Migrating to the cloud has become a priority for businesses that want to cut costs, improve performance, and scale without the limitations of physical servers. Among all cloud providers, AWS remains the most popular choice because of its reliability, global reach, and wide range of services.
In this guide, we will break down the AWS migration process into five simple steps so you can understand how companies move their applications, data, and workloads to the AWS cloud. Let’s get started.
Table of contents:
What is Cloud Migration?
Cloud migration simply means moving your applications, data, and IT setup from on-premises systems to cloud platforms like AWS. Instead of running everything on physical servers inside your office or data centre, your workloads shift to cloud infrastructure that you can access from anywhere.
For most businesses, this move reduces hardware costs, improves reliability, and makes scaling much easier. Whether it’s a single application or your entire environment, AWS cloud migration helps modernise your technology without the limitations of traditional on-prem systems.
Benefits of AWS Migration
Moving to AWS offers a set of practical advantages that most on-premise setups struggle to match. Here are the benefits that make AWS migration a preferred choice for businesses of all sizes:
|
AWS Benefit
|
Why It Matters
|
| Lower Costs |
No hardware purchase or maintenance; pay only for what you use. |
| On-Demand Scalability |
Add or reduce resources instantly without downtime or upgrades. |
| Better Security |
Encryption, identity control, compliance, and a secure global network. |
| Higher Reliability |
Multi-AZ support keeps apps running even if a server fails. |
| Faster Development |
Launch, test, and deploy apps faster with managed AWS services. |
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AWS Migration Process
Migrating to AWS becomes much easier when you break it down into a clear, predictable process. Most organisations follow these five steps to move their data, applications, and workloads to the cloud smoothly.
1. Assess Your Current Environment
Start by understanding what you have: applications, databases, servers, dependencies, and usage patterns. This step helps you identify what should move to AWS, what needs optimisation, and what can stay on-prem for now.
2. Create a Migration Plan
Once you know your inventory, map each workload to the right migration approach. Define timelines, required AWS services, security needs, and potential risks. A simple plan up front prevents unexpected delays later.
3. Choose the Right Migration Strategy (6R’s)
Each application may need a different approach: rehosting, replatforming, repurchasing, refactoring, retiring, or retaining. This step ensures you’re not forcing every workload into the same path.
4. Migrate Your Data and Applications
Move your workloads to AWS using the tools that fit your plan: AWS DMS, DataSync, Snowball, or cloud-native services. During this phase, teams validate performance, test functionality, and fix any incompatibilities.
5. Optimise and Operate in the Cloud
After migration, fine-tune costs, security, backups, and performance. AWS gives you tools to automate monitoring, scale applications automatically, and keep your environment running efficiently.
AWS Migration Strategies
Every application is different, which means you can’t use the same migration method for everything. AWS groups migration approaches into six strategies, often called the 6Rs. These help you decide the most practical way to move each workload to the cloud.
1. Rehost (Lift and Shift)
Move your application to AWS with minimal changes. It’s fast, cost-effective, and ideal when you want a simple migration without redesigning your system.
|
Pros |
Cons |
| Fastest migration approach |
Doesn’t improve architecture |
| Minimal changes required |
May carry existing issues to AWS |
| Lower upfront cost |
Optimisation needed later |
2. Replatform (Lift, Tinker, and Shift)
Make a few optimisations, like switching to managed databases or containers, while keeping the app’s core architecture the same. Good for improving performance without a full rebuild.
|
Pros |
Cons |
| Improves performance with small changes |
Requires some engineering effort |
| Good balance of speed + optimisation |
May not suit complex apps |
| Reduces operational overhead |
Still not a full cloud-native design |
3. Repurchase (Drop and Shop)
Replace your existing application with a cloud-based alternative, often a SaaS tool. This works when your current software is outdated or not cloud-ready.
|
Pros |
Cons |
| Quick upgrade using SaaS tools |
Requires team training + adaptation |
| Lower maintenance |
Licensing costs may increase |
| Great for outdated apps |
Possible feature mismatches |
4. Refactor (Re-architect)
Redesign the application to take full advantage of the cloud, microservices, serverless, autoscaling, and more. This requires more time but offers long-term flexibility and better performance.
|
Pros |
Cons |
| Best long-term flexibility |
Most time-consuming strategy |
| Fully uses AWS-native capabilities |
High initial effort + cost |
| Ideal for scaling and automation |
Requires skilled cloud teams |
5. Retire
Identify old or unused components and shut them down. Retiring unnecessary workloads helps reduce costs and simplifies the migration.
|
Pros |
Cons |
| Reduces cost and complexity |
Needs careful evaluation of dependencies |
| Helps declutter legacy environments |
Risk of retiring something still in use |
6. Retain
Some applications may be too new, too risky, or not suitable for cloud migration yet. These can remain on-prem until you’re ready to revisit them later.
|
Pros |
Cons |
| Avoids unnecessary risk |
Delays modernisation benefits |
| Good for systems not cloud-ready |
Creates hybrid complexity |
| Allows controlled migration pace |
Requires dual management (cloud + on-prem) |
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AWS provides a set of tools designed to make cloud migration efficient, secure, and manageable. Each tool is built for a specific purpose, whether it’s moving servers, databases, or large datasets, and helps businesses reduce downtime, simplify migration workflows, and monitor progress effectively.
1. AWS Migration Hub
AWS Migration Hub serves as a central dashboard to track all your application migration projects in one place. It gives visibility into which workloads are migrating, their current status, and any issues that may arise.
- Purpose: Provides a single view for monitoring timelines, resources, and progress across multiple migrations.
- Use Case: Ideal for enterprises managing several workloads simultaneously, helping teams coordinate efforts, avoid delays, and stay on track.
2. AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)
AWS MGN is designed for lift-and-shift migrations, allowing entire servers to move to AWS with minimal downtime. It continuously replicates source servers to the cloud so businesses can migrate without disrupting operations.
- Purpose: Enables fast, reliable migration of on-premise servers to AWS while preserving application configurations.
- Use Case: Perfect for organisations that want to move entire workloads quickly without redesigning existing applications.
3. AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
AWS DMS helps migrate databases to AWS securely and with minimal downtime. It supports both homogeneous migrations (same database engine) and heterogeneous migrations (different engines).
- Purpose: Simplifies database migrations while minimising disruption to business operations.
- Use Case: Ideal for companies upgrading or modernising databases, moving to a more cost-effective engine, or consolidating multiple database systems.
4. AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)
AWS SCT automates the conversion of database schemas to different engines, reducing manual coding and errors. It is especially useful when migrating between database types.
- Purpose: Converts database schema and application code automatically for heterogeneous migrations.
- Use Case: Essential for migrations like Oracle → PostgreSQL or SQL Server → MySQL, saving significant time and effort.
5. AWS Snow Family (Snowcone, Snowball, Snowmobile)
The Snow Family provides physical devices to transfer very large datasets to AWS when network transfer is slow, unreliable, or impractical.
- Purpose: Moves massive amounts of data securely and efficiently to AWS, bypassing network limitations.
- Use Case: Perfect for petabyte-scale migrations, including backups, media libraries, scientific datasets, or archival data.
6. AWS DataSync
AWS DataSync automates and accelerates data transfers between on-premise storage and AWS. It’s designed for high-volume, recurring, or time-sensitive data movements.
- Use Case: Ideal for organisations that regularly sync structured or unstructured data to AWS storage services like S3, EFS, or FSx.
- Purpose: Handles large-scale file transfers efficiently with monitoring, automation, and error handling built in.
Conclusion
Moving to AWS gives your business the flexibility, scalability, and security that traditional on-premises systems often struggle to provide. By following a clear migration process, assessing your environment, picking the right 6R strategy, and using tools like Migration Hub or DMS, you can move workloads smoothly and efficiently.
Whether you’re modernising applications or shifting operations to the cloud, these best practices make the transition easier. Start your AWS journey and deepen your skills with our course on AWS, designed to help you apply migration strategies in real-world scenarios.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I know if my application is ready for cloud migration?
You can check cloud readiness by evaluating performance bottlenecks, dependencies, compliance requirements, and how tightly your application is coupled to on-premise systems. A readiness assessment helps identify what can move immediately and what needs redesigning.
2. What is the biggest challenge in migrating to AWS?
The most common challenge is understanding dependencies between applications and data. Without proper discovery and planning, performance issues or downtime can occur, his is why AWS recommends a structured migration framework.
3. How long does an AWS migration usually take?
Migration timelines vary widely. A simple lift-and-shift workload may take days, while large enterprise migrations spread across multiple systems can take months. The size, complexity, and chosen migration strategy all influence the duration.
4. Is AWS migration costly for small businesses?
Not necessarily. AWS follows a pay-as-you-go model, so small businesses often see cost reductions compared to maintaining on-premise hardware. Costs mainly depend on data transfer, storage choices, and how efficiently resources are used after migration.
5. Do I need to refactor my applications to move them to AWS?
No. Refactoring is optional. Many organizations start with rehosting (lift-and-shift) for a quick move and refactor later if they need better performance or want to adopt cloud-native features like serverless or managed databases.