The 4 Stages of Cloud Migration
Cloud-first initiatives tend to follow these stages:
-
1. Lift and Shift
Move workloads “as-is” to the cloud—often oversized and unchanged to reduce risk. -
2. Cost Control
12–18 months later, sticker shock sets in. Teams scramble to reduce costs through audits, tooling, or even repatriation. -
3. Containerization
More mature organizations refactor for containers to gain efficiency and flexibility—requiring new skills, staff, or outside help. -
4. Cloud Native / Serverless
The final transformation: microservices, event-driven workloads, and infrastructure that stays “off” until needed.
Where SEs Drive the Most Value: Stages 1 & 2
While Stages 3 and 4 require dev-heavy re-architecting, Stages 1 and 2 are where Systems Engineers (SEs) have the biggest and most immediate impact.
Stage 1: Lift and Shift
What happens:
Workloads are moved “as-is” to avoid changing too much at once. They arrive oversized, outdated, and poorly aligned for cloud pricing models. What was harmless on-prem becomes costly in the cloud.
Why it happens:
- Fear of performance impact
- No baseline data
- No visibility into workload behavior
How SEs can help:
✔ Provide empirical VM performance data before migration
✔ Highlight unsupported OSes and poor-fit workloads early
✔ Recommend cloud-ready sizing and optimized configs
✔ Show what’s realistic—and what’s risky
Stage 2: Cost Control (a.k.a. The Panic Phase)
What happens:
After 12–18 months in the cloud, bills balloon. Finance steps in. Teams start hunting for ways to cut cost—after the damage is done.
Common reactions include:
- “Can we move workloads back on-prem?”
- “What tools can help us reduce costs fast?”
How SEs can help:
✔ Use workload assessments to right-size and identify waste
✔ Guide repatriation options (VCF, Azure Local, Scale Computing, Verge.IO, etc.)
✔ Provide visibility for smarter tradeoffs: optimize, retire, rehost, or replatform
✔ Replace panic with facts and a recovery plan
Bonus: Lasting Visibility
The most underrated benefit of using OneIQ? The visibility doesn’t expire.
- Full workload observability remains 24x7, 365 days
- Teams can revisit sizing decisions and track changes long after migration
- Both sides gain a shared, trusted view of infrastructure realities
It’s not just an assessment—it’s an ongoing resource.
Start Smarter. Save Later. Stay Aligned.
With OneIQ, SEs can:
- Guide organizations before Stage 1 becomes a costly mistake
- Prevent Stage 2 cost shock
- Provide lasting transparency and trust
- Cement their role as the advisor who adds value across the journey
Explore OneIQ’s Free Tier and start identifying savings in minutes.
