Every successful migration we have delivered started with the same question: what must keep running if everything else fails? That answer drives prioritization, cutover windows, and rollback design.
1. Inventory and dependency mapping
Document applications, data stores, integrations, and operational runbooks. Hidden cron jobs and batch pipelines are the most common sources of weekend surprises.
2. Non-functional requirements
Capture latency, RPO/RTO, compliance boundaries, and peak traffic. These constraints determine whether you lift-and-shift, replatform, or refactor.
3. Landing zone and security baseline
Stand up VPC design, IAM roles, logging, and backup policies before moving the first workload. Retrofitting security after migration is slower and riskier.
4. Data migration strategy
Choose the right tool per datastore:
| Pattern | When to use |
|---|---|
| Dump and restore | Smaller databases with acceptable downtime |
| Replication / CDC | Near-zero downtime cutovers |
| Object storage transfer | Large static assets and backups |
5. Validation and hypercare
Define test cases that mirror production behavior, not just smoke tests. Plan a hypercare window with clear escalation paths.
Migration is a delivery program, not a one-time event. Treat readiness as the product — and the move becomes far less stressful.