Summary of Gilead Sciences' Journey of Migration from VMware On-Premises to AWS

Overview

1. Kaustubh Patil, an AWS Architect, introduces the session and discusses the importance of having clear business drivers for a successful cloud migration journey.

Gilead Sciences' Approach

1. Kevin Moulton, a Senior Director at Gilead Sciences, discusses Gilead's business and technical drivers for migrating to AWS:

   • Enabling data-driven decision-making
   • Improving developer productivity and deployment speed
   • Achieving sustainability goals by exiting on-premises data centers

2. Sean Riggenbach, another Senior Director at Gilead Sciences, talks about their migration strategy:

   • Started with a lift-and-shift approach for less complex applications
   • Gradually increased the complexity of migrated applications
   • Leveraged AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) and AWS services like Application Migration Service (MGN)
   • Focused on rightsizing compute and storage during the migration
   • Ensured continuous compliance for GxP (regulated) applications using AWS tools

Lessons Learned and Best Practices

1. Sean Riggenbach shares Gilead's lessons learned and best practices:
   • Importance of stakeholder engagement and executive buy-in
   • Benefits of using a vendor model with clear accountability (ProServe and Cognizant)
   • Leveraging AWS MAP credits to fund the migration
   • Optimizing costs and having a robust chargeback model
   • Importance of a robust decommissioning process and tackling technical debt
   • Emphasizing cloud training and skills development for application teams

AWS Resources and Support

1. Kaustubh Patil introduces the various AWS resources and support available to customers:

   • AWS Migration Evaluation: Rapid discovery, cloud economics, and readiness assessment
   • Optimization and License Assessment (OLA): Recommendations for compute, storage, and licensing optimization
   • AWS Professional Services: Automated frameworks, landing zone setup, and migration acceleration
   • AWS Managed Services: Operational support and technical expertise

2. Kaustubh summarizes the key areas for getting started with AWS:

   • Building a compelling business case for migration
   • Leveraging AWS tools and expert teams for assessment and planning
   • Accelerating the migration with automation and partner support
   • Utilizing AWS incentives and support programs