How to Migrate to AWS Cloud: A Step-by-Step Guide by OpsNexa

Cloud adoption is at an all-time high, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) stands out as the leading cloud provider for businesses seeking speed, scalability, and global infrastructure. If you’re considering moving your on-premises infrastructure or legacy workloads to AWS, you’re making a smart move—but success depends on a well-executed strategy.

In this guide, OpsNexa outlines exactly how to migrate to AWS Cloud, covering the migration lifecycle, tools, common pitfalls, and best practices.

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🚀 Why Migrate to AWS Cloud?

Before we dive into “how,” let’s understand why businesses choose AWS for their cloud journey.

✅ 1. Unmatched Global Reach

With 100+ Availability Zones across 30+ regions, AWS provides reliable, low-latency infrastructure wherever you operate.

✅ 2. Scalability on Demand

Scale compute, storage, and network resources automatically based on usage.

✅ 3. Flexible Pricing

Pay only for what you use, with options like Reserved Instances and Savings Plans to optimize costs.

✅ 4. Security & Compliance

AWS provides built-in encryption, identity management, and certifications like HIPAA, SOC 2, and ISO 27001.

✅ 5. Innovation & Integration

From AI/ML to IoT and analytics, AWS has 200+ services to modernize your IT stack.

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🧠 Pre-Migration Planning: The OpsNexa Approach

Successful AWS migration begins with comprehensive planning. At OpsNexa, we guide clients through the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) to ensure a structured, cost-effective move.

✅ 1. Assessment Phase

• Inventory of workloads, applications, and dependencies

• Cost analysis of on-prem vs. AWS

• Risk assessment and compliance requirements

• Migration timeline and cutover plan

Deliverable: A detailed migration readiness assessment (MRA) and cloud roadmap.

✅ 2. Mobilization Phase

• Define migration strategies per workload

• Setup of AWS landing zone

• Security framework and governance model

• Skill-building and change management

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🛠️ Migration Strategies (The “6 Rs”)

OpsNexa helps businesses choose the right AWS migration strategy from the following:

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📦 AWS Migration Tools

We use a combination of native AWS services and third-party tools depending on your workloads:

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🔄 Step-by-Step: How to Migrate to AWS Cloud

Step 1: Discovery and Assessment

• Audit all infrastructure and applications

• Categorize workloads by priority, complexity, and dependencies

• Identify quick wins (simple VMs) and critical workloads (ERP, databases)

Step 2: Set Up Your AWS Environment

• Create AWS accounts using AWS Organizations

• Configure Identity & Access Management (IAM)

• Establish a Landing Zone with VPC, subnets, route tables, and security groups

• Implement guardrails for cost, compliance, and security

Step 3: Choose a Migration Strategy

• For example:

  • Rehost SQL servers using AWS Server Migration Service (SMS)

  • Replatform Oracle DB to Amazon RDS for Oracle

  • Refactor legacy apps into microservices using ECS or EKS

Step 4: Migrate Workloads

We group workloads into waves to minimize risk.

🔹 Wave 1: Low Complexity, Non-Critical

• Dev/test environments

• Internal tools

🔹 Wave 2: Medium Complexity, Business-Critical

• CRM, internal databases

🔹 Wave 3: High Complexity, Customer-Facing

• Production apps, payment systems

For each wave, we:

• Migrate VM images, databases, or containers

• Test apps in staging

• Validate functionality and performance

Step 5: Cutover to AWS

Once validated:

• Switch DNS records

• Configure monitoring and alerts

• Enable auto-scaling and load balancing

• Decommission legacy infrastructure

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🧪 Post-Migration Activities

At OpsNexa, our job doesn’t stop after go-live. We support you with:

✅ Optimization

• Rightsize EC2 instances

• Use Savings Plans or Spot Instances

• Enable Cost Explorer and Trusted Advisor

✅ Monitoring & Security

• Set up CloudWatch, CloudTrail, AWS Config

• Integrate SIEM and audit tools

• Enable encryption, MFA, and backup policies

✅ Documentation & Handoff

• Architecture diagrams

• Knowledge transfer

• Disaster recovery playbooks

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🔐 Security & Compliance on AWS

AWS offers a shared responsibility model, where AWS manages security of the cloud, and you manage security in the cloud.

OpsNexa ensures your AWS migration aligns with:

• Data encryption (S3, EBS, RDS encryption at rest and in transit)

• Role-based access control (RBAC)

• Audit logging and real-time alerts

• Compliance frameworks (HIPAA, GDPR, ISO, SOC, FedRAMP)

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⚠️ Common AWS Migration Challenges (And How OpsNexa Solves Them)

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📈 Real-World Success: OpsNexa AWS Migration Story

Client: Healthcare analytics firm
Workloads: 45 on-prem Windows servers, SQL Server, file storage
Strategy: Lift-and-shift for servers, replatform SQL to Amazon RDS
Tools Used: AWS SMS, DMS, DataSync
Result:

• 99.98% uptime

• 38% infrastructure cost reduction

• Improved compliance posture (HIPAA, SOC 2)

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🎯 Why Trust OpsNexa with Your AWS Migration?

We’re more than just a migration vendor. OpsNexa delivers end-to-end AWS solutions tailored to your business:

• Certified AWS architects and DevOps engineers

• Structured MAP-based migration approach

• Dedicated project management and governance

• Post-migration optimization and 24/7 support

• Focus on business value—not just technical execution

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📞 Ready to Migrate to AWS Cloud?

Your journey to the cloud starts here. Whether you’re moving a single workload or your entire datacenter, OpsNexa is ready to make your AWS migration seamless and cost-effective.

👉 Contact us today for a free AWS migration readiness assessment.