Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are two of the most popular cloud platforms. While both have their advantages and disadvantages, many AWS users are looking for a good AWS to Microsoft Azure migration strategy.
| “If you’re interested in moving to Azure, you’ll be happy to know that it’s designed to make the process simple!” – Jacob Saunders, EVP of Professional Services, Atmosera |
Generally, the process isn’t much different than most cloud migration strategies. However, some Azure tools can make the move from AWS much easier. In this article, we’ll provide an 8-step approach to migrating data from AWS to Azure. Our guide will also include some of the unique Azure features you can use to streamline the process.
Why Switch From Amazon Web Services to Microsoft Azure?
Although AWS is a powerful platform, there are many reasons why Azure is a better choice for some businesses. The biggest reason is that Azure provides deep integration with other Microsoft services and products, making it an attractive option for organizations that rely heavily on Microsoft software.
Additionally, Azure allows for more flexibility in how resources are deployed. AWS does offer hybrid cloud solutions, but Azure is a better choice for businesses looking for more flexibility in their hybrid setups. Azure Arc also enables users to deploy and manage applications across multiple environments, including on-premises, multi-cloud, and at the edge, using the same Azure management tools.
Furthermore, Azure Operator Nexus provides a strong advantage over AWS for organizations in the telecommunications sector or those needing advanced mobile network integrations. This service provides a platform for managing mobile networks directly within the Azure cloud.
The AWS to Microsoft Azure Migration Process in 8 Steps
1. Set Your Goals
Begin by thoroughly evaluating your current AWS infrastructure to understand the applications, data, and services you’re currently utilizing. Then, set your Azure goals based on what you’re currently doing in AWS. Consider both what you want to keep doing in your Azure environment and what you would like to be doing that you’re unable to do in AWS.
2. Select Your Azure Services
Azure offers a wide array of services, so it’s important to establish which ones you’ll be using well before your migration. Try to match your current AWS services with their Azure equivalents or find better alternatives that Azure offers.
If you already know which AWS services you want to preserve, here is an overview of the Azure equivalents.
| AWS Service | Azure Equivalent |
| Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) | Azure Virtual Machines |
| Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) | Azure Blob Storage |
| Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) | Azure Virtual Network |
| Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) | Azure SQL Database |
| AWS Lambda | Azure Functions |
| Amazon CloudFront | Azure Front Door |
| Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) | Azure Container Apps |
| Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) | Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) |
| AWS Fargate | Azure Container Apps |
| AWS Batch | Azure Batch |
| Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service) | Azure Service Bus |
| AWS SQS (Simple Queue Service) | Azure Queue Storage |
| AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) | Microsoft Entra ID |
| AWS Directory Service | Microsoft Entra Domain Services |
| AWS CloudTrail | Azure Monitor (Activity Log) |
| AWS CloudFormation | Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates |
| AWS CloudWatch | Azure Monitor |
| Amazon DynamoDB | Azure Cosmos DB |
| AWS CodeDeploy | Azure DevOps |
| Amazon Redshift | Azure Synapse Analytics (formerly SQL Data Warehouse) |
| AWS KMS (Key Management Service) | Azure Key Vault |
| Amazon MQ | Azure Service Bus |
| AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall) | Azure Web Application Firewall |
| Amazon Route 53 | Azure DNS |
| AWS Shield | Azure DDoS Protection Service |
| Amazon Glacier | Azure Archive Blob Storage |
| AWS Direct Connect | Azure ExpressRoute |
| AWS Certificate Manager | Azure App Service Certificates |
| AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Azure App Service |
| AWS Step Functions | Azure Logic Apps |
| AWS Config | Azure Monitor Change Analysis |
| AWS Secrets Manager | Azure Key Vault |
| Amazon DocumentDB | Azure Cosmos DB |
| Amazon SimpleDB | Azure Cosmos DB |
| AWS Data Pipeline | Azure Data Factory |
| AWS Transfer for SFTP | Azure Blob Storage with SFTP support |
| AWS Managed Microsoft AD | Microsoft Entra Domain Services |
| AWS CodeCommit | Azure DevOps |
| AWS CodePipeline | Azure DevOps |
| AWS CodeBuild | Azure DevOps Pipeline |
| Amazon GuardDuty | Microsoft Sentinel |
| AWS Inspector | Microsoft Defender for Cloud |
| AWS Systems Manager | Azure Automation / Azure Update Management / Azure VM Inventory / Automation Hybrid Connector / Azure Monitor |
| Amazon Macie | Microsoft Purview |
| AWS Personal Health Dashboard | Azure Resource Health |
| Amazon WorkSpaces | Azure Virtual Desktop |
3. Optimize Your Resources
You may have to optimize and re-architect some cloud resources to ensure they will fit the Azure platform. Fortunately, Azure provides serverless computing, PaaS, resource rightsizing, and containerization services to help you with this task.
Here is how each of these services can help you optimize your Azure resources.
- Serverless computing: This service allows you to run code without managing servers, which can scale automatically and reduce your Azure costs.
- PaaS (Platform as a Service): PaaS offers a complete development and deployment environment in Azure. It helps you to build, deploy, and manage applications more efficiently.
- Resource rightsizing: This service adjusts your resources to fit your workload requirements more closely.
- Containerization: Containerization isolates applications into containers, making it easier to manage and scale applications across different environments.
4. Plan Your Migration
Take time to outline how you plan to perform your migration. Most common migration strategies such as lift-and-shift, replatforming, etc. will work just as well for an AWS to Azure migration as they will for any other cloud migration. The strategy you should choose is more so based on your business needs than your cloud services. The most important thing is that you conduct a detailed migration assessment and plan ahead before you start moving data.
Learn More About Migrating to a New Cloud Platform: |
5. Perform a Pre-Migration Test
Before migrating any data or applications, test your migration strategy in a controlled environment. This can help identify potential issues before they impact your production environment. For instance, testing gives you a chance to refine your migration plan or chosen services if you discover that something doesn’t fit your infrastructure.
6. Migrate Your Data
Perform the actual data transfer and application deployment using tools like Azure Site Recovery, the Azure Migrate Tool, or Azure Database Migration Service. These tools will make it much easier to migrate applications and data to Azure with minimal downtime. Here’s how.
| Azure Site Recovery | Capable of replicating your AWS workloads on Azure which supports business continuity during your migration. |
| Azure Migrate – Cloud Migration Tool | Streamlines the migration process by assessing web apps, VMs, and databases to aid migration planning. |
| Azure Database Migration Service | Provides a seamless database migration experience with minimal impact on operations. |
7. Train Your Team
Equip your team with the knowledge and skills necessary for managing the Azure environment. If you have cloud managers who were responsible for your AWS server, retraining them for Azure shouldn’t be too difficult.
8. Monitor & Manage
Continuously monitor and manage your Azure resources post-migration. This involves using Azure’s monitoring tools to ensure your applications perform as expected and adjusting resources to optimize costs.
The advantages of Azure greatly outweigh the risks, but you can never take cloud security for granted. For example, user interfaces and APIs connect to everything which makes them attractive targets for attacks. Yet, the cloud’s complexity can hide these threats.
Regular Azure monitoring helps you make these hidden threats known.
Streamline Your Azure Migration Project With Expert Help
If you’re ready to move your AWS applications to Azure, working with Azure migration consultants can help make the process quicker and easier.
Atmosera’s migration experts can help you through your planning, migration, and launch phases. After you’re all set up, we’ll continue to work with you to ensure you continually get the most out of your Azure environment.