Introduction
Undeniably, the cloud has revolutionized how businesses operate, allowing them to access virtually unlimited resources on demand. And with a better understanding of the cloud benefits, more and more businesses are considering joining the bandwagon. While it is heartening to see this trend of eager cloud adoption, it is equally painful to see unexpected issues and setbacks owing to a lack of preparedness prior to migrating.
While you would understand the importance of preparation prior to the migration, how would you go about it? For a systematic, non-chaotic migration experience, Comprinno utilizes the AWS Assessment tool which is designed on the principles of Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF).
Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) and MRA
The AWS CAF is a framework that shows how organizational skills and processes need to be transformed in order for organizations to move forward with effective cloud adoption. AWS CAF categorizes these capabilities into six distinct perspectives: Business, People, Governance, Platform, Security, and Operations.
Each perspective encompasses a range of capabilities that are managed or overseen by different stakeholders involved in the cloud transformation journey.
On the Non-Tech side, the Business perspective covers the strategy, management, and assessment of clarity of business goals and objectives for migrating to AWS. The People perspective puts a lens on people development, communications, and training to help stakeholders determine how to update organizational processes and staff skills to prepare for the cloud. The governance perspective is used to assess how system assets and projects are managed/controlled.
On the technical side, the Platform evaluates the architecture considerations for accelerating the delivery of your cloud workloads via an enterprise-grade, scalable, hybrid cloud environment. The security aspect covers the capabilities that help you achieve the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data and cloud workloads. The assessment includes security governance to develop and communicate security roles, responsibilities, policies, processes, and procedures across your organization’s AWS environment. The operation angle touches upon the daily operation methods which ensure that cloud services are delivered at a level that meets the needs of your business.
With so many aspects of migration to be addressed, especially when adopting the cloud for the first time, the whole process might seem overwhelming for businesses. There might be confusion about where to begin. There can be aspects missed out from the assessment, to begin with.
To tackle such issues, Comprinno carries out comprehensive initial assessments using AWS Assessment Tool, preventing omissions and proper prioritizations. The creation of the MRA report makes it possible to take an implementation approach that allows you to enjoy more of the benefits of the cloud.
Outcomes of MRA
The below outcomes are expected from a readiness review:
- An understanding of where an organization is in its cloud journey.
- Identified areas of strength and weakness from a cloud-readiness perspective.
An action plan to resolve the identified gaps, so the organization can migrate at scale without having to pause to solve foundational issues.
In addition, there are often these additional outcomes:
- Alignment and consensus building within the team.
- Identification of best practices within the organization that can be leveraged and scaled.
A reduction in roadblocks that can disrupt progress.
More about Migration Readiness Assessment (MRA)?
Comprinno conducts Readiness Assessment in 4 steps:
- Preliminary meeting for the Readiness Assessment involving all the appropriate stakeholders is set up. In this meeting, the context is set explaining the details of the MRA workshop. In this meeting, decision-makers responsible for cloud migration are requested to participate.
- Comprinno conducts a workshop aligned with AWS CAF to facilitate discussions during the assessment. The assessment consists of a list of 80 questions, answers to which are sought from the client participants. In case the participant cannot provide an answer during the workshop, they can get back with the details post the workshop. In cases where participants from the client side cannot invest time required for the detailed workshop, the assessment can be shared offline, where the customer can review and be prepared with the answers to be updated by the Comprinno team during the workshop.
- Comprinno creates a report after analyzing the data, documenting observations, and determining the next steps for the cloud migration. The report summarizes the gaps and the actions recommended to bridge the gaps during the migration process. The report includes a HEAT Map to indicate the areas of strengths and weaknesses.
- Comprinno schedules and conducts a debrief to discuss the results of the assessment and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
AWS Assessment Tool (http://accelerate.amazonaws.com) has a list of 80 questions aligned with the AWS CAF which helps generate a detailed Migration Readiness Assessment report.
| What MRA can be used for? | What MRA cannot be used for? |
|---|---|
| Utilize MRA reports as kick-off materials | Application portfolio assessment for cloud adoption |
| Utilize action lists to efficiently prepare for migration plans | Use it as a measure of the progress of the first migration wave |
| Utilize the MRA process to establish the CCOE and assign action items to members | Evaluating staff capabilities related to AWS |
| Utilize assessment results to build unique learning/certification plans | Migration complexity and difficulty indicators |
Benefits of using AWS MRA for cloud readiness assessments
Comprinno, an AWS Migration competency partner, has enabled many of its clients to transition seamlessly to Amazon Web Services (AWS) by conducting Migration Readiness Assessments (MRA). During these assessments, Comprinno has identified technical gaps and potential issues in the client’s existing IT infrastructure and developed comprehensive migration plans to address them.
One of the key benefits of conducting an MRA is that it helps identify potential gaps in the client’s existing setup. For example, during one MRA, Comprinno discovered that the client’s firewall was implemented at the edge but was not analyzing incoming and outgoing traffic. To address this issue, Comprinno recommended the inclusion of an AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) in the migrated architecture. For a customer, it was observed that the experienced infrastructure team on the client side had moved on and the new team had very limited knowledge of their inventory or data flows. These gaps were closed with the resource discovery prior to the migration process.
In another case, Comprinno found that the client’s team had not identified a clear ownership structure, which could have led to confusion and chaos during the migration process. As part of the MRA process, Comprinno identified a single point of contact to head the migration initiative, ensuring a smooth transition to AWS.
In several instances, clients were unclear about the migration strategy or the benefits of in-flight modernization. Through the MRA process, Comprinno was able to educate and align clients with the migration approach, leading to successful migration projects.
The MRA process has proven to be a valuable tool for identifying potential issues early on, developing comprehensive migration plans, and ensuring a seamless transition to AWS for its clients. Through KT plans, operational runbooks, DevOps and DevSecOps implementation, inventory and data flow analysis and other measures, Comprinno has enabled clients to maximize the benefits of migrating to AWS while minimizing the risks and challenges associated with the process.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, while some businesses may be hesitant to invest time in conducting a Migration Readiness Assessment (MRA) prior to migrating to the cloud, it has been proven time and again that this assessment can be a real boon. Conducting an MRA provides a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s current IT infrastructure, identifies potential technical gaps, and allows for the development of a comprehensive migration plan.
Comprinno, an AWS Advanced Consulting and recognized AWS Migration competency partner, has a team of 25+ migration experts with the ability to leverage AWS services and tools for large-scale migrations, in-flight modernization, cross-cloud migrations, and more. By conducting MRAs, Comprinno has enabled many of its clients to transition seamlessly to AWS and maximize the benefits of cloud computing.
Therefore, if you are one of those organizations willing to take the plunge into AWS, it’s important to do so in a systematic way with Comprinno. Our expertise and experience in cloud orchestration and management can help make your migration journey smooth and successful. So, don’t hesitate to reach out to Comprinno for all your cloud migration needs!
About Authors
Pallavi Khopkar is a seasoned IT professional with over 14 years of experience in multiple domains and technologies. She currently leads the technical writing initiative at Comprinno and is responsible for content quality and consistency across all distribution channels.
This blog was co-authored with Satish Upreti, a Migration Lead PSA and Security SME in the partner organization in APJ. Satish has 20 years of experience spanning on-premise private cloud and public cloud technologies. Since joining AWS in August 2020, as a migration specialist, he provides extensive technical advice and support to AWS partners to plan and execute complex migrations. He also advises partners on the creation and progression of migration and modernization practices.
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