✓What You'll Learn
Cloud migration is one of the most consequential technology transformations a business undertakes — and one of the most frequently underestimated. This guide provides the complete strategic framework.
Cloud migration is one of the most consequential technology transformations a business undertakes — and one of the most frequently underestimated. The organisations that migrate successfully do so because they approach cloud migration as a business transformation project with a technology delivery mechanism, not a technology project with vague business benefits. This guide provides the strategic framework for planning a successful cloud migration in 2025 — from business case to hyperscaler selection to post-migration optimisation.
Why Cloud Migration Is Accelerating
Several converging factors are accelerating enterprise cloud adoption in 2025. On-premise infrastructure costs are rising as hardware refresh cycles coincide with supply chain pressures. The skills required to maintain legacy infrastructure are increasingly scarce and expensive. AI and advanced analytics capabilities — increasingly central to competitive advantage — are predominantly cloud-native. And the security posture of major cloud platforms now exceeds what most organisations can achieve with on-premise infrastructure investment.
The Cloud Migration Decision Framework
| Migration Approach | Description | When Appropriate | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rehost (lift and shift) | Move as-is to cloud VMs | Speed priority; technical debt acceptable | Low |
| Replatform | Minor optimisations during migration | Balance of speed and cloud benefit | Medium |
| Refactor/re-architect | Redesign for cloud-native patterns | Maximum cloud benefit; performance-critical apps | High |
| Repurchase | Replace with cloud SaaS equivalent | Commodity applications | Medium |
| Retire | Decommission the application | Low utilisation, high maintenance cost | Low |
The Five-Phase Migration Process
- Assessment: Inventory all applications, assess cloud readiness, identify dependencies, and estimate migration effort and cost
- Planning: Define migration waves, select migration approach for each application, design target cloud architecture, and establish governance
- Proof of concept: Migrate one low-risk, high-representative application to validate approach and build team capability
- Migration: Execute migration waves in priority order, testing thoroughly after each migration
- Optimisation: Right-size cloud resources, implement FinOps practices, and continuously improve cost and performance
After migration, see our guide on how to reduce cloud costs to ensure your cloud investment delivers the efficiency it promised.