Migrating from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud is an important step for any business seeking to modernize operations, improve scalability, and (potentially) reduce costs. Using Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and the 7 Rs migration framework can help you streamline this transition. Let’s look at what moving from on-prem to cloud looks like and what might be involved, from infrastructure to application refactoring.
Let’s start with the somewhat obvious question: If we’re running everything on-prem and it’s all working ok, why would we consider moving to the cloud? Moving to the cloud unlocks a few significant benefits compared to on-prem, including:
For containerized applications, EKS, AKS, and GKE simplify Kubernetes management, offering automated scaling, hybrid deployment flexibility, and integration with various services (depending on which provider you use). Automated managed infrastructure reduces operational overhead, although even with Auto-Mode options, you’ll still need to implement and maintain updates for your add-ons and conduct testing.
The 7 Rs migration strategy provides a structured approach to transitioning workloads from on-prem to cloud. Briefly, that’s retain, relocate, rehost, replatform, repurchase, refactor, and retire.
Source: Understanding the “7 Rs” - Cloud Migration Strategies
Here’s how they apply:
Retain: Keep certain workloads on-prem due to compliance or technical constraints. This may make sense for some regulated data or legacy systems that can’t be rehosted easily.
Relocate: Refers to moving entire virtualized workloads, usually at the hypervisor or virtualization layer, from on-prem infrastructure directly to the cloud, making minimal to no changes to the applications themselves. This is sometimes referred to as a “hypervisor-level lift and shift.”
Rehost: Lift-and-shift existing applications to the cloud with minimal changes. That makes sense for legacy apps that need quick migration. Basically, you move an on-prem app and all related dependencies to the cloud as-is.
Replatform: This option involves moving an application to the cloud while also making optimizations to take advantage of cloud-native features. However, it doesn’t involve changing the application’s core architecture or rewriting the source code. This is a good way to get some cloud benefits without completely rewriting the code.
Repurchase: Essentially, this means replacing an existing application (usually a legacy or on-prem solution) with a new, cloud based alternative — often a commercially available Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or managed service. You just purchase and implement a new solution with similar (or maybe improved) functionality.
Refactor: This involves redesigning an application to fully leverage cloud-native features, architectures, and services. You’re re-architecting the application, often breaking down monolithic applications into services or adopting a service-oriented architecture. This option is more time consuming and best for business critical apps that are limited by legacy architectures or systems that can’t meet business demands or are expensive to maintain as-is.
Retire: Sometimes, a cloud migration project will surface some unused or redundant applications that you actually don’t need any more. It’s an opportunity to reduce technical debt, minimize risks from outdated systems, and reduce the cost of maintaining, licensing, and supporting unused or low-value applications.
Early-stage migrations often prioritize the Rehost and Replatform strategies to get some quick wins, while the Retire and Repurchase may help you streamline your IT portfolio. Refactoring offers a lot of value, but is more time-consuming, so fits better in a longer-term migration strategy.
While tools such as AKS, EKS, and GKE provide a solid Kubernetes infrastructure, and the 7 Rs can help you assess which strategies make the most sense for your organization and when to use them, partnering with cloud migration experts can help address some of the key challenges organizations frequently face:
Consultants can evaluate your current IT landscape, identify suitable workloads for migration, and develop a cloud migration strategy that aligns with your business goals. They’ll be able to recommend the best-fit cloud providers and migration paths (e.g., rehost, replatform, refactor) based on your unique requirements.
Migration experts have time-tested methodologies, automation tools, and best practices that they can use to streamline your migration process, minimizing disruptions and reducing the risk of downtime or data loss. Their experience helps you avoid common pitfalls (such as legacy integration, cloud cost overruns, or compliance hurdles) and ensure compliance with security, regulatory, and performance standards.
Consultants bring deep technical knowledge of cloud platforms, networking, security, and application modernization, ensuring workloads are optimized for cloud environments. They can also help with common questions, such as which managed Kubernetes service provider to use (and why).
Service providers and consulting partners will help you identify opportunities to optimize cloud costs, prevent overspending, and ensure you only pay for what you need. They help design scalable, maintainable architectures that deliver long-term operational efficiency.
Moving from on-prem to cloud is a process, and your team may not have the in-house expertise to get started quickly in a whole new infrastructure. Managed Kubernetes-as-a-Service providers and other consultants can provide training and mentoring to internal teams, ensuring your staff can effectively manage and operate your cloud environments post-migration. Some migration experts also support organizational change management, facilitating smoother adoption of new technologies and processes.
Many consulting partners offer post-migration support, helping you monitor, optimize, and evolve your cloud environment as business needs change. Fairwinds Managed Kubernetes-as-a-Service builds and maintains a secure, reliable Kubernetes platform on an ongoing basis, creating a collaborative partnership that ensures your team can focus on its apps and services instead of worrying about infrastructure.
Start your cloud migration journey with the 7 Rs framework so you can make early decisions about what you can keep, what you don’t need any more, and what will move to the cloud. You may do this work in-house or have an outside consulting firm help with refactoring applications or lifting and shifting to the cloud. Collaborating with experts will help you bridge skill gaps, minimize migration risks, and optimize your cloud investment for long-term value. When you’re ready to transition from on-premises systems to the cloud, the right partners can help you increase your agility, resilience, and scalability to meet today’s business requirements.
