Cloud Migration Testing

Cloud migration testing strategy

There are various ways to achieve a successful cloud migration, and the precise path depends on the particular details of each project. Here is what an approximate cloud migration roadmap looks like:

1. Assessment of the infrastructure and processes in place
2. Defining the performance bottlenecks and designing the solutions for them
3. Creating a clone of the on-prem production environment to enable cloud migration testing
4. Building cloud-native analogs to the customer’s infrastructure to ensure operational continuity
5. Developing a cloud-based CI/CD pipeline for a single app to test the process efficiency
6. Using this CI/CD pipeline to move one app to the cloud to ensure cloud migration testing plan is viable
7. Moving the bulk of the applications and data to the cloud for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) process (mission-critical apps that can be moved without redesign)
8. Tidying up the on-prem production environment (rebuilding with cloud-based analogs or discontinuing the rest of the apps and workflows)
9. Training the customer’s staff to work with their new tools
10. Providing long-term DevOps support if needed

This is an approximate cloud migration testing plan and it is adjusted to each project, based on the specific requirements. Let’s take a closer look at the steps of this cloud migration journey.

Assessment of the existing infrastructure

IT Svit team collaborates with the customer’s IT department to assess and audit the infrastructure in place. Should it be a cloud infrastructure that has to be optimized, we search for ways to do it. Should it be a legacy infrastructure that has to be replaced with cloud-based systems, we analyze the modus operandi of the existing environments and tools to find out what is deployed, why and how it works. This helps us determine the mission-critical processes and workloads, as well as the infrastructure parts that have to be truncated after the cloud transition.

Defining the performance bottlenecks

Once we have a clear picture of how the customer’s infrastructure works, we proceed to defining the performance bottlenecks, the ways to remediate them and the room for possible growth. We are often able to cut the infrastructure maintenance costs by 30% or more by optimizing the environments in use.

Cloning the on-prem production environments

We clone the existing production environment on-prem and use this copy for cloud migration testing purposes. We provide in-depth testing of the cloud transition there and determine the best ways to move your applications and data to the cloud. Some apps can be moved by lift-and-shift, while some must be rebuilt from scratch or discontinued to be replaced with cloud-based analogs.

Building cloud-native analogs to customer’s apps and processes

Not all apps can be moved to the cloud unchanged, as sometimes their architecture does not allow it. Sometimes the monolithic apps must be split to microservices and put into Docker containers to ensure their scalability, sometimes legacy app code can be refactored and rewritten in more modern language, using RESTful APIs to connect the modules, etc. The same goes for workflows, as many of the legacy infrastructure management processes can be done better, faster and cheaper using modern DevOps tools like Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker, Ansible, Jenkins, etc.

Deploying a cloud-based CI/CD pipeline

Moving an app to the cloud, coupled with splitting it to microservices is a complex feat that cannot be delivered using standard Git flow. It requires implementing Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, using either open-source tools like Gitlab CI, Circle CI, Jenkins, etc — or their pay-per-use cloud analogs like Google App Engine or AWS Pipeline. This helps automate all kinds of testing — unit testing, integrity testing, regression testing, functional testing, black box testing, user acceptance testing, etc. As a result, every code commit can become a new product version automatically and releases can be made weekly or even daily, greatly reducing time-to-market for new product features.

Moving one app to the cloud using the CI/CD pipeline

Once the CI/CD pipeline is tested and improved if need be based on the customer’s feedback, the app can be moved from the on-prem clone to the real cloud environment without any downtime or interruption in customer experience. This is enabled by Infrastructure as Code, Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery practices we implemented earlier along this cloud migration testing journey. Moving a single app shows the customer the project can be done, and if it is the main customer’s product — it ensures great cost savings immediately.

Migrating the rest of the applications and data

Applications and data from databases are either dumped and restored to the cloud infrastructure or moved in parts with the concurrent refactoring of the code, upgrades to the databases, etc. The process is performed until everything that can be moved to the cloud (without major code refactoring) is moved to the cloud. This is one of the longest phases of the whole cloud migration process, but once the initial testing is done and the workflows are polished, it only needs some time to be completed.

Tidying up the on-prem infrastructure

Once the main bulk of the applications and data are moved to the cloud, the question remains of dealing with the rest of the environments. Some of them become obsolete in the cloud, some can be replaced with cloud-native analogs and some can be dropped for good. Tidying up the on-prem infrastructure allows using the hardware and equipment as the secure storage for sensitive data or a component of hybrid or private cloud, or decommissioning it for good, freeing up plenty of resources.

Training the customer’s staff to use DevOps

We can provision and configure the infrastructure, but it is your staff that will run it. Actually, we begin training them to use their new DevOps tools and CI/CD pipelines from the very beginning of the project as they collaborate with the IT Svit team throughout the whole project. Should you want to retrain your in-house team as DevOps engineers — this is the phase where we can establish the Center of Excellence and teach them to use the latest DevOps tools and best practices. Otherwise, a transition to the cloud will do nothing, if your teams do not work according to the DevOps culture.

Providing long-term DevOps support

Many of our customers decided to outsource their IT operations to us completely in order to consolidate their resources an allocate them more cost-efficiently. IT Svit has experienced dedicated DevOps teams and is able to provide full-scale technical support for our customers. Due to automated workflows and CI/CD pipelines, just a couple of DevOps engineers is able to deliver the efficiency that previously required quite a large number of system administrators.

Final thoughts on cloud migration testing strategy from IT Svit

Thus said, the process of cloud transition differs much for every project we face, and we adjust the cloud migration strategy accordingly. Sometimes the customers want to move to the cloud provider to save costs, sometimes they need to increase application performance. However, regardless of cloud providers or cloud infrastructure components in play, our professionalism and dedication to quality remain unchanged.

This is why our customers recommend IT Svit to their friends and partners as a reliable IT services provider, capable of designing and implementing a detailed cloud migration testing strategy, as well as delivering end-to-end solutions built with security and performance in mind. Should you need to move to the cloud and require a doable cloud migration testing plan — give IT Svit a call, we are always ready to assist!