Functional Requirements Document project objective
Azure migration project description:
Azure Migration project will migrate existing applications and workloads from on-premise or another Cloud provider to Microsoft Azure using the “lift and shift” approach. This project aims to quickly transition applications to Azure by lifting them from their current environment and shifting them to Azure virtual machines (VMs) or services, often without redesigning the application.
Azure migration project implementation approach:
The Azure migration project involves using the “lift and shift” approach, as this is a secure and fast way to migrate workloads to Microsoft Azure with minimal changes to the underlying architecture. We recommend using the latest technology to build the core infrastructure services (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP) or security services (PKI, Active Directory Certificate Services, RADIUS Server) into Azure. For the infrastructure services, please see the details of the respective project.
The primary goal of lift and shift migration is to minimize changes to the application architecture. This involves replicating the existing environment as closely as possible in Azure without redesigning the application code or infrastructure.
The success of the migration depends on the assessment and planning phases (if not done separately as a “migration to Azure” discovery project). We evaluate the current applications, workloads, assets, dependencies, and performance characteristics during this phase. We will then create a detailed plan containing the order and priorities of how the workloads are migrated and the migration approach (lift and shift, re-platforming, re-architecting) based on application complexity and business goals.
As a standard approach, we recommend building infrastructure services on the latest server operating systems (Active Directory, Base Network Services).
The migration starts with the data migration when data is transferred to Azure storage services (Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database) using Azure Data Factory (or another migration tool). After the data migration pre-requirement is met, following the chosen migration approach, the workloads/applications are migrated to Azure VMs or Azure App Services. After each migration wave, we will conduct testing and validation to ensure applications and workloads function correctly in the Azure environment and will perform fine-tuning of the Azure resources for optimal performance and cost efficiency. After reaching the stable phase, we validate security controls and compliance requirements in the Azure environment.
Azure migration project in-scope activities:
Azure migration project pre-requirements:
- Azure subscription, resource groups, Azure services, connection to the on-premise or other cloud provider.
- Prepare source environments for migration, including resolving dependencies and ensuring compatibility with Azure.