Moving workloads to the cloud is one of the most consequential decisions an enterprise can make. Done right, it unlocks scalability, cost efficiency, and access to services that on-premise infrastructure simply cannot match. Done without a plan, it results in data loss, unexpected downtime, and bills that dwarf the original estimate. A structured cloud migration checklist removes the guesswork. It gives your team a clear sequence of actions, from auditing your current environment through to post-migration optimisation — so nothing critical falls through the cracks. This guide walks through 10 essential steps that Rapyder’s migration engineers use across every engagement, whether you are migrating a handful of workloads or a full enterprise data centre to AWS.
Read our complete AWS cloud migration guide.
What Is a Cloud Migration Checklist and Why Do You Need One?
A cloud migration checklist is a step-by-step framework that ensures every phase of your migration, from discovery and planning through execution and optimisation; is accounted for before, during, and after the move. Without one, teams routinely discover missed dependencies, forgotten compliance requirements, and over-provisioned resources only after go-live, when the cost of fixing them is highest.
Research consistently shows that up to 75% of cloud migrations face significant setbacks, most of which trace back to inadequate planning in the early phases. A checklist forces the discipline that prevents those setbacks. It aligns your cloud architects, security team, finance stakeholders, and business owners around a shared sequence of actions with clear ownership at every step.
For AWS migrations specifically, a checklist also ensures you leverage the right AWS-native tools: Migration Hub, Application Migration Service, Database Migration Service, at the right stage rather than retrofitting them mid-project.
The 10-Step Cloud Migration Checklist
Step 1: Assess Your Current Infrastructure
Before a single workload moves, you need a complete inventory of what you have. This means cataloguing every application, database, server, and network dependency in your current environment. Document current performance baselines, resource utilisation patterns, and, critically, the interdependencies between systems. A workload that looks simple in isolation may have ten downstream dependencies that break if it migrates without them.
During this phase, identify technical debt and legacy systems that may require re-architecture before they are cloud-ready. Flag applications nearing end-of-support, as migrating them as-is carries security risk. Use tools like AWS Migration Hub and AWS Application Discovery Service to automate discovery and generate a prioritised workload inventory.
Key questions to answer at this stage:
- Which applications are business-critical versus non-critical?
- Are there compliance or data residency requirements that constrain where workloads can run?
- What is the current total cost of ownership (TCO) of your on-premise infrastructure?
Learn about Rapyder’s cloud migration assessment services.
Step 2: Define Migration Goals and KPIs
Migration without measurable goals is migration without accountability. Before planning begins, define what success looks like in concrete terms. Common migration goals include reducing infrastructure costs by a specific percentage, improving application availability from 99.5% to 99.99%, cutting deployment time from weeks to hours, or retiring a data centre within a defined timeline.
Translate each goal into a KPI that can be tracked throughout the project. For cost reduction, set a target for monthly AWS spend versus current on-premise cost. For performance, establish baseline response times pre-migration and target improvements post-migration. These KPIs serve two purposes: they guide decision-making during the project (for example, whether to rehost or refactor a given application) and they provide the evidence your leadership team needs to validate the business case after go-live.
Step 3: Choose Your Migration Strategy (The 6 Rs)
Not every workload should be migrated the same way. AWS defines six migration strategies, commonly called the 6 Rs; that organisations use to determine the right approach for each application:
Rehost (lift-and-shift): Move applications to AWS without code changes. Fastest approach, minimal disruption, but does not leverage cloud-native features. Best for organisations with tight timelines or large portfolios of legacy applications.
Replatform: Make minor optimisations during migration — for example, moving a database to Amazon RDS without changing the application code. Gains some cloud benefits with moderate effort.
Refactor/Re-architect: Redesign applications to use cloud-native services such as serverless, containers, or microservices. Highest effort but delivers the greatest long-term performance and cost benefits.
Repurchase: Replace an existing application with a cloud-native SaaS equivalent. Common for CRM, ERP, and collaboration tools.
Retire: Decommission applications that are no longer needed. Reduces your migration scope and cuts costs.
Retain: Keep applications on-premise that are not yet ready for cloud or that have specific compliance requirements preventing migration.
Most enterprise migrations use a combination of these strategies across their application portfolio. The checklist step here is to assign a strategy to every application in your inventory before execution begins.
Step 4: Build Your Migration Team and Assign Roles
Cloud migration is a cross-functional effort. A successful project requires clear ownership across several disciplines. The core team typically includes a Cloud Architect (responsible for target architecture design), a Project Manager (timeline, dependencies, risk tracking), a Security Engineer (IAM policies, data encryption, compliance), a Cloud Developer (application changes and testing), and a System Administrator (infrastructure configuration and monitoring).
For organisations without in-house cloud expertise, engaging an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, such as Rapyder, can significantly compress timelines and reduce risk. AWS’s Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) provides funding, tooling, and partner support specifically to help enterprises offset the complexity of large-scale migrations.
Define an escalation path for blockers before migration begins. The majority of migration delays are not technical; they are organisational, caused by unclear ownership and slow decision-making.
Talk to a Rapyder migration expert.
Step 5: Design the Target AWS Architecture
With your migration strategy defined, design the AWS environment your workloads will land in. This includes setting up your Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) with appropriate subnets, security groups, route tables, and network access control lists. Configure your network connectivity, AWS Direct Connect for dedicated private connectivity, AWS VPN for encrypted internet-based access, or AWS Transit Gateway for managing connectivity at scale across multiple accounts.
Follow the AWS Well-Architected Framework to design a landing zone that is secure, reliable, and cost-optimised from the outset. Implement AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts and consolidate billing. Set up AWS Control Tower to enforce guardrails across your account structure.
Choose the right storage services for your workloads: Amazon S3 for object storage, Amazon EBS for block storage attached to EC2, and Amazon FSx or Amazon EFS for shared file storage. Define your tagging strategy at this stage, consistent resource tagging is the foundation of cost visibility and governance.
Step 6: Address Security and Compliance Before Migration
Security cannot be retrofitted after migration. It must be designed in before the first workload moves. Begin by evaluating your current security posture and identifying gaps. Map your compliance requirements, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, or industry-specific mandates, to the relevant AWS services and controls.
Implement identity and access management (IAM) using role-based access control (RBAC) with the principle of least privilege. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users. Configure AWS Key Management Service (KMS) for encryption key management and ensure all data is encrypted both in transit (TLS) and at rest.
Use AWS Artifact to access AWS compliance reports and AWS Config to maintain a continuous inventory of resource configurations and flag deviations from your security baseline. If your organisation operates in regulated industries such as BFSI or healthcare, consider engaging Rapyder’s managed security services to design a compliance-ready cloud architecture from the ground up.
Rapyder Managed Security Services for AWS.
Step 7: Execute Migration in Phases — Start with a Pilot
Do not attempt to migrate your entire application portfolio simultaneously. A phased approach reduces risk, allows your team to refine processes between waves, and gives stakeholders confidence through early wins.
Begin with a pilot migration using non-critical, standalone applications, systems with minimal dependencies and low business impact if something goes wrong. Run your migrated pilot workload in parallel with the on-premise version to validate that it performs as expected under real conditions. Only after the pilot passes validation criteria should you progress to production-critical systems.
Organise subsequent migrations into waves based on application complexity and interdependency. AWS Application Migration Service automates the replication and cutover of servers, significantly reducing manual effort and error risk during each wave. Use AWS CloudWatch to monitor resource utilisation and application performance throughout each migration wave.
Communicate migration timelines and any expected downtime windows clearly to all business stakeholders before each wave begins.
Step 8: Migrate Data with Integrity Controls
Data migration carries the highest risk of any migration phase. AWS provides a suite of tools to move data reliably at scale. Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for homogeneous and heterogeneous database migrations with minimal downtime. For large-scale data transfers; bulk datasets exceeding terabytes, AWS Snowball Edge provides physical data transfer devices that bypass network bandwidth constraints. For continuous, automated data movement between on-premise storage and AWS, AWS DataSync handles synchronisation and validation automatically.
Regardless of the tool used, implement validation checks at every stage: row counts, checksums, and application-level data integrity tests that confirm your migrated data matches the source. Document your rollback procedure before data migration begins so your team can revert quickly if validation fails unexpectedly.
Step 9: Test Thoroughly Before Cutover
Testing is the phase most commonly compressed under project timeline pressure. Resist this. Thorough pre-cutover testing is what separates successful migrations from the 75% that encounter significant post-go-live issues.
Run functional tests to verify that all application features work correctly in the AWS environment. Conduct performance tests, including load tests and stress tests, to confirm that auto-scaling is correctly configured and that the application performs at or above its pre-migration baseline. Validate security controls by running penetration tests against the new environment.
Test your disaster recovery and rollback procedures. In the event of an unexpected cutover failure, your team must be able to revert to the on-premise environment within a defined recovery time objective (RTO). Document test results and obtain formal sign-off from business stakeholders before proceeding to live cutover.
Step 10: Optimise Post-Migration
Migration go-live is not the end of the project, it is the beginning of the optimisation phase. In the weeks following cutover, your AWS environment will likely be over-provisioned relative to actual workload demand. AWS Compute Optimizer analyses utilisation metrics and recommends right-sized instance types, often revealing 20–30% compute cost savings achievable without any performance impact.
Implement Reserved Instances or AWS Savings Plans for predictable workloads to reduce costs by up to 72% compared to on-demand pricing. Switch eligible workloads to AWS Graviton-based instances for up to 40% better price-performance over comparable x86 processors.
Set up AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Budgets to monitor spend and alert on anomalies. Establish a regular FinOps review cadence — monthly at minimum — to continuously identify optimisation opportunities as your usage patterns evolve.
Rapyder FinOps Services for AWS Cost Optimisation.
Cloud Migration Checklist: Quick Reference Summary
For teams that want a rapid-reference version of the checklist, here is the complete sequence:
- Assess current infrastructure and catalogue all workloads
- Define migration goals and measurable KPIs
- Assign a migration strategy (6 Rs) to every application
- Build your migration team and define ownership
- Design the target AWS architecture and landing zone
- Address security and compliance requirements
- Execute a pilot migration before full rollout
- Migrate data with validation and rollback controls
- Test thoroughly — functional, performance, security, DR
- Optimise post-migration: rightsizing, Reserved Instances, FinOps
Common Cloud Migration Checklist Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced teams make predictable mistakes during cloud migration. The most common:
Skipping the dependency mapping step: Migrating an application without understanding its upstream and downstream dependencies is the single most common cause of post-migration failures. Dependency maps must be completed before wave sequencing begins.
Under-estimating data migration complexity: Moving databases is technically straightforward with AWS DMS, but validating data integrity at scale requires dedicated effort. Budget time for it.
Neglecting cost governance from day one: Without tagging policies and budget alerts configured before migration begins, cloud spend becomes opaque immediately after go-live. Set up cost allocation tags and AWS Budgets as part of your landing zone build.
Delaying security to a later phase: Security retrofitting post-migration is expensive and introduces compliance gaps. IAM, encryption, and network security controls belong in Step 6, not Step 11.
Ignoring team training: AWS environments require different operational skills than on-premise data centres. Build training time into your project plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long does a cloud migration typically take?
A: Timelines vary significantly by scope. A small organisation migrating fewer than 50 workloads can complete migration in 4–8 weeks with proper planning. A large enterprise with hundreds of applications typically runs 6–18 months in phased waves. Rapyder’s Migration Factory model delivers structured 90-day migration programmes for mid-market organisations.
Q: What is the biggest risk in cloud migration?
A: Data loss and extended downtime are the most operationally impactful risks. Both are mitigated through phased migration, parallel running during cutover, comprehensive pre-migration testing, and documented rollback procedures. Security misconfigurations — such as public S3 buckets or overly permissive IAM roles, are a common post-migration risk that pre-migration security design prevents.
Q: Should we use the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP)?
A: MAP is worth evaluating for any mid-to-large enterprise migration. It provides AWS funding, tooling credits, and access to approved migration partners (including Rapyder) that can offset 25–40% of total migration costs. The programme is structured around three phases: Assess, Mobilise, and Migrate.
Q: What is the difference between rehosting and replatforming?
A: Rehosting (lift-and-shift) moves applications to AWS without any code or architecture changes — fastest but delivers the least cloud benefit. Replatforming makes targeted optimisations during migration, such as moving to Amazon RDS, without changing the application codebase. Replatforming delivers meaningful cloud benefits with moderate additional effort.
Q: How do we choose the right AWS region for our workloads?
A: Region selection should be driven by four factors: data residency and sovereignty requirements (particularly for GDPR and India’s DPDPA), latency to your primary user base, availability of the specific AWS services your workloads require, and pricing (which varies between regions). For India-based organisations, AWS Asia Pacific (Mumbai) is typically the primary region, with AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) as the secondary.
Q: Can we migrate to AWS without downtime?
A: Most workloads can be migrated with minimal or zero downtime using AWS Application Migration Service, which replicates servers continuously before cutover and reduces the actual cutover window to minutes. Database migrations using AWS DMS with ongoing replication can similarly achieve near-zero downtime. Some applications with custom architectures or active write operations during migration may require a brief maintenance window.
Ready to migrate to AWS? Rapyder’s Migration Factory delivers structured, 90-day AWS migrations for mid-market enterprises, with guaranteed outcomes, a dedicated migration team, and AWS MAP funding support. Talk to our migration experts today.
