Cloud computing school teaches the six R’s of modernization: retiring, retaining, rehosting, re-platforming, refactoring and re-architecting.

The list flows smoothly, but the journey from retiring legacy applications to re-architecting for the cloud can be bumpy.

“The important thing to understand is that 80% of the tools that work on-premise do not work in the cloud,” said Anupam Sahai (pictured, left), vice president, chief technology officer and solutions engineer at Unisys Corp. “So, you have to understand the very nature of the cloud and deal with it differently,”

Sahai and Anu Ramraj (pictured, right), VP of cloud solutions management at Unisys Corp., spoke with David Nicholson, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed digital modernization strategies. (* Disclosure below.)

Cloud computing is a whole new bag of tricks

Dealing with cloud differently means learning a new skill set. Customers need to understand that the “three v’s” — velocity, volume and variety of data — are different in the cloud, according to Sahai.

“You need a new set of tricks to really harness the power of the cloud, to derive the benefits from increased security, lower cost of ownership, and innovation and agility,” he said.

While the benefits of migrating to the cloud are indisputable, balancing data security and compliance with access while keeping cloud costs under control can make the process seem like a high-wire act. Cloud configurations can be a weak spot when it comes to security, and companies need to make sure that everything is correct, according to Ramraj.

“In many cases, when you actually get your cloud configuration right, you’re probably more secure in the cloud, but it’s getting clients confident with that setup; that’s where the rubber meets the road,” she stated.

Understanding the new models that go alongside cloud – such as the shared responsibility for security – is also an area where customers need to pay attention. For example, Amazon Web Services Inc. may have excellent cloud security, but in most cases, “application security is completely the client’s responsibility,” Ramraj said.

Unisys works with clients to make sure they understand the shared responsibility model and that the different layers of the stack are all protected.

“Moving the needle on modernization” is Unisys’ goal, according to Ramraj. She defines modernization as “taking advantage of the innovation in cloud, whether it’s serverless or containers or AI, and bringing that to the client so that they can drive those business outcomes.”

First, a company needs to map its business objectives, then establish which of the six “R’s” marks their location on the modernization path. Then Unisys can work with them to assess what Sahai refers to as their “digital transformation posture” to gain a clear idea of the next steps the customer should take on their cloud journey.

“Whether you want to improve your security posture, whether you want to improve your cost of ownership posture, whether you want to go to the cloud and leverage DevSecOps to benefit from the innovation and agility, we can help you,” Sahai said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: Unisys Corp. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Unisys nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE