📋 Prerequisites & Planning

Essential preparation steps for Azure migration success

🎯 Overview

Proper planning is critical for successful Azure migration. This guide covers prerequisites, assessment activities, and planning considerations for both Rehost and Refactor strategies.

✅ Prerequisites Checklist

🏢 Organizational Readiness

  • Executive Sponsorship: Secure leadership buy-in and budget approval
  • Migration Team: Assemble cross-functional team with defined roles
  • Training Plan: Ensure team has Azure knowledge and certifications
  • Change Management: Establish communication and change processes

🔐 Azure Environment Setup

  • Azure Subscription: Active subscription with appropriate service limits
  • Identity Management: Azure AD/Entra ID configuration
  • Networking: ExpressRoute or VPN connectivity established
  • Governance: Resource groups, tagging strategy, and policies defined

🛡️ Security & Compliance

  • Security Baseline: Define security requirements and controls
  • Compliance Requirements: Identify regulatory and industry standards
  • Data Classification: Classify data sensitivity and residency requirements
  • Backup Strategy: Define backup and disaster recovery requirements

💰 Financial Planning

  • Cost Modeling: Estimate migration and operational costs
  • Budget Approval: Secure funding for migration project
  • Cost Management: Implement cost monitoring and optimization
  • Business Case: Document expected ROI and benefits

🔍 Workload Assessment

📊 Discovery Phase 

flowchart TD
    A[Start Assessment] --> B[Inventory Discovery]
    B --> C[Dependency Mapping]
    C --> D[Performance Analysis]
    D --> E[Cost Analysis]
    E --> F[Risk Assessment]
    F --> G[Migration Readiness Score]
    
    B --> B1[Servers & Applications]
    B --> B2[Databases]
    B --> B3[Storage Systems]
    B --> B4[Network Components]
    
    C --> C1[Application Dependencies]
    C --> C2[Data Flow Mapping]
    C --> C3[Integration Points]
    
    D --> D1[CPU/Memory Usage]
    D --> D2[Storage IOPS]
    D --> D3[Network Throughput]
    
    style A fill:#e1f5fe
    style G fill:#c8e6c9

🔧 Assessment Tools

Tool Purpose Use Case
🔍 Azure Migrate Comprehensive discovery All workload types
📊 Azure TCO Calculator Cost estimation Financial planning
🛡️ Azure Security Center Security assessment Security baseline
⚡ Azure Advisor Optimization recommendations Best practices
📈 Azure Monitor Performance insights Current state analysis

📋 Assessment Criteria

Technical Assessment

  • Compatibility: Azure service compatibility
  • Dependencies: Application and data dependencies
  • Performance: Resource utilization patterns
  • Integration: External system integrations

Business Assessment

  • Criticality: Business impact and priority
  • Compliance: Regulatory requirements
  • Timeline: Migration window constraints
  • Resources: Available team capacity

🎯 Migration Strategy Selection

📊 Decision Matrix

Criteria Weight Rehost Score Refactor Score
🕒 Time to Market 30% 9/10 5/10
💰 Initial Cost 25% 8/10 4/10
🔮 Long-term Value 20% 5/10 9/10
🛡️ Risk Level 15% 8/10 6/10
🚀 Innovation Potential 10% 3/10 9/10

🧮 Scoring Calculation 

Rehost Total = (9×0.3) + (8×0.25) + (5×0.2) + (8×0.15) + (3×0.1) = 7.4/10
Refactor Total = (5×0.3) + (4×0.25) + (9×0.2) + (6×0.15) + (9×0.1) = 6.2/10

Recommendation: Consider Rehost for quick wins, Refactor for strategic applications.

📅 Migration Planning

🗓️ Migration Phases 

gantt
    title Azure Migration Timeline
    dateFormat  YYYY-MM-DD
    section Phase 1: Foundation
    Environment Setup    :done, setup, 2025-01-01, 2025-02-15
    Team Training       :done, training, 2025-01-15, 2025-03-01
    
    section Phase 2: Pilot
    Pilot Applications  :active, pilot, 2025-02-15, 2025-04-15
    Lessons Learned     :lessons, 2025-04-01, 2025-04-30
    
    section Phase 3: Migration Waves
    Wave 1 (Low Risk)   :wave1, 2025-04-15, 2025-06-15
    Wave 2 (Medium Risk):wave2, 2025-05-15, 2025-08-15
    Wave 3 (High Risk)  :wave3, 2025-07-15, 2025-10-15
    
    section Phase 4: Optimization
    Performance Tuning  :optimization, 2025-09-01, 2025-11-01
    Cost Optimization   :cost, 2025-10-01, 2025-12-01

📦 Migration Waves Strategy

🟢 Wave 1: Low-Risk Applications

  • Characteristics: Stateless, loosely coupled, dev/test environments
  • Strategy: Rehost for quick wins
  • Timeline: 2-3 months
  • Success Criteria: 95% uptime, <10% performance degradation

🟡 Wave 2: Medium-Risk Applications

  • Characteristics: Business applications with moderate complexity
  • Strategy: Rehost with minor optimizations
  • Timeline: 3-4 months
  • Success Criteria: Functional parity, improved monitoring

🔴 Wave 3: High-Risk Applications

  • Characteristics: Mission-critical, complex integrations
  • Strategy: Refactor or hybrid approach
  • Timeline: 4-6 months
  • Success Criteria: Enhanced functionality, scalability improvements

🎛️ Success Metrics & KPIs

📊 Migration Success Metrics

Category Metric Target Measurement
⏱️ Timeline Migration velocity 10 apps/month Applications migrated
💰 Cost Budget adherence ±10% of budget Actual vs. planned spend
🎯 Quality Success rate >95% Successful migrations
👥 Adoption User satisfaction >85% Post-migration surveys

📈 Business Value Metrics

  • 💡 Innovation Velocity: Time to deploy new features
  • 🛡️ Security Posture: Reduction in security incidents
  • ⚡ Performance: Application response time improvements
  • 🌱 Sustainability: Carbon footprint reduction

🔗 Next Steps

  1. 📋 Complete Assessment: Use the checklist to evaluate readiness
  2. 🎯 Select Strategy: Follow the decision matrix for strategy selection
  3. 📅 Create Timeline: Develop detailed migration plan
  4. 🚀 Start Pilot: Begin with low-risk applications

📚 Additional Resources

📅 Last Updated: May 2025
👥 Contributors: Cloud Solutions Architecture Team
🔄 Review Cycle: Quarterly