater efficiency and success.
The three core steps of the migration phase are as follows:
The initial step is migrating data from previous systems. This process involves collecting all the data from the existing aging legacy and moving it to a new system. To successfully complete this procedure, data must be converted into compatible formats or used in scripts and APIs to transfer data seamlessly between the systems. Transferring all the existing data and ensuring nothing is lost during this process is crucial.
The next step is code migration, as the data migration process is completed. Here, the transfer of any integration or customization that was previously made in the existing application is to be carried forward to the new one for the proper functioning of the new system. It may include any integration with third-party applications or any custom features to be incorporated with the new platform properly for seamless functioning.
Once the data and code migration are completed, it is time for UAT or user acceptance testing. UAT involves testing out each feature of the new system with teams or representatives from the organization’s departments. This testing is crucial as it allows users to experience the new system and provide feedback. It helps ensure that any issues can be dealt with in the early stages rather than become more significant problems later, ensuring a smooth transition to the new system.
Understanding the functionality of each phase helps ensure a smooth transition from legacy system modernization to an updated solution.
Here are the main steps to be followed for this this post-migration phase.
Once the data migration from the old to the new system is complete, it is mandatory to verify that all data is properly transferred. This is to ensure that no data is lost or corrupted during this transfer procedure. Moreover, testing the new system is essential to check whether all the applications are functioning properly and whether they can go live with them. It will help prevent any potential risk.
As the new system is functional, it’s time to provide the users with proper training on using it efficiently. It is crucial for them to have an adequate understanding of the functionality changes from the old and new modern systems. They should be given proper guidance on using certain functions and features in the new system. Furthermore, a support team should also be able to assist them with their queries and questions in a timely manner as the situation arises.
Once the migration of legacy systems is complete, ensure regular maintenance procedures are performed on the new system for optimal functioning. This includes updating the applications whenever security patches are released, or new features are added. Proper technical support assistance should be provided for any issues after the new system has gone live.
The success of the aging legacy system migration depends on streamlined planning and preparation before going live with the new system. Also, verifying the output for migration of legacy systems before proceeding to the production mode, providing proper user training and support, as well as allocating the resources required will help the business’s legacy application transition seamlessly.
Orange Business hit a roadblock. Their critical ERP systems depended on legacy hardware and Markview were stuck on OCI with no upgrade path.
They needed more than a workaround. Oracle Consulting stepped in. The answer: Charon-SSP by Stromasys. It’s a SPARC hardware emulator for Linux, requiring zero code changes. Sixteen emulated CPUs delivered full legacy compatibility.
Deployment moved fast. The team handled everything remotely. Within a matter of days, Orange Business operated at full speed without any performance dip or business disruption.
Key outcomes:
If you are planning for cloud migration for legacy systems, Stromasys is a great option. We offer efficient and precise assistance in selecting the most suitable migration option for your business, ensuring that your data remains secure while transitioning from the older platform to a newer one.
Stromasys Charon solution is available for SPARC, VAX, AlphaServer, and PA-RISC legacy systems for cloud subscription for all the major cloud service providers, such as Oracle Cloud, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and more. With Charon on the Cloud solution, all the original applications, operating systems, and databases remain the same with zero modifications. No re-certification is required, and the original legacy hardware is eliminated while the new applications seamlessly run on the cloud.
If you are also interested in your older legacy system cloud migration to the cloud and looking for assistance, contact us.
We will help you with your migration at a minimum cost and enhance your business performance.
The timeline of the legacy systems cloud migration depends on several factors, such as the complexity of existing aging systems, the availability of resources, and any problems that occur during or after transit.
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