Have you ever heard about lift and shift migrations? Have you ever wondered what it takes to move your on-premises infrastructure, software, and applications to the cloud quickly and seamlessly? In this article, we'll explore some exciting case studies of successful lift and shift migrations that will make you rethink your migration strategy.

First, let's define what lift and shift is. As the name suggests, lift and shift is a migration strategy that involves lifting your entire on-premises infrastructure, software, and applications as is, and shifting them to the cloud without making any significant changes. This approach can be very appealing for organizations looking to minimize disruption and reduce cost while reaping the benefits of the cloud.

Without further ado, let's dive into some case studies of successful lift and shift migrations.

Case Study 1: Yelp

Yelp is a popular online platform that connects people with local businesses. In late 2016, Yelp decided to migrate its entire infrastructure to AWS using the lift and shift approach. The move was prompted by Yelp's need to improve scalability, availability, and performance while reducing infrastructure costs.

The process involved migrating over 100 services, including databases, load balancers, and storage to AWS. Yelp also used cloud-native services like Elasticache, S3, and Lambda to enhance the user experience and reduce operational overhead.

The migration was successfully completed in just nine months, with no downtime or major issues. Notably, Yelp was able to achieve cost savings of up to 40% by leveraging AWS's pay-as-you-go pricing model and access to reserved instances.

Case Study 2: C-SPAN

C-SPAN is a cable television network that broadcasts coverage of the US government proceedings. In 2016, C-SPAN experienced significant growth in viewership, which strained its on-premises infrastructure. As a result, C-SPAN migrated its entire infrastructure to the Microsoft Azure platform using the lift and shift approach.

The migration involved moving over 11,000 hours of video content, as well as all live streaming and web content to Azure. C-SPAN also used Azure's digital media services to enhance the user experience by providing better video quality and faster playback.

The migration was completed in just a few months, with no downtime or major issues. C-SPAN also experienced significant cost savings by leveraging Azure's pay-as-you-go pricing model and auto-scaling capabilities.

Case Study 3: Expedia

Expedia is a leading online travel company that operates in over 60 countries worldwide. In 2016, Expedia decided to migrate its entire infrastructure to AWS using the lift and shift approach. The move was prompted by Expedia's need to improve scalability, reduce infrastructure costs, and increase agility.

The migration process involved moving over 80 services, including databases, middleware, and applications to AWS. Expedia also used AWS's cloud-native services like Route53, RDS, and Elastic Beanstalk to improve performance and reduce operational overhead.

The migration was completed in just six months, with no downtime or major issues. Expedia was able to achieve significant cost savings by leveraging AWS's pay-as-you-go pricing model and access to reserved instances.

Key Takeaways

These case studies demonstrate that lift and shift migrations can be highly effective in terms of speed, cost, and ease of migration. However, it's essential to note that lift and shift is not always the best approach, and each migration strategy should be tailored to the organization's unique needs.

Additionally, organizations should plan carefully and consider factors such as security, compliance, and data integrity during the migration process.

In conclusion, lift and shift migrations are a viable option for organizations looking to move their on-premises infrastructure, software, and applications to the cloud as quickly and seamlessly as possible. By leveraging cloud-native services and the pay-as-you-go pricing model, organizations can achieve cost savings, improve performance and scalability, and maintain business continuity.

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