Description

This curriculum spans the equivalent of a multi-workshop technical advisory engagement, covering the same scope of activities as an enterprise-wide cloud migration program led by a cloud center of excellence, from initial readiness assessment through operational governance.

Module 1: Assessing Enterprise Readiness for Cloud Migration

Evaluate existing application portfolios to determine cloud suitability based on dependencies, licensing, and technical debt.
Conduct stakeholder interviews across business units to align migration priorities with operational continuity requirements.
Perform infrastructure inventory audits to identify on-premises systems with regulatory or data residency constraints.
Define workload categorization criteria (e.g., lift-and-shift, refactor, retire) using business criticality and technical complexity.
Assess internal skill gaps in cloud operations, security, and cost management to inform staffing or upskilling plans.
Establish baseline performance metrics for key systems to measure post-migration service levels.

Module 2: Cloud Architecture and Design Principles

Select appropriate cloud deployment models (public, private, hybrid) based on data sovereignty and latency requirements.
Design multi-account or multi-tenant structures using identity federation and role delegation patterns.
Implement network topologies with segmentation, DNS routing, and hybrid connectivity via Direct Connect or ExpressRoute.
Architect for resiliency using region and availability zone distribution while managing cross-region data transfer costs.
Integrate legacy authentication systems with cloud identity providers using SAML or OAuth bridging.
Define data classification rules to guide encryption, storage class, and access control decisions in cloud environments.

Module 3: Application Refactoring and Modernization

Determine when to decompose monolithic applications into microservices based on release cadence and scalability needs.
Migrate stateful applications by evaluating managed database services versus self-hosted solutions on VMs.
Implement containerization using Kubernetes or ECS while managing persistent storage and cluster autoscaling.
Refactor batch processing jobs to serverless functions with event-driven triggers and execution timeout constraints.
Integrate legacy middleware with cloud-native messaging systems like SQS, Pub/Sub, or Event Grid.
Manage application configuration and secrets using cloud parameter stores or dedicated vault solutions.

Module 4: Data Migration and Integration Strategies

Plan phased data migration using offline transfer appliances for large datasets with limited bandwidth.
Implement change data capture (CDC) mechanisms to synchronize on-premises databases during cutover windows.
Select managed database services based on engine compatibility, backup retention, and failover capabilities.
Design data pipelines using ETL/ELT tools with error handling, monitoring, and idempotency guarantees.
Enforce data consistency across hybrid environments using distributed transaction patterns or compensating actions.
Apply data masking or tokenization during migration to protect PII in non-production cloud environments.

Module 5: Security, Compliance, and Identity Governance

Implement least-privilege access controls using cloud IAM roles with just-in-time elevation and approval workflows.
Integrate cloud logging with on-premises SIEM systems using secure ingestion pipelines and parsing rules.
Configure encryption for data at rest and in transit, including customer-managed key rotation policies.
Map regulatory requirements (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR) to cloud service configurations and audit logging coverage.
Enforce network security policies using cloud-native firewalls, WAF rules, and VPC flow log analysis.
Conduct regular permission reviews and access certifications across cloud identities and service accounts.

Module 6: Cost Management and Financial Governance

Implement tagging standards for resources to enable cost allocation by department, project, or environment.
Negotiate reserved instance or savings plan commitments based on historical usage and forecasted demand.
Set up automated alerts for unexpected spending spikes using budget thresholds and anomaly detection.
Optimize storage costs by applying lifecycle policies to transition data to lower-tier object storage.
Compare TCO of cloud versus on-premises for specific workloads, including hidden operational overhead.
Enforce resource deprovisioning policies for non-production environments using scheduled shutdowns.

Module 7: Operationalization and Cloud Operations

Establish centralized monitoring using cloud-native tools with custom dashboards and alerting rules.
Implement infrastructure-as-code (IaC) using Terraform or CloudFormation with version control and peer review.
Design CI/CD pipelines for cloud environments with automated testing and rollback capabilities.
Define incident response procedures specific to cloud outages, misconfigurations, or account compromises.
Manage patching and updates for hybrid systems using configuration management tools with cloud integrations.
Conduct regular disaster recovery drills using cloud-based failover and data restoration processes.

Module 8: Governance, Change Management, and Optimization

Establish cloud center of excellence (CCoE) with cross-functional representation and decision authority.
Define service catalogs and approved technology stacks to reduce shadow IT and configuration drift.
Implement policy-as-code using tools like AWS Config, Azure Policy, or Open Policy Agent for enforcement.
Conduct quarterly architecture reviews to assess compliance with cloud best practices and cost efficiency.
Manage organizational change by aligning cloud adoption with performance metrics and incentive structures.
Iterate on workload performance using A/B testing, load simulation, and resource right-sizing analysis.