Cloud migration at enterprise scale is not only about moving resources from one cloud to another. It is about redesigning architecture, automating delivery, securing workloads, and ensuring business continuity.
At OpsTree Global, we had the opportunity to lead a full end-to-end migration from Microsoft Azure to Google Cloud Platform. This transformation covered infrastructure, CI CD pipelines, configuration management, microservices, middleware, and production database migration.
This project pushed us beyond our comfort zone and gave us deep hands-on experience with real-world cloud modernization.
Project Overview: Azure -> GCP Cloud Migration
This was a large-scale cloud transformation designed to modernize infrastructure, improve scalability, and enable future-ready DevOps workflows.
- Scope of Migration
- Infrastructure & networking
- CI/CD pipelines
- Configuration management
- Microservices (frontend & backend)
- Middleware & messaging systems
- Production database with minimal downtime
- Security & compliance
[Also Read: How Modern Leaders Streamline Data Pipelines for Faster and Smarter Decisions]
Infrastructure as Code with Terraform
We rebuilt the entire Azure infrastructure on GCP using modular Terraform for consistency, scalability, and repeatability.
Key Highlights
Designed reusable Terraform modules for GCP
-
Automated:
- VPCs & subnets
- IAM & service accounts
- NAT gateways
- GKE clusters
- Google Artifact Registry (GAR)
Implemented end-to-end Terraform CI/CD:
- terraform fmt
- terraform validate
- Security scans with Checkov
- Automated plan & apply
CI/CD Automation with BuildPiper (by OpsTree)
CI/CD was the backbone of this migration.
Using BuildPiper, we implemented pipelines for Terraform, containers, and microservices, enabling true zero-touch provisioning.
CI/CD Capabilities
-
Automated:
- Code linting
- Security & vulnerability scans
- Unit & integration tests
- Container image builds
- GKE deployments
Post-deployment health checks & validations
This drastically reduced manual effort and deployment risk.
[Good Read- Cloud Security in DevOps: Best Practices for Protecting Your Infrastructure]
Configuration Management with Ansible
To ensure drift-free environments, we relied on Ansible for configuration management.
What We Achieved
-
Modular Ansible roles for:
- OS hardening
- Agents & monitoring
- Secrets management
- Redis, OpenSearch & RabbitMQ provisioning
100% automated, consistent configurations
Integrated Ansible pipelines into CI/CD
AKS to GKE Microservices Migration
We migrated:
- 15 frontend microservices
- 12 backend microservices
from Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
Migration Strategy
- Redesigned:
- Service discovery
- Autoscaling policies
- Health probes
- Secrets & configs
Implemented rolling updates
Outcome: Zero downtime migration with stable production workloads
Middleware & Messaging Migration
The middleware layer required careful re-architecture for performance and reliability.
Migrated Components
- Redis -> GCP Memorystore
- OpenSearch & Elasticsearch -> GCP VM-based setup
- RabbitMQ -> GCP VM-based cluster
- Kafka:
- Migrated from AKS to VM-based Kafka cluster
- Tuned for throughput, latency & stability
Production Database Migration with GCP DMS
Database migration is always the most critical phase.
Our Approach
- Used GCP Database Migration Service (DMS)
- Enabled continuous replication to AlloyDB
- Executed minimal-downtime cutover
- Performed full data validation post-migration
Security & Compliance First
Security was embedded into every layer of the migration.
Security Practices Followed
- Restricted access & least-privilege IAM
- IP whitelisting & controlled ports
- Infrastructure compliance checks
- Container & dependency vulnerability scans
- Secure secrets handling
What I Learned from This Migration
This project significantly expanded my DevOps expertise:
- Multi-cloud architecture (Azure -> GCP)
- Advanced Terraform module design
- Enterprise-grade CI/CD automation
- Zero-downtime database migrations
- Large-scale microservices & middleware migration
- Production cutover troubleshooting
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