Done well, a cloud migration cuts cost and adds resilience. Done hastily, it causes outages and surprise bills. This checklist keeps your move to AWS, Azure or Google Cloud on track.
1. Assess what you have
Inventory your apps, servers, data and dependencies. Note what talks to what — hidden dependencies cause most migration pain.
2. Pick a migration strategy per app
Not everything moves the same way. Common approaches: rehost ("lift and shift"), replatform (small optimisations), or refactor (rebuild for the cloud). Match the effort to the value.
3. Choose the right cloud and services
AWS, Azure and Google Cloud each have strengths. Choose based on your stack, team skills and budget — and right-size resources so you do not overpay.
4. Plan security and compliance
Set up identity and access controls, encryption, and backups from day one. Decide data residency if that matters to you.
5. Migrate in stages with a tested cutover
Move in phases, test each, and keep a rollback plan. Use the DNS-TTL technique for a near-instant, low-risk switch-over.
6. Optimise after you land
Once live, review usage and cut idle resources, set budgets and alerts, and add monitoring so issues surface before users feel them.
Avoid the two big mistakes
- Surprise bills — right-size and set budget alerts before, not after.
- Outages — migrate in stages with testing and a rollback plan.
Nexgenz plans and executes cloud migrations with a zero-downtime cutover, cost right-sizing and optional ongoing management.