The 7 Rs of Cloud Migration – 7 Strategies Explained
Migrating to the cloud is a complex process that requires careful planning to minimize risks, optimize costs, and ensure operational continuity. The 7 Rs strategy provides a structured approach to help organizations determine the best migration path for each application, based on business goals, technical feasibility, and cost-effectiveness. Without a defined strategy, organizations may face cost overruns, performance issues, security vulnerabilities, and unnecessary complexity in their cloud environments.
Benefits of Following the 7 Rs Strategy
- Optimized Cost Management – Helps organizations avoid overspending by selecting the right migration approach based on application needs.
- Improved Performance & Scalability – Aligns applications with cloud-native features to enhance speed, agility, and flexibility.
- Reduced Complexity & Risk – Provides a clear roadmap, ensuring a smooth transition while mitigating operational disruptions.
- Faster Time-to-Value – Ensures that businesses can quickly leverage the cloud’s benefits without unnecessary delays.
- Enhanced Security & Compliance – Ensures migration strategies align with security best practices and regulatory requirements.
- Future-Proofing IT Infrastructure – Helps organizations modernize their applications and IT landscape, preparing them for long-term innovation.
7 Rs Explained
Organizations can use these strategies to migrate applications and workloads to the cloud effectively. Each strategy represents a different approach depending on the business needs, application complexity, and desired outcomes. Here’s an overview of the 7 Rs:
1. Retire
The first step in cloud migration is to evaluate the entire IT portfolio and identify applications that are obsolete, redundant, or provide little business value. Once identified, these applications are decommissioned, and any dependencies are either removed or transferred to other systems. This reduces the complexity of the migration and allows organizations to focus on moving only essential workloads to the cloud.
Pros:
Reduces IT complexity and maintenance costs.
Frees up resources for more critical applications.
Improves security by eliminating outdated systems.
Cons:
Requires careful dependency analysis to avoid disruptions.
May require migrating data or functionalities to other systems before retiring.
Some legacy applications may still have minor business needs, making retirement challenging.
2. Retain
In some cases, organizations may decide to keep certain applications on-premises due to compliance, security, or performance reasons. This involves assessing which workloads are best suited to stay in the current environment while planning for a potential future migration. The retained applications are often optimized or integrated with cloud services where possible, while a hybrid strategy may be adopted.
Pros:
- Helps maintain critical applications that are not yet cloud ready.
- Avoids unnecessary costs of migration for stable applications.
- Allows gradual transition without disrupting business operations.
Cons:
- May lead to increased maintenance and operational complexity in a hybrid environment.
- Does not provide cloud-native benefits like scalability and cost optimization.
- Requires ongoing reassessment to avoid technical debt.
3. Rehost (Lift and Shift)
Rehosting, also known as “Lift and Shift,” involves moving applications from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud with minimal changes. The process starts with assessing current workloads, selecting a cloud provider, and replicating existing systems in the cloud. This is the fastest migration approach and is ideal for organizations looking to move quickly without significant modifications. However, optimization for cloud efficiency is usually done post-migration.
Pros:
- Fastest and simplest migration approach.
- Lower upfront costs compared to rearchitecting.
- Minimizes disruption to existing applications.
Cons:
- Does not take full advantage of cloud-native capabilities.
- May lead to higher operational costs if workloads are not optimized post-migration.
- Some applications may not perform efficiently in a cloud environment without further adjustments.
4. Replatform
Replatforming involves moving applications to the cloud with some modifications to improve performance, scalability, or cost efficiency. Unlike a simple lift-and-shift, this approach allows for minor optimizations, such as switching to managed database services, using cloud-native storage, or automating some aspects of infrastructure management. The goal is to enhance the application’s functionality without completely rearchitecting it.
Pros:
- Balances speed and optimization, making it more efficient than rehosting.
- Allows organizations to take advantage of some cloud-native features.
- Reduces operational costs by using managed services.
Cons:
- Requires more effort than a simple lift-and-shift.
- Some legacy applications may still not be fully optimized for the cloud.
- Potential compatibility issues with certain cloud services.
5. Refactor (Re-architect)
Refactoring involves significantly modifying an application’s code and architecture to fully utilize cloud-native features such as microservices, serverless computing, and containerization. This approach provides long-term benefits in scalability, flexibility, and cost optimization. The process includes breaking down monolithic applications into modular components, integrating automation, and ensuring cloud-native security practices.
Pros:
- Maximizes performance, scalability, and cloud cost efficiency.
- Enables greater agility with cloud-native technologies.
- Future-proofs applications by making them more flexible and adaptable.
Cons:
- High upfront costs and longer migration timelines.
- Requires significant development and testing efforts.
- Potential learning curve for teams unfamiliar with cloud-native architectures.
6. Repurchase (Replace)
Repurchasing involves replacing an existing application with a cloud-based SaaS solution. Instead of migrating an on-premises system, the organization adopts a new cloud-based platform that offers similar or enhanced functionality. This is common for ERP, CRM, HR, and productivity applications. The process includes selecting a suitable SaaS provider, migrating data, and training users on the new system.
Pros:
- Reduces infrastructure and maintenance costs.
- Provides immediate access to cloud-native capabilities.
- Ensures automatic updates, security patches, and compliance management.
Cons:
- May require significant retraining for employees.
- Data migration and integration with existing systems can be complex.
- Limited customization compared to legacy or custom-built applications.
7. Rebuild
Rebuilding involves developing an application from scratch using cloud-native technologies and modern development frameworks. This approach is ideal for organizations looking to create highly scalable, resilient, and flexible applications optimized for the cloud. The process includes defining new application requirements, developing using cloud-based frameworks, and implementing DevOps practices for continuous integration and deployment.
Pros:
- Provides maximum flexibility and performance.
- Takes full advantage of cloud-native technologies.
- Allows the use of modern security and development practices.
Cons:
- Time-consuming and resource intensive.
- Requires skilled cloud development expertise.
- Higher initial costs before long-term benefits are realized.
The Need for Data Migration Tools
Cloud data migration tools play a crucial role in automating, optimizing, and securing the transfer of data from on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments. These tools help organizations streamline the migration process by reducing manual effort, minimizing downtime, and ensuring data integrity during the transition. Depending on the chosen 7 Rs strategy, different tools may be required. Data migration tools also offer features like data encryption, compression, and deduplication to enhance efficiency and security during the migration process.
Beyond facilitating data movement, cloud migration tools also help maintain business continuity and compliance. Many organizations deal with large-scale, mission-critical data that must remain accessible during migration. These tools enable real-time replication and minimal downtime, ensuring that applications continue to function seamlessly. Additionally, cloud migration tools support data validation and error checking, preventing corruption and ensuring consistency across cloud environments. They also assist with cost optimization by identifying unused resources and suggesting appropriate storage tiers and compute options.
ConvertRite from Rite Software
Migrating legacy applications to Oracle Cloud is often complex, risky, and expensive, with unexpected challenges in data conversion, business disruption, and implementation costs. However, ConvertRite eliminates these roadblocks, offering a seamless, zero-code, automated data migration solution that reduces implementation costs by 40% while ensuring higher data accuracy.
Built on Oracle PaaS and fully HIPAA-compliant, ConvertRite accelerates migration by automating data mapping, validation, and transformation, making it easier to move from PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, SAP, or Oracle EBS to the cloud. With integrated project lifecycle management, prebuilt templates, and advanced data validation, ConvertRite simplifies cloud integration and ensures a smooth, error-free transition. Backed by RiteSuite Tools, which also enhances post-implementation activities like Oracle SaaS Data Querying and Synchronization, ConvertRite is your trusted partner for Oracle Data Migration – effortless, secure, and future-ready.
Services
Products
Company
Copyright © 2025 Rite Software Solutions & Services LLC. All rights reserved.