Blog Demystifying VMware Migration: Top 10 hot topics

The cloud has made it possible to create a virtual version of almost anything, and data centers are no exception. One of the pioneers in this field is VMware, a leading company that specializes in data center virtualization. In simple terms, VMware allows businesses to run multiple virtual computers, or “virtual machines,” on a single physical server, effectively maximizing resources and optimizing operations.

Now, imagine taking this virtual world to the cloud. VMware cloud migration is the process of moving your existing virtualized data center to the cloud. It involves carefully planning and executing the transition, ensuring a seamless move of your applications, data, and systems from your on-premises infrastructure to a cloud-based environment, like Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE).

We’ve assembled a list of 10 hot topics related to VMware cloud migration below. It’s a lot to process, we know. Luckily, Insight’s VMware migration experts stand ready to assist you on every aspect of your migration journey. 

For an example of how Insight helps organizations rapidly scale using VMware, check out our FTD customer story. And don’t hesitate to book a meeting with our experts today to get started on a custom strategy tailored to your organization’s needs.

Before we dive into the 10 hot topics related to VMware cloud migration, let’s start with the basics.

What is cloud migration?

Cloud migration is the process of strategically relocating data, applications, and IT processes from on-premises infrastructure to a cloud computing environment. This shift can encompass public, private, or hybrid cloud models, tailored to the unique requirements of your business. A well-defined cloud migration strategy is crucial for ensuring a seamless transition, maximizing the potential of cloud resources, and driving business outcomes. The fundamental objective of cloud migration is to identify the IT environment that delivers the optimal blend of cost-efficiency, high performance, and robust security for your workloads.

What are the benefits of migrating to the cloud?

Some of the benefits of moving to the cloud are:

Cloud migration offers numerous advantages, including:

• Cost efficiency: Cloud environments allow you to scale resources up or down as needed. This pay-as-you-go model helps you optimize spending, avoiding the costs of over-provisioned on-premises infrastructure.
• Flexibility and scalability: Cloud service providers offer near-instant scalability of resources. This allows your business to rapidly adjust to spikes in demand or launch new initiatives without being bottlenecked by hardware limitations.
• Enhanced disaster recovery and data redundancy: Cloud providers invest heavily in geographically distributed data centers and backup mechanisms. These measures significantly improve your disaster recovery capabilities and help protect your data against localized failures.
• Agility and innovation: Cloud platforms provide access to cutting-edge technologies like AI, machine learning, and powerful analytics tools. This enables faster innovation cycles and allows you to stay ahead of the competition without large upfront investments.

What are the main types of cloud migration?

There are several types of cloud migration strategies, commonly known as the “5 R’s”:

• Rehosting (Lift-and-shift): Rapidly migrate existing applications and data to the cloud with minimal modifications. Ideal for scenarios requiring a fast move or when immediate cost savings are prioritized.
• Refactoring: Optimize existing applications to leverage cloud-native features. This approach balances modernization with speed, unlocking initial cloud benefits like scalability and resilience.
• Rearchitecting: Reimagine and redesign applications for a cloud-first world. This strategic path maximizes long-term cloud advantages but may require greater investment and planning.
• Rebuilding: Develop applications from the ground up using cloud-native technologies. Best suited when legacy systems severely hinder innovation or when specific cloud capabilities are essential.
• Replacing (SaaS): Transition to third-party, cloud-based software solutions. Consider this for simplified management and predictable costs, especially if equivalent functionality is available.

Remember: The optimal strategy depends on your unique business objectives, application landscape, and desired outcomes. Insight can help you assess these factors and tailor the right migration approach for your success.

VMware migration–10 hot topics

1. Architectural approaches

When it comes to VMware cloud migration, it’s crucial to adopt a well-thought-out architectural approach. This means designing a plan that considers the unique requirements of your business, the compatibility of your applications with the cloud environment, and the necessary adjustments needed to make the migration successful. Insight experts can help you chart a path to an efficient, successful migration that minimizes disruption to your business. 

2. Program management

Migrating to the cloud is a complex process that requires efficient program management. This involves coordinating various tasks, setting timelines, and identifying potential challenges to overcome during the migration journey. Proper program management ensures that the process runs smoothly, minimizing disruptions to your operations.

3. Migration execution

Executing the migration is where the rubber meets the road. Following the carefully devised plan, your migration team along with oversight from our project management team will transfer your virtual machines, applications, and data from your existing data center to the cloud. This step requires precision, as even a small error can lead to downtime or data loss.

4. Data center consolidation and exit

Data center consolidation is the process of streamlining and optimizing your IT infrastructure, which often occurs during migration. It allows you to get rid of unnecessary hardware and improve resource utilization. Datacenter exit, on the other hand, involves decommissioning your on-premises data center once the migration is successfully completed.

5. Hybrid cloud deployment

For many businesses, a hybrid cloud approach is the way to go. This means integrating both on-premises infrastructure and cloud-based resources. VMware cloud migration can facilitate a seamless hybrid cloud deployment, enabling you to enjoy the benefits of both worlds–the flexibility of the cloud and the control of on-premises systems.

6. Desktop virtualization with VMware Horizon

VMware Horizon is a technology that enables desktop virtualization. It allows users to access their desktops, applications, and data from anywhere and on any device. Migrating a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment to Google Cloud on GVCE, for example, ensures that your teams can work remotely with the same level of efficiency and security as they do from the office.

7. Oracle on GVCE

For organizations running critical Oracle databases, moving them to Google Cloud on GVCE can be advantageous. This provides a scalable and reliable infrastructure to support your Oracle workloads while benefiting from the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the cloud.

8. Hybrid multi-cloud networking with NSX-T

Networking is a critical aspect of any data center, and it becomes even more important when you extend your infrastructure to the cloud. NSX-T is a VMware technology that enables software-defined networking (SDN) in a multi-cloud environment. This allows you to configure and manage your data center networking to extend to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) with ease.

9. Business continuity and disaster recovery

When you’re dealing with data and critical applications, ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery is paramount and VMware can help with secondary site consolidation as well. Insight’s architectural review will assess your current setup’s strengths and weaknesses, and vendor solutions like Actifio or HYCU can be implemented to enhance data protection and disaster recovery capabilities.

10. Modernization beyond Microsoft

If your on-premises infrastructure still runs on legacy operating systems, VMware cloud migration can offer a path to modernization. By moving from legacy-based on-premises platforms to Google Cloud, you can improve scalability, performance, and cost efficiency for your workloads.

VMware migration to the cloud is an exciting and transformative journey that can significantly enhance your business operations. Whether you’re virtualizing your data center, optimizing your network, enabling remote work with VDI, or modernizing your IT infrastructure, VMware and cloud technologies offer a world of possibilities. Proper planning, execution, and support from experienced professionals will ensure a smooth and successful migration, empowering your organization to thrive in the digital era.

Contact us to schedule a discovery call and start planning your VMware migration today.

Why are more companies migrating to the cloud?

The cloud revolution isn’t just about technology–it’s a catalyst for business transformation. Here’s why forward-thinking companies are embracing cloud migration:

• Fueling innovation: Cloud platforms unlock access to cutting-edge technologies like AI, machine learning, and big data analytics. These tools help you gain deeper insights, automate processes, and accelerate the pace of innovation.
• Enabling global growth: The cloud transcends physical boundaries. It allows your business to rapidly expand into new markets, deploy infrastructure in strategic locations, and deliver a consistent experience to customers worldwide.
• Maintaining a competitive edge: As cloud adoption becomes the norm, businesses that remain on-premises risk being left behind. Migration ensures you can match the agility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness of your cloud-powered competitors.

Remember: Cloud migration isn’t just an IT project; it’s a strategic decision with ripple effects throughout your organization. Insight can help you navigate this transition, tailoring a cloud strategy that aligns with your unique business goals and drives your digital transformation forward.

How to migrate to the cloud: key phases of the cloud migration journey

Embarking on cloud migration requires a structured approach. Here’s a breakdown of the essential phases:

• Assessment: During this discovery phase, you need a clear picture of your current environment, including applications, data, dependencies, and potential roadblocks. Insight’s expert assessments provide a detailed inventory and analysis, laying the groundwork for a successful migration strategy.
• Planning: A comprehensive migration plan is crucial for minimizing risks and ensuring a smooth transition. Insight works closely with you to develop a roadmap that outlines timelines, budgets, resource allocation, and defines success metrics tailored to your specific goals.
• Execution: The technical move of your assets to the cloud requires precision and expertise. Insight’s engineers leverage deep cloud knowledge and proven methodologies to execute your migration with minimal downtime and ensure everything functions as expected in the new environment.
• Optimization: Cloud migration is an ongoing process. Insight’s post-migration optimization services continuously fine-tune your environment for optimal performance, cost-efficiency, and security. This ensures you realize the full potential of your cloud investment.

Remember: Each cloud journey is unique.Insight’s expertise lies in tailoring these phases to your specific business objectives and ensuring a seamless, successful migration.

Key challenges in cloud migration

Cloud migration unlocks extraordinary potential for businesses–boundless scalability, unmatched agility, and a powerful foundation for innovation. However, this transformative journey isn’t without complexities.

Organizations must strategically navigate challenges like:

Security and compliance: Ensuring robust data protection and adherence to industry regulations is paramount, even in a dynamic cloud environment.

Integration challenges: Seamlessly interconnecting legacy systems with cloud-native technologies is critical for a smooth transition and to avoid operational disruptions.

Cost optimization and resource management: The cloud’s pay-as-you-go model promises cost-effectiveness, but requires careful planning and ongoing optimization to realize those benefits.

Remember: These challenges should fuel your determination, not hinder your progress. With a well-considered strategy and the right expertise, you can harness the transformative power of the cloud while confidently overcoming obstacles along the way.

The 6 biggest cloud migration challenges

Moving to the cloud comes with its set of problems; key among them is the issue of ensuring data security, reduction of downtime, and management of cost control, technical intricacy, staff training, and finding the right provider, among a number of others. Proper dealing with them is a very important condition for smooth transformation and maximizing the benefits from cloud technology.

Incompatible infrastructure between clouds

Legacy on-premises infrastructure is often built around physical servers, proprietary software, and customized network configurations. Cloud environments operate on virtualized resources, open-source technologies, and standardized network protocols. This fundamental difference necessitates careful planning to avoid performance bottlenecks or service disruptions during the migration.

To address these issues, Insight’s experts conduct a comprehensive compatibility assessment, identifying potential mismatches and recommending solutions. This could involve reconfiguring network settings, adapting applications to utilize cloud-native services, or implementing hybrid solutions that bridge on-premises and cloud environments, ensuring a seamless transition.

Lack of support for existing security policies

On-premises security relies on perimeter-based defenses, firewalls, and strict physical access controls. The cloud’s distributed nature demands a shift toward identity-based access management, data encryption, and continuous monitoring. Simply transferring existing policies without adaptation puts your data and applications at risk.

It’s important to understand the shared responsibility model of cloud security, ensuring that both you and your cloud provider have defined roles. Insight’s security experts can help you analyze existing policies, map them to cloud-native controls, and identify and address any gaps. This may involve implementing new security tools, reconfiguring settings, and providing your team with security best practices tailored to your cloud environment.

Migrating apps with dependencies

Modern applications are rarely standalone entities. They rely on databases, middleware, APIs, and interactions with other applications. Isolating and migrating these components without understanding their dependencies could lead to errors, downtime, or loss of critical functionality. Legacy systems can be particularly challenging, with outdated code or undocumented dependencies.

A meticulous dependency mapping process will help you uncover hidden relationships between applications and their supporting components. Leveraging specialized tools and expert analysis can assist you in creating a detailed migration plan that preserves application integrity and ensures everything works as intended in the cloud.

Cost of refactoring and rewriting apps

While some applications can move to the cloud with minimal changes, others might require significant refactoring or a complete rewrite to take full advantage of cloud scalability, resiliency, and cost optimization. These decisions impact development timelines, budgets, and the level of innovation you can achieve.

Insight’s experts can assess your application portfolio to identify the ideal migration strategy for each component. Our cost-benefit analysis helps you prioritize applications needing updates and determines the best approach (refactoring, re-architecting, or replacing) for maximizing ROI and aligning with long-term goals.

Lack of strategic planning

Approaching cloud migration as a purely technical project sets you up for disappointment. A successful transition demands a holistic strategy that aligns with business goals, defines success metrics, addresses budget uncertainties, and anticipates risk factors (like vendor lock-in or unexpected downtime).

We’ll collaborate with you to develop a detailed migration roadmap tailored to your needs. This plan encompasses technical considerations, business objectives, timelines, budgets, risk mitigation measures, and measurable outcomes. Our focus on strategic alignment ensures a smooth transition and maximizes value.

Staff efficiency

Cloud technologies require a shift in mindset and skillset for IT teams. During the migration, they might need to support both your legacy environment and the new cloud systems simultaneously, putting strain on resources and potentially impacting morale.

To address this, Insight offers targeted training programs to upskill your existing team, ensuring they are equipped to manage and optimize your cloud environment effectively. We also provide staff augmentation services when needed, bridging expertise gaps and easing the workload for your team during the transition.

Cloud migration tools

Navigating cloud migration without the right tools is like setting off on a cross-country road trip without a map or GPS. Cloud migration tools are essential for ensuring a smooth, efficient, and secure journey. They streamline the process, reduce complexity, and help you confidently unlock the full potential of your move to the cloud.

Let’s explore some top solutions, considering the the end of direct sales of VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC) by AWS:

Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE)

This fully-managed service allows you to seamlessly run VMware workloads on Google Cloud’s high-performance infrastructure. Key advantages include:

• Deep Google Cloud integration: GCVE offers native access to Google Cloud’s cutting-edge AI, Big Data, and analytics tools, allowing you to modernize your applications and unlock new innovation opportunities.
• Operational consistency: Maintain familiar VMware workflows and tools, minimizing disruption and accelerating your adoption of cloud technology.
• Global reach and scale: Tap into Google Cloud’s global network and robust security features for a highly reliable and secure cloud environment.

As a Google Cloud Premier Partner, we’re particularly bullish on GCVE’s potential. We can help you seamlessly migrate your VMware workloads to GCVE and unlock its full benefits while minimizing any disruption caused by changes in the VMware vendor landscape.

Azure VMware Solution (AVS)

Designed for Azure-centric organizations, AVS lets you migrate or extend your VMware environment to Azure without re-architecting applications.  Consider this option if your broader IT strategy heavily leverages Microsoft technologies.

VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC)

While VMC remains a functional solution for running VMware workloads on AWS infrastructure, recent developments require careful consideration. Broadcom, the current owner of VMware, has ended the direct sales of VMC by AWS. This means you’ll need to work directly with Broadcom or authorized resellers for future purchases and support.

In light of these developments, we recommend evaluating alternative solutions like Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE) that offer a secure and flexible path to the cloud while minimizing vendor lock-in.

Oracle Cloud VMware Solution (OCVS)

A customer-managed solution for organizations with an existing Oracle presence or specific requirements for running VMware workloads on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions

Provides both fully managed and self-managed VMware environments on IBM Cloud for a secure and high-availability solution.

VMWare Cloud Foundation (VCF)

Ideal for enterprises with extensive VMware deployments and complex hybrid cloud requirements. VCF offers a comprehensive platform for managing software-defined infrastructure across private and public clouds.

VMware HCX+ / VMware HCX

Simplifies workload migration with bulk application mobility, disaster recovery, and workload rebalancing capabilities. HCX is a versatile tool for moving a large number of workloads without disruption.

Process of cloud migration

Cloud migration is a strategic catalyst for transforming your business. It unlocks agility, flexibility, scalability, and cost optimization – all essential for thriving in today’s dynamic digital landscape. By carefully relocating data, applications, or IT processes from on-premises servers to the cloud (or even from one cloud to another), you gain a powerful competitive edge.  Let’s explore the essential phases for a successful cloud migration journey:

Before migration: laying the groundwork

Define your strategy

• Strategy development: Define clear goals, success metrics, and a cloud model (public, private, or hybrid) that aligns with your organization’s unique needs for flexibility, security, and cost optimization.
• Thorough assessment: Analyze your existing IT landscape, identifying applications, dependencies, and their readiness for a cloud environment. This lays the foundation for a successful migration plan.
• Cloud model selection: Explore the benefits and considerations of public, private, and hybrid cloud models. The right choice depends on your specific requirements for security, control, and cost-effectiveness.

Plan your migration

• Detailed roadmap: Create a meticulously detailed migration plan outlining timelines, resource requirements, task assignments, and contingency plans for potential risks. This proactive approach ensures a smooth and predictable journey.
• Tools and technologies: Carefully select the right tools and technologies to streamline your migration. Consider compatibility with existing systems, cloud provider integration, and features that support your specific migration needs.
• Pilot testing: Before launching a full-scale migration, conduct thorough pilot testing with a subset of applications to validate your processes, identify potential bottlenecks, and refine your strategy for optimal results.

During migration: Navigating the transformation

Prepare the organization for migration

• Prepare your team: Invest in targeted training for both IT staff and end-users to ensure they’re equipped to manage and thrive in the new cloud environment. This includes operational training, security best practices, and process updates.
• Change management: Proactive change management strategies are essential for seamless adoption and minimizing disruption. Communicate clearly, involve stakeholders early, and provide ongoing support to ease the transition.

Adopt the cloud environment

• Execute the migration: Meticulously carry out the migration according to your detailed plan–transferring data, adapting applications (rehosting, refactoring, or re-architecting as needed), and configuring your cloud environment.
• Testing and validation: Rigorous testing post-migration is crucial. Validate that everything functions as expected, with a focus on performance, security, and compliance with any relevant standards.

After migration: Optimize and secure your cloud environment

Secure and manage your workloads

• Security implementation: Prioritize security in your cloud environment. This includes implementing strong access controls, encryption, and utilizing cloud-native security features. Proactive patching and vulnerability management are crucial.
• Continuous monitoring: Establish ongoing monitoring with robust tools to track performance, identify potential security threats, and maintain compliance. Visibility is key to optimize your cloud environment over time.

Govern and cost optimize your cloud environment

• Establish clear governance: Develop and enforce governance policies that align with your business goals and risk tolerance. These policies guide cloud resource usage, access control, and compliance.
• Cost management: Implement proactive cost management strategies to track and control cloud spending. Leverage right-sizing, reserved instances, automated scaling, and regular cost reviews to ensure you get maximum value from your cloud investment.

Cloud migration steps: A strategic approach

While the cloud migration process can be complex, breaking it down into these key phases provides a clearer roadmap:

• Plan: Thoroughly assess your current IT environment, business goals, and cloud readiness. Analyze potential cloud providers, deployment models (public, private, hybrid), and develop a strategic roadmap with clear milestones.
• Build: Establish the target cloud infrastructure, configure networks, and prepare the environment for migration. Select and implement tools to streamline the process and address data security.
• Migrate: Execute the migration according to your plan. This may involve moving data, applications, and workloads in phases, with careful testing and validation before switching over production systems.

Success factors:

A successful cloud migration requires more than simply moving assets. Consider these aspects for optimal results:

• Workload suitability: Not all workloads are ideal for the cloud. Assess migration options (rehost, refactor, re-architect, etc.) based on individual applications and their business criticality.
• Risk mitigation: Identify and address potential security, compliance, or operational risks associated with the cloud. Develop contingency plans to minimize disruption during the transition.

Remember: Insight can guide you through each step of your cloud migration, offering tailored strategies and support to ensure a smooth transition that delivers the full benefit of cloud technology.