In today’s digital-first world, cloud migration is not just a technology upgrade—it’s a strategic imperative for organizations seeking agility, innovation, and sustainable growth. Yet, for complex enterprises with legacy systems, regulatory requirements, and the need for uninterrupted business operations, the journey to the cloud can be daunting. Drawing on Publicis Sapient’s AWS Migration Competency, proven SPEED methodology, and real-world transformation experience, this playbook provides actionable guidance for CIOs and IT leaders navigating large-scale cloud migrations.
Publicis Sapient’s approach to cloud migration is rooted in the SPEED framework—Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, and Data & AI. This integrated model ensures every migration is aligned to business objectives, delivers rapid value, and sets the foundation for future innovation. The migration journey typically unfolds in four key phases:
A successful migration begins with a comprehensive assessment of your current IT landscape, business goals, and regulatory environment. This phase involves:
Best Practice: Invest in a thorough discovery process to avoid surprises later. For example, a leading global investment firm partnered with Publicis Sapient to assess and map their legacy workloads, laying the groundwork for a seamless migration of mission-critical web properties to AWS across 48 countries.
With a clear understanding of your environment, develop a detailed migration plan that includes:
Best Practice: Use proven accelerators and automation to minimize manual effort and risk. In the case of Chevron, over 200 data integration jobs were converted to cloud-native pipelines, enabling rapid, disruption-free migration and future scalability.
This is where the rubber meets the road. Orchestrate the seamless transition of applications, data, and infrastructure to the cloud by:
Best Practice: Prioritize business continuity. For The Children’s Place, migrating from a monolithic commerce platform to AWS enabled daily changes and on-demand tweaks to live sites, even during peak traffic, without downtime.
The journey doesn’t end at go-live. Post-migration, focus on:
Best Practice: Establish robust governance and continuous improvement processes. A global investment firm achieved 20% cost optimization and 75%+ enhanced application performance by focusing on post-migration optimization and site reliability engineering.
Legacy environments often have hidden dependencies and undocumented processes. Skipping a thorough discovery phase can lead to costly surprises.
Solution: Conduct a detailed assessment and engage cross-functional teams early.
Cloud migration is as much about people and processes as it is about technology. Resistance to change or lack of training can stall progress.
Solution: Invest in workforce transformation and agile ways of working. For example, Yellow Freight’s digital team adopted new agile practices, enabling faster, value-driven product delivery.
Failing to address security and regulatory requirements can expose the business to risk.
Solution: Integrate security and compliance into every phase, leveraging cloud-native tools and best practices.
Many organizations treat migration as a one-time event, neglecting ongoing optimization.
Solution: Establish a governance framework for continuous improvement, cost management, and innovation.
Cloud migration is a journey, not a destination. With the right strategy, methodology, and partner, even the most complex enterprises can unlock the full potential of the cloud—faster, smarter, and with confidence. Ready to accelerate your transformation? Connect with Publicis Sapient’s cloud experts to discover how we can help you achieve your boldest digital ambitions.