What fascinates me about the tech sector is its rapid evolution and constant change. Post-COVID-19 pandemic, organizations are increasingly migrating to the cloud to drive innovation, agility, and cost savings. Per a survey, 58% of people surveyed said they are planning to migrate more workloads to the cloud in 2024, up from 44% who said the same in the 2023 survey. And by 2027, 70% of large companies will use cloud platforms to speed up business initiatives.
However, cloud migration is not a simple process. It is overseen by experts called solution architects—they supervise the entire migration process, from assessment and planning to execution and optimization. They ensure that cloud solutions align with business objectives, address technical and security concerns, and optimize costs and resources.
Let’s discuss more on cloud migration and the role of solution architects in cloud migration in the following passages.
Much like the architect of buildings, a solution architect is a technical expert responsible for designing and implementing comprehensive solutions that meet business requirements. They are the go-to people who bridge the gap between technology and business.
The responsibilities of a solution architect include designing and implementing solutions across multiple systems and technologies, developing and maintaining technical roadmaps and architecture plans, and collaborating with stakeholders to understand business needs and requirements. They ensure solution compliance with organizational standards and regulatory requirements, suggest a suitable cloud service provider based on the business requirements, oversee solution implementation, testing, and deployment, and continuously monitor and optimize the performance of the solution. A so
Solution architects differ from other IT professionals in their broad technical expertise, business understanding, and leadership skills. While system administrators focus on system maintenance and developers focus on coding, solution architects oversee the entire solution lifecycle, from understanding the problem to execution of the migration plan and in-between.
Cloud migration is the process of moving existing applications, data, and services from on-premises infrastructure to cloud-based platforms. Such projects involve transitioning IT assets to cloud services, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS), to leverage benefits like scalability, flexibility, and reduced operational costs. For example, after going all in on the cloud, Capital One, a bank holding company, achieved the following results:
However, cloud migration is a complex and multifaceted process that requires careful planning, execution, and optimization to ensure successful outcomes. The process typically involves four distinct phases: Assess, Plan, Migrate, and Optimize.
Let me clarify a thing or two. Cloud migration is a broad term. For example, moving from Microsoft Word to Google Docs is cloud migration. Or using Dropbox for sharing files. They are simple tasks and can be done by any tech-savvy individual.
But for bigger projects, the expertise of solution architects is vital to the success of cloud migration. While much depends upon the specific solution (data, application, security, infrastructure), the following are what solutions architects do at different phases of the project.
During the assessment phase, solution architects sit with stakeholders, identify business needs and objectives, and help align them with cloud migration goals. This involves understanding the organization’s strategic vision, market trends, and customer requirements. They assess existing IT infrastructure and applications, evaluate their condition, scalability, and maintainability, and identify potential bottlenecks, dependencies, and areas for improvement.
Additionally, they evaluate cloud service providers (CSPs) and their offerings, comparing their features, pricing, and security controls, and assess CSPs’ compliance with regulatory requirements, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2. There are many CSPs (AWS, Azure, GCP, IBM, etc.), and some of them are best for specific goals—the solution architect is the one who tells you which one you need to go with.
In the planning phase, solution architects develop a comprehensive migration strategy, outlining the scope, timeline, and resources required. They define migration milestones, identify potential roadblocks, and establish a change management plan. At the same time, they design cloud architecture and infrastructure that will align with business requirements and cloud best practices.
In this phase, they also prepare a plan that addresses security, compliance, and risk management concerns.
Moving on to the real deal. During the migration phase, solution architects oversee the migration process—the goal here is to ensure smooth transitions and minimal downtime, like Kellog’s Europe did. This involves coordinating with stakeholders, managing resources, and monitoring progress. Given the delicate nature of the process, in this phase, solution architects ensure data security and integrity and implement measures to protect data during transit and at rest. And of course, manage technical challenges and risks, and identify and resolve issues promptly.
It’s not over, even when the migration is complete. Next comes the optimization phase. In this phase, the cloud performance is continuously monitored and optimized to make sure that there is optimal resource utilization and cost efficiency. Solution architects, in collaboration with cloud engineers, identify cost-saving opportunities, apply cost optimization strategies and best practices, and ensure ongoing compliance and security. Most importantly, they see if there are any potential security threats and update security controls as needed.
Implementing data encryption and access controls, data profiling and analysis to identify data quality issues, data transformation, and mapping to cloud-based data models—these are some of the components of cloud migration. Then there are compliance requirements, applying security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection, and threat response. And did I talk about application interoperability?
Thus, it requires the deep expertise of solutions architects. Speaking of which, we are a staff augmentation agency connecting North American businesses with experienced solutions architects from the LatAm region. Here’s why you may—and should—consider hiring from the Latin American region.
If you have a cloud migration project and are looking for solution architects from LatAm, get in touch with us, and we will ensure you enjoy a smooth transition to the cloud.