Overview of workload migrations
This article guides you through the steps and processes to consider when you target a Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty environment.
Align your migration to frameworks
For workloads migrated to Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, the general process of migration is similar to those deployments without sovereignty concerns. You can use the following frameworks to help you with your migration:
- The Cloud Adoption Framework helps you build your cloud adoption strategy and onboard workloads to the cloud.
- The Azure Well-Architected Framework helps you validate your workloads against the five pillars of architectural excellence: cost, security, reliability, performance, and operational excellence.
- The Azure Architecture Center helps you design and build your workloads using best practices and proven patterns.
Choose the best migration strategy for your workload
Before you start, you should understand and evaluate your motivation for moving to the cloud. As explained in the Cloud Adoption Framework, there are many triggers and outcomes, which can drive cloud adoption.
A single or multiple critical events could motivate you to migrate existing applications to the cloud. Some of these events could be linked to a reduction in capital expenses, an end of support for mission critical technologies, or new data sovereignty requirements.
When you respond to critical events as the highest priority, it's important to get started with migration early, often in parallel with strategy and planning efforts. This approach requires a growth mindset and a willingness to improve processes based on lessons learned iteratively.
The migration strategy you choose depends on your workload and your goals. You can choose from the following options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Rehost | Redeploy as-is to cloud |
| Refactor | Minimally alter to take better advantage of cloud |
| Rearchitect | Materially alter/decompose application to services |
| Rebuild | New code written with cloud native approach |
The five Rs of rationalization provides further details and addresses some of the myths associated with cloud migrations.
Next steps
After you're ready to start exploring cloud adoption, you should work through the strategy process of the Cloud Adoption Framework.