Ready to move your on-premise data centers to the public cloud? Reducing costs might be one reason you're prepared to make the switch. But you might also be wondering about the true cost and return on investment of AWS cloud migration.
Keep reading to find out what you can expect regarding AWS cloud migration costs and better understand the ROI of moving to the cloud.
Total costs will rise at the start of your cloud migration
It's essential to understand the typical arch of AWS cloud migration costs. In the beginning, most companies see that overall costs increase. But rest assured, that's totally normal. Why? Well, when you're first migrating to the cloud, you still have your on-premise data centers up and running and have to cover the costs related to that. And at the same time, you have costs associated with the AWS infrastructure. Optimally, you'll want to keep your on-premise data centers running for as little time as possible, but the transition period varies case by case.
After seeing this initial spike in costs, your total costs will decrease as you start refactoring and reap the benefits of the cloud. Plus, you will have depreciated all the capital expenditure from your on-premises.
Factor in the costs for all cloud migration phases
When calculating the costs of moving your on-premise data centers to AWS, be sure to take all cloud migration phases into account. The first phase is the migration assessment. It is when a partner will assess your organization's infrastructure, applications, and services. This phase sets you up for a smooth migration process and ensures your cloud environment will suit your organization's needs.
After gaining a clear understanding of your current situation, the next phase is mobilization. This is when a partner will make an in-depth plan on how to migrate, what to migrate, and when to migrate. Close cooperation between different teams and disciplines is crucial during this phase.
The final phase is completing the migrations and modernizations of your applications. Workforce costs are required for migrating and refactoring, and re-platforming your systems.
AWS cloud migration costs & ROI depend on how you get your applications to the cloud
Your return on investment for AWS cloud migration depends on the scale of migration and how it's done.
A lift and shift cloud migration will transfer all your assets from your data center as is to the cloud with minor modifications. This option is rather inexpensive and fast, but in the end, it's not actually saving you that much money. And you won't experience the many benefits of cloud like elasticity, having capacity, and scalability.
Spending a bit more time and money on cloud migration by doing application-level refactoring will cost you more, but you'll benefit a lot more in the long run. You'll be preparing your organization for the future and extending the lifecycle of your applications.
Due to time pressures, some companies might start with a lift and shift cloud migration but then begin focusing on refactoring and modernizing their applications when they have more time. In doing so, they maximize the value from the cloud.
Estimating the ROI of cloud migration is often central to your business and transition plans, but it's tricky to get right. To properly calculate ROI, you need to consider the full picture of both costs and returns. Returns may come in the form of cost savings or expected business outcomes from serving customers faster and better.
Don't compare a single on-premise server to an AWS compute resource
Do you feel like the cloud will actually cost you more than your on-premise data center? It might be because of the way you're comparing costs.
Comparing the pricing of a single on-premise server against an AWS compute resource that is similar in terms of processor or memory sizing—like AWS EC2—is like comparing apples to oranges. A huge range of costs comes with on-premise pricing, including data center premises, electricity, labour and workforce, insurance, heating or cooling, taxes, and more. But with AWS, all expenses are already factored into the total cost.
When you consider all costs, you might be surprised at how competitively AWS cloud computing is priced.
Working with an AWS partner can help you reduce cloud migration costs
Is bringing in an AWS partner to help with cloud migration worth it? One key reason companies work with partners is to gain the necessary AWS expertise. A partner will be able to advise you on what migration methodology works best for your organization. Many companies don't have this cloud migration expertise in-house, meaning it would be extremely expensive and slow for them to start acquiring that knowledge.
Bringing in an AWS partner who already has that knowledge and expertise can help alleviate this pain and mitigate cloud migration costs. Plus, you may be eligible for some financial support from AWS if certain conditions are met.
Not all cloud journeys are the same. Get in touch with us if you have any questions about how to get the most value from an AWS cloud migration.
Are you looking for cost savings in the cloud? We can help you identify meaningful opportunities and stay cost-effective over time, read more about cloud migration.
Autamme sinua tunnistamaan liiketointamahdollisuudet sekä pysymään kusstannustehokkaana, lue lisää pilvimigraatiosta.
