Cloud migration consulting services
Soar to new heights with Vention’s cloud migration consulting services. Our cloud experts deliver customized plans for a hassle-free migration, safeguarding every resource – and your peace of mind.
Why the cloud matters and what you should know
Large enterprises have been assessing the reasons for adopting cloud technology for over a decade. Their conclusion: On-premises infrastructure is an outdated concept. Or at least relying solely on it.
The core benefit of cloud migration, a market growing roughly 24 percent yearly for the better part of a decade, is flexibility — shielding your operational costs from the whims of the economy. This flexibility allows businesses to scale their infrastructure as quickly as they want, and it also lets companies pick which parts of their operations they want to keep locally and which should be moved to the cloud.
In fact, large enterprises aspire to have about 60 percent of their environment in the cloud by the end of 2025. The main takeaway is that migrating your infrastructure to the cloud isn’t an all-or-nothing decision, as cloud architectures are built with compromise in mind.
Reflecting this trend, the global cloud migration services market is projected to expand from $12.54 billion in 2024 to $69.73 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 23.9 percent over the forecast period. This significant growth underscores the increasing shift toward cloud solutions and the strategic importance businesses place on flexible, scalable infrastructure.
Why companies migrate to the cloud
Besides the flexibility to scale, cloud migration consulting gives companies easy access to innovative tools. All Big Three cloud providers (AWS, GCP, and Azure) count upon many integrations and ancillary services built into their leading cloud service.
As a result, cloud migration is a textbook case of 1 + 1 = 3. The initial migration is the gateway to a mature digital transformation process, with the real benefit being the unlocked potential for agile, sustained growth.
Cost efficiency
- With cloud computing, you pay for what you use, which eliminates the need for hefty upfront investment in IT infrastructure and ongoing costs related to maintenance and upgrades in almost every case.
- The shift to cloud services transforms capital expenses (CapEx) into operational expenses (OpEx), freeing up capital for other strategic investments.
Agility to pivot
- The cloud offers on-demand resource scalability, allowing companies to increase or decrease their computing resources based on demand. This includes handling unexpected peak loads that would otherwise incur downtime losses.
- With cloud services, businesses can expand their reach to new geographic regions simply by leveraging the global infrastructure of cloud providers.
Reliable performance
- As leading cloud providers continuously update their infrastructure with the latest technologies to ensure high performance, cloud services often deliver faster and more reliably than on-premises solutions.
- Cloud platforms offer robust disaster recovery solutions and data backup processes, safeguarding business continuity despite localized hardware failures, natural disasters, or other disruptions.
Competitive advantage
- The cloud environment enables companies to quickly deploy and test new ideas with minimal upfront investment, cutting costs and speeding up the time-to-market for new products or features.
- Through cloud technology, businesses have access to cutting-edge tools and services, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data analytics, with all their sub-disciplines.
Our cloud migration consulting services
Cloud migration consulting is tailored to help you visualize the perfect cloud strategy for your business, kickstarting your cloud journey without hiccups.
Cloud readiness assessment
Our cloud migration consultants assess the existing IT infrastructure, applications, and data to qualify your readiness for cloud migration. Crucially, we review the relationships and dependencies between your various IT assets to determine the most appropriate applications and data to be migrated.
Cloud architecture design
Based on assessment results, we design a cloud architecture to meet your specific business requirements with optimized performance that respects your budget.
Migration strategy planning
Our cloud migration specialists present you with a custom migration strategy that includes selecting the right type of cloud deployment (public, multi-cloud, or hybrid), cloud service model (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), and security measures, alongside the steps, timelines, and resources required for a successful migration.
Cloud migration implementation
We move your company’s digital assets, services, databases, IT resources, and applications into the cloud, partially or wholly, according to our migration strategy. Our migration solutions include rehosting, refactoring/re-architecting, re-platforming, and cloud-to-cloud migration.
Post-migration support
Our cloud transformation and migration consultants provide ongoing operational support to drive your cloud adoption efforts home: troubleshooting, performance monitoring, and general advice on leveraging new cloud technologies and services as they become available.
Related services
Software architecture consulting
Looking for an expert opinion on your cloud migration strategy?
Our cloud specialists can assist you in just a few days.
Migration approaches for every situation
What it is
Best when
Advantages
Rehosting (lift and shift)
What it is
A straightforward migration strategy in which existing applications and data are moved to the cloud without changing the code
Best when
As the first step of a more gradual cloud strategy, or when businesses must move quickly to the cloud to meet demand and reduce data center dependencies
Advantages
- Speed: It's often the fastest way to migrate to the cloud since it involves minimal modifications
- Risk mitigation: Since it doesn’t alter the architecture or code, this approach minimizes risks associated with the migration process
- Budget-oriented: In the short term, it avoids the expenses associated with application rewrites or significant changes
Refactoring / Re-architecting
What it is
Substantial changes to the applications’ architecture to fully leverage cloud-native features
Best when
Applications that are critical to business operations must meet modern scalability, performance, or other business requirements
Advantages
- Performance improvements: Applications can be optimized for performance, scalability, and resilience
- Innovation: Access to modern development practices such as microservices and serverless architectures
- Long-term efficiency: strategic use of cloud resources leads to long-term cost savings
Replatforming
What it is
Minimal changes to the applications to better fit them into the cloud environment
Best when
Cloud capabilities can benefit applications without needing a complete code rewrite
Advantages
- Cloud leverage: Applications can use cloud-native features and services without being cloud-native themselves
- Pragmatic: Simpler and less bumpy than full refactoring, making it ideal in most scenarios
- Balanced solution: The sweet spot between the rapid lift and shift migration and the deeper refactoring optimization
Addressing common cloud migration challenges
Any complex technical endeavor presents its own hurdles. That’s why we employ a team of cloud migration experts to plan ahead of challenges and mitigate every risk before it can evolve into an issue.
Challenge
Solution
Security and compliance
Challenge
Complying with data security and regulations (like GDPR and HIPAA) in the cloud.
Solution
Our experts help you choose fully compliant cloud services and implement robust encryption, identity and access management, and monitoring tools.
Data loss and downtime
Challenge
The risk of data loss and service downtime during migration.
Solution
We minimize risk with comprehensive backup and recovery plans, scheduling migrations during low-traffic periods to reduce impact.
Cost management
Challenge
Unexpected costs and budget overruns due to fluctuating cloud service expenses.
Solution
Our consultants use cost management tools to monitor expenses, providing you with an accurate budget plan developed with resource optimization in mind.
Technical complexity
Challenge
Navigating the technical complexities of cloud application migration.
Solution
We offer expert consultation, customized training, and cloud tech know-how of advanced migration tools to streamline the process and provide ongoing support.
Application performance
Challenge
Cloud applications must perform as well or better in the cloud as they did on-premises.
Solution
Our team conducts performance testing to refactored applications and their new cloud-native features for optimal post-migration behavior.
Data sovereignty and privacy
Challenge
Meeting data sovereignty and privacy requirements when data is stored in cloud data centers in different jurisdictions.
Solution
We choose cloud providers with compliant data centers and implement governance policies to meet data sovereignty requirements.
Managerial adaptation
Challenge
Managing organizational change to align every stakeholder with the cloud migration strategy.
Solution
We support our change management plans with stakeholder engagement and training programs.
Integration and interoperability
Challenge
Ensuring seamless integration between cloud-based applications and existing on-premises systems.
Solution
We employ iPaaS and manage API connectivity for full interoperability between cloud and on-premises systems.
How to select your cloud vendor
While we uphold vendor-neutrality in our on-premises to cloud migration consulting services, it's crucial to recognize the profound impact that selecting the right cloud vendor can have on the overall success of your future business operations.
We’re always ready to assist with the technical requirements of solutions that align best for you. Here are some key areas where the right cloud vendor makes the most difference:
Service offerings and ecosystem
- Your vendor must provide computing resources, storage options, and network capabilities that align with your business needs.
- Evaluate the breadth of the vendor’s ecosystem, including available third-party integrations, marketplace offerings, and support for various tools and services.
Security and compliance
- Assess the vendor's security measures, such as data encryption, identity and access management, and network security protocols.
- Verify that the vendor complies with relevant industry and regulatory standards for your business and geographical location.
Performance and reliability
- To ensure reliability, look for vendors with solid uptime SLAs (Service Level Agreements).
- Consider the vendor’s global data center infrastructure, especially if you need to serve customers worldwide.
Scalability and flexibility
- The vendor should offer scalable solutions that can grow with your business without requiring significant architectural changes.
- Check how easy it is to scale resources up or down based on demand and whether the vendor offers flexible pricing models.
Cost structure and pricing
- Understand the vendor's pricing models, including hidden costs or post-scaling increases.
- Evaluate the vendor's tools and services for monitoring and optimizing costs.
Support and SLAs
- Research their customer support quality, availability, responsiveness, and technical expertise.
- Inquire about the specifics of SLAs, including downtime policies or breaches in service quality.
Migration and integration support
- Many vendors have specific tools or services to assist with migration to the cloud.
- Look at their support for integration with existing on-premises systems or other cloud services.
Innovation and future-proofing
- Is the vendor committed to innovation? How frequently do they update their services and introduce new features?
- Does the vendor’s roadmap align with upcoming technology trends and your long-term strategic goals?
Cloud migration partner platforms we excel at
Combine the AWS cloud migration consulting powerhouse of over 200 services with our in-house experience as an AWS Partner Network Member for a smooth cloud application migration that immediately expands your business possibilities.
We use Azure cloud migration consulting’s extensive, high-performance toolbox to migrate your business's critical components with minimal downtime.
As a Google Cloud Partner, we leverage GCP’s global scale, extensive fiber network, and AI data management analytics to migrate your infrastructure regardless of where you operate.
Need a personalized migration plan for your unique scenario?
Our cloud consultants are keen to understand your business better.
The cloud migration strategy checklist
Establish business objectives
- Define clear business goals for migrating to the cloud (cost reduction, scalability, innovation).
- Identify specific outcomes you aim to achieve with cloud migration consultancy.
Conduct a cloud readiness assessment
- Evaluate your current IT infrastructure, applications, and data for any gaps in skills or tech.
- Assess compliance, security, and data sovereignty requirements.
Choose the suitable cloud model
- Decide between public, hybrid, or multi-cloud models based on your business needs.
- Select the appropriate cloud service model (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).
Select a cloud provider
- Compare cloud providers based on criteria like services offered, pricing, security, and compliance.
- Consider the provider's data center locations for performance and legal requirements.
Plan your cloud architecture
- Design the cloud architecture, considering scalability, security, and compliance.
- Define the network architecture and data storage strategy.
Develop a detailed migration plan
- Prioritize applications and workloads for migration based on complexity, dependency, and business value.
- Choose a migration approach (rehost, refactor, rearchitect) for each application with timelines and roadmaps.
Ensure security and compliance
- Map out security controls and compliance measures in the cloud environment.
- Implement identity and access management (IAM) policies and plan for data encryption in transit and at rest.
Prepare for data migration
- Develop a data migration strategy, considering data volume, transfer times, and potential downtime.
- Ensure data integrity and compatibility in the new environment.
Implement a training and change management plan
- Identify skill gaps and arrange for your team to train on cloud technologies.
- Communicate the migration plan and expected changes to all stakeholders.
Execute the migration
- Begin with a pilot migration to validate the process and minimize risks, monitoring it closely.
- Conduct thorough testing post-migration to ensure everything works as expected.
Optimize your cloud environment
- Continuously monitor performance and costs, adjusting resources as necessary.
- Implement best practices for cloud operations and security.
Review and iterate
- Conduct a post-migration review to evaluate successes and areas for improvement.
- Use the insights gained to optimize further and plan future migrations.
Hear from our experts: What to consider when migrating to the cloud
Alexey Golubev
Senior DevOps Engineer
Hear from our experts: What to consider when migrating to the cloud
Cloud migration should be guided by two primary considerations: business benefits and technical benefits.
Typically, the technical advantages justify the associated costs, but each decision should be tailored to your specific situation. Here are key factors to consider during your migration to the cloud:
- Necessity: Assess your business or solution's planned growth rate. The current setup may already fully meet your needs.
- Team size and cost: These elements often determine the architecture design, including whether managed services will be used or support will remain in-house.
- Adaptation and refactoring costs: Consider the expenses associated with adapting and refactoring the solution for cloud migration.
- Team competencies: Evaluate your team's ability to handle new challenges in monitoring, supporting, and troubleshooting the solution."
Why Vention?
years of experience in consulting, cloud migration advisory, and development
business sectors covered with our cloud migration consulting solutions
projects successfully delivered
Strategic partnerships with cloud industry leaders: AWS, Microsoft AI Cloud, Google Cloud Platform
Guidance on a cloud migration strategy that reduces both initial and ongoing costs
Delivery on time, on budget, and on scope
Cloud-certified engineers and consultants
Vention is an ISO 27001-certified company
Geoffrey Teale
Head of Developer Experience, Upvest
Vention employees contribute to every part of the development lifecycle including product design, product development and release as well as product maintenance.
Together with Vention employees we’ve built and are supporting 19 microservices. In our test environment, we’ve successfully onboarded more than 500,000 users.”
Ken Apple
VP Product Engineering, Gulf Relay
What makes this company unique is the people. Every person we have interacted with from vention from intake to the lowest-level worker, is all-in on our success.
You hear it and feel it in their actions. This is not a job to them. They are committed partners and we wouldn't be where we are today without them.”
John Payne
CEO, Croquet
I was most impressed with Vention’s collaboration and technical skills.
We work in an emerging industry, and Vention worked with technology they hadn’t used before. During the project’s development, Vention was required to invent solutions in order to resolve problems, and they figured out answers quickly.”
Our cloud migration tools
Cloud assessment
AWS Migration Evaluator (formerly TSO Logic)
Microsoft Azure migrate
Google Cloud migration consulting assessments
Migration automation and management
CloudEndure migration
Turbonomic (formerly VMTurbo)
VMware HCX
Security and compliance
Qualys Cloud Platform
Trend Micro Deep Security
Check Point CloudGuard
Performance monitoring and optimization
Dynatrace
Datadog
New Relic One
Cost management
AWS Cost Explorer/AWS Budgets
Azure Cost Management + Billing
Google Cloud Cost Management
Data migration
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Azure Data Box
Google Transfer Appliance
Containerization and microservices
Kubernetes
Docker
OpenShift
Nomad
Collaboration and project management
Slack, MS Teams
Trello/Asana
GitHub/GitLab
Our success stories
All cases
FAQs
What are the key factors influencing the choice between cloud migration strategies?
Choosing between lift and shift, refactoring/re-architecting, and re-platforming for cloud migration hinges on several key factors:
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Business objectives: Quick migration favors lift and shift, while performance, scalability, and cost optimization goals might favor refactoring or re-platforming.
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Application characteristics: Monolithic and legacy systems might be better suited for lift and shift or re-platforming, whereas applications benefiting from cloud-native features should consider refactoring.
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Compliance and security: Regulatory and data sensitivity requirements could influence the migration approach, with stricter regulations requiring a more cautious strategy.
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Technical debt and future plans: Existing technical debt and plans for future development can make refactoring more appealing to address long-term goals.
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Available skills and resources: The organization's expertise and resource availability may dictate the feasibility of each migration strategy, with limited resources usually favoring lift and shift.
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Risk tolerance: Lower risk tolerance might lead to choosing lift and shift, whereas a willingness to accept short-term risks for long-term benefits suggests refactoring/re-architecting.
Ultimately, the choice may involve a hybrid strategy combining different approaches to best meet the organization's needs and objectives.
How long does a cloud migration take?
Cloud migration timelines vary significantly based on the project's scope, complexity, data volume, and chosen migration strategy.
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Simple migrations for small businesses can take a few weeks to several months.
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Larger enterprises with complex infrastructures may require several months to over a year.
Strategies like lift and shift are quicker, taking weeks to months, whereas refactoring or re-architecting for cloud-native capabilities can extend the overall duration of the migration.
Will our operations be disrupted during the migration?
We strive to minimize disruption to your operations by carefully planning the migration process, conducting it in phases, and, if necessary, scheduling major migrations for off-peak hours.
By understanding the dependencies, a cloud migration consultant can plan the migration order to ensure that dependent applications and data are migrated in a manner that minimizes disruption to business operations.
Is data secure during the migration process?
During cloud migration, data security is maintained through a comprehensive approach that includes encryption of data in transit and at rest, stringent access controls and identity management, secure network connections, and adherence to compliance standards.
The process also involves data backup for loss prevention, integrity checks to ensure data remains unchanged, continuous monitoring for real-time threat detection, and post-migration security assessments. These measures protect data against unauthorized access, breaches, and loss throughout migration.