Migrating Windows Workloads to the Cloud MARKET TRENDS REPORT
Executive Summary Three main factors are driving state and local agencies to move more workloads to the cloud than ever: the need for more flexibility and scalability, cloud first mandates, and remote employees’ needs. Disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic expose gaps in technology and organizational resilience, and prompt public-sector agencies to reconsider the importance of shifting more workloads to the cloud. By doing so, agencies can improve availability, cost-effectiveness, reliability and security while paving the way for greater operational and technological improvements. However, when it comes to moving Microsoft Windows workloads to the cloud, agencies often hit roadblocks. Most often, they cite concerns around complexity, cost and security. And that’s a problem, because for many state agencies, the majority of applications and workloads revolve around Windows. By hesitating to move Windows workloads to the cloud, agencies miss out on cost savings and reliability. More importantly, they overlook opportunities for modernization. Migrating Windows workloads to the cloud is often the missing piece in modernizing infrastructure and embracing new technologies and processes. To learn more about how state and local agencies can ease the migration of Windows workloads to the cloud, GovLoop teamed with DLT Solutions, the premier government solutions aggregator, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), the leading cloud service provider. This report discusses how to overcome potential roadblocks in migrating workloads to the cloud, and how to smooth the way.
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MARKET TRENDS REPORT
By The Numbers
41%
50%
57%
3rd
of state chief information officers say their states have a cloud first strategy for all new applications deployed to the cloud, when feasible
of Windows workloads in the public cloud run on AWS
81%
of government systems still run on premise
42%
of local governments have initiatives to move more services online to support their business community and residents as a result of COVID
Rank of cloud services as a priority for state governments in 2021, after cybersecurity and digital government
74%
of respondents say their agency holds onto outdated data centers longer than they should
The return on investment (ROI) that organizations experience over five years by running Windows on AWS
MIGRATING WINDOWS WORKLOADS TO THE CLOUD
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Challenge: Legacy Thinking Holds Back Windows Workloads As state and local agencies look for ways to improve performance, optimize costs and embrace a digital future, they are turning to the cloud for many of their applications, databases, infrastructure and services. Yet many are hesitant to do so with Windows workloads, which tend to remain on premise. As a result, agencies miss out on many of the availability, cost, performance and scalability benefits that cloud provides. In some cases, agencies are holding back because of concerns about complexity, security, and maintaining performance, reliability and availability. Sometimes they are concerned about changes in user access and application development. Often, agencies don’t believe it’s even possible to run Windows workloads in the cloud. And if they do think it’s a possibility, they
might have the misconception that Windows workloads will work only in Microsoft’s Azure cloud. Other concerns include: •
The portability of Microsoft licensing
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The expense involved in porting workloads
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Navigating multiyear enterprise agreements
As a result, many agencies simply keep their Windows workloads on premises — and forfeit the opportunity to take advantage of the efficiency and elasticity of a cloud platform, which can lead to better license utilization and lower infrastructure costs. It can also create long-term commitments that don’t align with the agency’s best interests and modernization plans.
Solution: Windows Workloads in the Cloud The truth is that it’s not only possible to move Windows workloads to the cloud, but it’s a path toward freedom of choice, lower costs and release from vendor lock-in. Once ported to the cloud, the benefits start to accrue rapidly.
More agencies are realizing the potential, and are at least considering the move. Top goals include: •
Improving the performance and reliability of the SQL infrastructure
A primary benefit is cost, but there are many others, too. For example, cloud platforms typically have tools to improve access to Windows services, such as Amazon’s FSx for Windows File Server, a fully managed, native Windows file system that provides shared file storage, or AWS Managed Microsoft Active Directory (AD), which doesn’t require agencies to synchronize or replicate data from an existing AD to the cloud.
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Mitigating the impact of Microsoft end-of-support on Windows and SQL Server 2008
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Speeding application development and allowing developers to tap into containers and serverless technology
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Improving security and compliance
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Optimizing total cost of ownership (TCO) for all Microsoft workloads, including AD, Dynamics, Exchange, .Net apps, SharePoint, SQL Server and Windows Server
Reliability also becomes a nonissue. For example, organizations running Windows on AWS averaged a 442% ROI over five years, experienced 98% less unplanned downtime and achieved a 56% lower five-year cost of operations, according to IDC.
The 6 Rs of Migration Here are options to consider when migrating Windows workloads to the cloud.
Rehost
The most common, this process involves moving applications from on premise to the cloud without modification. Although agencies may want fully cloud-native applications, this method, also called “lift and shift,” delivers a quicker migration and avoids a costly refresh cycle.
Re-platform
Similar to rehosting, this process moves applications to the cloud, changing a few components to better take advantage of the cloud.
Refactor or Rearchitect
This approach completely overhauls an application to adapt it to the cloud.
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Repurchase
When an on-premise application no longer fits an agency’s need or is incompatible with the cloud, this option decommissions the application and replaces it with a cloud-based version.
Retire
When an application is no longer needed, it is simply not migrated to the cloud.
Retain or Revisit
Because of issues related to data sovereignty, security or specific regulations, some workloads can’t be moved to the cloud. In these cases, agencies may decide to keep them on premise and revisit the decision at a later date.
MARKET TRENDS REPORT
Best Practices in Moving Windows Workloads to the Cloud Determining whether you are over-provisioning and overpaying for licenses is an art and a science. Before making any changes, it’s important to understand how you use your current Microsoft license entitlements and map them to organizational priorities. “License management has long been a challenge for enterprises, and if not managed well, license expenditures can balloon far beyond initial expectations,” said Brian Schoepfle, of AWS Worldwide Public Sector. AWS recommends starting with an Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA), which provides a rightsized, optimized view of an agency’s Windows workloads on AWS. Often, the results are eye-opening. It’s not uncommon for the results to show a 30% to 50% reduction in estimated infrastructure costs when rightsized, Schoepfle said. Find the right combination of expertise and cloud capabilities before moving forward. With a clear picture of the types and quantity of licenses required, the next step is choosing the right cloud provider. At the very least, evaluate cloud providers and their integration partners using these criteria: 1. Experience in migrating Windows workloads to the cloud 2. Technologies and service roadmap 3. Data security, governance and privacy policies, along with relevant certifications and standards 4. Reliability and performance AWS checks all the boxes. For example, its Database Freedom program provides agencies with an attractive set of incentives and tools, including a database migration tool to assess, rationalize and migrate. The AWS Schema Conversion Tool helps agencies determine the best target database engine, and the Database Migration Service helps agencies migrate databases to AWS. When measuring TCO on a Windows cloud migration, consider more than price. Understanding the TCO of a given workload requires gathering the total costs associated with delivering an application. Common pitfalls in undercalculating TCO include: •
Comparing the costs of only compute and licensing, leaving out other necessary services such as storage and networking.
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Omitting support costs, especially if your Windows Server or SQL licenses will be declared end-of-support within the time period of your TCO analysis, meaning those licenses will require expensive extended support agreements.
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Disregarding Microsoft Software Assurance (SA) costs when comparing AWS to Azure. SA can increase licensing costs by as much as 40%.
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Failing to compare competing platforms on a price-per-performance basis.
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Underestimating labor costs associated with hardware maintenance, server and database patching, and other administrative tasks.
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Assuming SQL Server Enterprise Edition is a requirement, or over-provisioning hardware for high availability and disaster recovery.
MIGRATING WINDOWS WORKLOADS TO THE CLOUD
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Case Study: Streamlining to the Core
For one organization looking to reduce costs and increase efficiency, the solution started with a full OLA workup, focusing on its Microsoft SQL Server enterprise licensing. The process, which took a few weeks, started with deploying a discovery tool to collect data and identify infrastructure configuration and usage patterns. The platform then analyzed the results and developed rightsizing recommendations based on actual compute, network and storage needs. It also identified SQL license edition, version and port utilization to produce in-cloud license recommendations. The OLA showed that the organization was paying for a lot of capacity it wasn’t using consistently. As a result, the organization moved its SQL Server virtual machines from an on-premises environment consisting of 516 cores to the cloud. This reduced the number of cores by 144, to 372. Typically, it can cost an organization $10,000 or more per core, per year. As a result, costs fell by 62%.
Many other public-sector organizations have seen similar benefits. For example, one agency chose to deploy AD as a service into the AWS GovCloud. This not only provided needed redundancy for AD, but has improved the performance of all agency applications running on AWS. In another case, a large defense agency migrated five applications consisting of 70 external interfaces, more than 200 virtual machines and more than 300 terabytes of data to AWS GovCloud in just 138 days — six weeks ahead of schedule. Since the migration, application performance and security have improved, and infrastructure management has become more efficient.
HOW D LT AN D AW S H E L P DLT Solutions is a top government solutions aggregator with a deep understanding of the cloud needs of the federal, state, local and education markets. As a Premier Consulting and Managed Services Partner for AWS, DLT provides architectural and technical direction for choosing the best cloud solutions, and dedicated professional services for installation, configuration, training and ongoing support.
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Working with agencies and a large partner ecosystem, DLT’s cloud solutions team can architect, deliver, manage and secure cloud solutions that fit each agency’s unique needs. With DLT and AWS, state and local government agencies have an experienced team they can rely on for all cloud-related needs. To learn more visit: dlt.com/aws
MARKET TRENDS REPORT
Conclusion It’s not only possible to move Windows workloads to the cloud — it’s an important step toward reducing costs, avoiding vendor lock-in, and improving reliability and availability. It’s also an important building block for agencies to achieve even greater gains, both technologically and operationally. Starting with an assessment, agencies will be armed with information they need to make an informed decision. For example, AWS’ OLA program helps agencies assess and optimize current on-premise and cloud environments based on actual resource use, existing licensing and application dependencies. With this information, agencies can build the right migration and licensing strategy, with the help of a government solutions expert. Migrations of any type take careful planning, but with the right partners and tools, projects move faster, with fewer errors, Schoepfle noted. The effort starts with an assessment,
followed by the migration phase. But it’s the third phase, focusing on modernization, that can make the biggest difference. Once everything has been migrated, customers can re-invest the resources they’ve freed up to start using modern, open source database engines, and experiment with containerization and serverless, event-driven architecture. Customers report experiencing an “innovation flywheel” when they begin migrating workloads to AWS. Customers that migrate Windows workloads to AWS benefit from a virtuous cycle of reclaiming time and money spent on undifferentiated heavy lifting, and using those resources to support continued migration and modernization efforts. Transformation takes time, so agencies should started soon, and in time, they will reduce the burden that costly and punitive license agreements place on them.
A B O UT DLT
A B OU T AW S
ABOU T GOV LOOP
DLT Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tech Data, the world’s leading end-to-end distributor of technology products, services and solutions. DLT is the premier government solutions aggregator that specializes in understanding the IT needs of the federal, state, local and education markets. We help simplify the process for independent software vendors, federal systems integrators and value-added resellers doing business in the public sector. Leveraging Tech Data’s end-to-end portfolio, an extensive array of public sector contract vehicles, and dedicated channel and enablement services, DLT provides government agencies and channel partners with the means to rapidly and cost effectively transform technology to achieve mission success. For more information, please visit www.dlt.com.
With over 2,000 government agencies using AWS, we understand the requirements US government agencies have to balance economy and agility with security, compliance and reliability. In every instance, we have been among the first to solve government compliance challenges facing cloud computing and have consistently helped our customers navigate procurement and policy issues related to adoption of cloud computing. Cloud computing offers a pay-as-you-go model, delivering access to up-to-date technology resources that are managed by experts. Simply access AWS services over the internet, with no upfront costs (no capital investment), and pay only for the computing resources that you use, as your needs scale.
GovLoop’s mission is to “connect government to improve government.” We aim to inspire public-sector professionals by serving as the knowledge network for government. GovLoop connects more than 300,000 members, fostering cross-government collaboration, solving common problems and advancing government careers. GovLoop is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a team of dedicated professionals who share a commitment to connect and improve government. For more information about this report, please reach out to info@govloop.com.
To learn more about AWS, please visit aws.amazon.com.
MIGRATING WINDOWS WORKLOADS TO THE CLOUD
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