Incremental Migration
A strategy for migrating applications and data to AWS in manageable, phased steps.
Description
Incremental migration refers to the process of moving applications, data, or services to Amazon Web Services (AWS) in stages rather than all at once. This method allows organizations to minimize risks, reduce downtime, and adapt to unforeseen challenges throughout the migration process. By breaking the migration into smaller, manageable phases, businesses can prioritize critical workloads and gradually transition less critical systems. Incremental migration also enables teams to leverage AWS services effectively, as they can test and optimize each phase before proceeding to the next. For instance, a company might first migrate its development environment, followed by testing, and finally move production workloads. This gradual approach helps organizations gain experience with AWS tools and services, leading to more efficient resource utilization and cost management. Moreover, it allows for continuous feedback and improvements, ensuring that any issues can be addressed promptly without impacting the entire operation.
Examples
- A financial institution migrating its customer database to AWS in phases, starting with non-critical applications to validate the migration process before moving core services.
- A media company that first transitions their content delivery network to AWS CloudFront, followed by migrating their video processing services, thus ensuring a smooth transition with minimal service disruption.
Additional Information
- Incremental migration can lead to better resource management, allowing companies to scale their AWS usage based on performance and demand.
- It facilitates the adoption of a cloud-first strategy by allowing teams to incrementally adopt cloud-native services and tools, enhancing cloud proficiency.