What is the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (AWS MAP)?

The AWS Migration Acceleration Program (AWS MAP) is a dedicated program created by Amazon Web Services to help organizations move their infrastructure, applications, and data to the AWS cloud. MAP is designed for businesses of all sizes that want to minimize migration risks, reduce migration costs, and accelerate project times.

MAP is based on a three-phase approach that helps companies prepare for, execute, and optimize the performance of their resources in the cloud. The program includes technical support, financial support, and access to educational resources and tools to help achieve business goals.

Benefits of using the AWS MAP program

The AWS MAP program offers several benefits that make migrating to the AWS cloud easier and more cost-effective. Here are the most important of these:

1. Reduced cloud migration costs

AWS offers financial support for organizations that use MAP. This can include discounts on cloud services, as well as reimbursement of some of the costs associated with implementing a migration project.

1. Minimising risk

Migrating to the cloud carries certain risks, such as downtime, performance issues, or application incompatibility. With MAP, companies can benefit from AWS best practices, tools that automate the migration process, and technical support, significantly reducing the risk of failure.

1. Access to experts and resources

Under MAP, organisations have access to a broad knowledge base, tools and teams of AWS experts to help plan and execute migrations. The programme also supports collaboration with AWS partners experienced in large migration projects.

1. Achieve business outcomes faster

With a thoughtful approach and the use of MAP tools, companies can achieve their migration goals faster and reap the benefits of operating in the cloud, such as greater flexibility, improved efficiency and reduced operational costs.

1. Optimising cloud operations

MAP helps not only to migrate, but also to optimize the performance of applications and systems in the cloud. AWS offers tools and recommendations to maximise the potential of the cloud.

AWS MAP's three-phase approach

MAP is based on three main phases: assessment, planning and migration, and modernization and optimization. Each of these phases is crucial to the success of a migration project.

1. Assess phase

The first phase consists of assessing the organization's current IT environment and defining the business and technical objectives associated with the migration. The following activities are carried out in this phase:

• Analysis of the current IT infrastructure and applications.
• Assessment of the organization's readiness for migration.
• Development of a business case for migration (business case), including estimation of costs and potential savings.
• Identifying potential challenges and risks associated with the migration.

The assessment phase is crucial, as it allows a solid foundation to be laid for further stages of the project.

1. Planning and migration phase (Mobilise and Migrate)

The second phase involves detailed migration planning and implementation. In this phase, AWS and its partners assist in:

• Creating a detailed migration plan, taking into account business priorities.
• Using tools that automate the migration process, such as AWS Migration Hub, AWS Application Migration Service, or AWS Database Migration Service.
• Moving applications, data, and systems to the AWS cloud in a way that is secure and minimizes downtime.

Using proven methodologies and tools, companies can effectively manage the entire migration process.

1. Modernize and Optimize phase

Once the migration is complete, the modernize and optimize phase follows. Its purpose is to:

• Improve the performance of applications and systems in the cloud environment.
• Reduce operational costs by optimizing cloud resources.
• Leverage advanced AWS services such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or advanced analytics to increase business value.

Who can benefit from the AWS MAP program?

The AWS Migration Acceleration Program is available to organizations of all sizes, regardless of industry. The program is particularly recommended for:

• Companies that are planning to migrate large IT environments to the cloud.
• Organisations with limited experience in cloud migrations.
• Businesses that want to reduce the costs and risks associated with migration.

Examples of migration support tools in AWS MAP

There are a variety of tools and services available within MAP to support businesses at every stage of migration. Here are some examples:

• AWS Migration Hub - a central tool for managing the migration process.
• AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) - automates the migration of server applications to AWS.
• AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) - facilitates the migration of databases to the cloud.
• AWS Well-Architected Tool - helps you optimize your cloud environment for best practice.

Summary

The AWS Migration Acceleration Program is a comprehensive solution that supports organizations throughout the migration process to the AWS cloud. With a three-phase approach, financial support, and access to advanced tools, MAP enables businesses to migrate efficiently, securely, and cost-effectively. For businesses looking to maximize the potential of the cloud, MAP provides the perfect launch platform. If your business is considering migrating to AWS, using MAP could be the key to success.

Is your organization ready to migrate to the cloud? If so, focus with us to discuss funding opportunities to migrate your project to the cloud through AWS MAP!