Choose a cloud migration provider by examining the proposed assessment, rehearsal, data validation, recovery and operating handover. Compare evidence for your workloads rather than a list of cloud logos. A credible plan identifies unresolved assumptions and explains how they will be tested before a migration date becomes a commitment.
Let’s plan your migration provider brief.
Bring your workflow, constraints and open questions. We’ll help you define the scope and work through the next decision.
Ask for a workload walkthrough
Use one representative business service during the evaluation. Ask the provider to trace application dependencies, identity, data, scheduled work and external connections. They can explain their assessment method without pretending to know details they have not inspected.
Check who will perform the work and who owns decisions. A proposal should distinguish the migration lead, business acceptance authority, data owner and ongoing support team. Establish which responsibilities remain with your organisation.
Compare providers using the same evidence request
| Area | Question to ask | Useful response |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | What must you inspect before estimating tightly? | Named inputs, unknowns and deliverables |
| Cutover | How will steps and decision deadlines be rehearsed? | Example runbook structure and acceptance gates |
| Data | How will completeness and correctness be checked? | Reconciliation method and exception ownership |
| Recovery | What happens after users write to the target? | Data-aware rollback or forward recovery plan |
| Cost | Which transition and recurring costs are excluded? | Assumptions with a clear budget boundary |
| Operations | Who receives alerts and maintains the platform? | Responsibility matrix and handover evidence |
| Exit | How can the customer operate without the provider? | Customer-controlled accounts and documented access |
Request examples that the provider has permission to share. Do not require confidential customer records as proof of competence; a clearly labelled demonstration can explain a method without being presented as a past result.
Investigate the proposed operating model
A migration can change who manages databases, certificates, backups and security updates. Ask whether the quote includes those tasks or only moves the workload. Confirm the support hours and who can authorise urgent changes.
Review account ownership and billing access before implementation. Your organisation should understand the arrangement for subscriptions, credentials and recovery access. If a managed service arrangement centralises control with the provider, make its responsibilities and exit procedure explicit.
Challenge certainty that has no evidence
A fixed migration weekend offered before inspecting data volume and dependencies is an assumption. Ask what would invalidate it. The useful response is a test or decision gate, not a more confident promise.
Use the migration cost inventory to give candidates a common basis for estimation. Use the cutover checklist to review their execution plan separately.
Provider selection questions
Do certifications prove the migration will succeed?
They can be relevant qualifications, but they do not replace a workload-specific plan, named delivery team and demonstrated recovery process.
Should we select the lowest quoted migration fee?
Compare the same scope first. Include customer effort, transition costs, unresolved dependencies and post-migration support before judging value.
Bring the common brief and decision criteria to a cloud migration consultation so the discussion can focus on your actual constraints.