Cloud Digital Leader Why Cloud Technology Can Transform Business Practice Question
A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to Google Cloud. They want to reduce operational overhead while maintaining the ability to run the application without rewriting code. Which migration strategy should they use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Lift and shift (rehosting)
Lift and shift (rehosting) moves the application to VMs without changes, reducing operational overhead by eliminating data center management. Refactoring requires code changes. Replatforming uses managed services but may need modifications. Retiring removes the application.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Retiring
Why it's wrong here
Retiring is the decommissioning of an application that is no longer needed or is being replaced outright, but it does not involve migration to cloud infrastructure. In this scenario, the company is actively moving the app to Google Cloud, so retiring would eliminate the application entirely rather than relocate it, which contradicts the requirement to preserve the organization's application portfolio.
- ✗
Replatforming (lift, tinker, and shift)
Why it's wrong here
Replatforming, also called "lift, tinker, and shift," makes minor adjustments to the application's infrastructure, such as moving from a self-managed database to a cloud managed service like Cloud SQL, to gain benefits without a full rewrite. However, the company's goal is to minimize workload changes and operational overhead; replatforming introduces additional modifications beyond a pure lift-and-shift, making it a heavier effort than the desired straightforward relocation.
- ✗
Refactoring (rearchitecting)
Why it's wrong here
Refactoring (or rearchitecting) entails altering the application's core code and architecture, often transforming a monolith into microservices or adopting serverless patterns, which is the most time-consuming and costly migration approach. The question explicitly indicates that rewriting code is not desired, so this option directly contradicts the company's objective to avoid code changes and achieve a low-risk, low-effort migration to Google Cloud.
- ✓
Lift and shift (rehosting)
Why this is correct
Lift and shift (rehosting) involves copying the application and its data to cloud virtual machines, such as Google Compute Engine, with minimal or no modifications, preserving the current architecture and behavior. This approach reduces capital expenses and operational overhead associated with on-premises infrastructure while avoiding the risks and costs of code changes, making it the correct choice for this migration scenario.
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Cloud Digital Transformation
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
Key term
Google Cloud
Google Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides infrastructure, platform, and software solutions over the internet.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This GCDL practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the GCDL exam.