Cloud Migration Checklist: Moving from On-Premise to Cloud

Migrating from on-premise infrastructure to the cloud is a transformative undertaking that affects every part of your IT operations. The organizations that achieve the smoothest migrations are those that invest time in thorough planning before touching a single server. This checklist walks through the critical steps that Xcobean follows when helping organizations migrate, distilled from dozens of successful migrations across East Africa.

The assessment phase begins with a complete inventory of your current environment — every server, application, database, integration point, and dependency mapped and documented. For each workload, determine whether it should be rehosted (lift and shift), re-platformed (minor modifications for cloud compatibility), refactored (rebuilt for cloud-native architecture), or retired. This classification drives your migration timeline, cost estimates, and resource requirements. Equally important is understanding your data: volumes, sensitivity classifications, regulatory requirements, and acceptable downtime windows for each dataset.

Network and security planning deserves dedicated attention. Your cloud environment needs a well-designed virtual network with appropriate subnetting, firewall rules, and connectivity back to your office (via VPN or dedicated interconnect). Identity and access management must be configured before workloads move, with role-based access controls that follow least-privilege principles. If your organization is subject to the Kenya Data Protection Act or industry-specific regulations, map these compliance requirements to your cloud provider's controls and certifications before committing to an architecture.

Execution should follow a phased approach. Start with low-risk, non-critical workloads to build team confidence and identify unforeseen issues in a low-stakes context. Establish monitoring, alerting, and backup procedures in the cloud environment before migrating production workloads. Each migration wave should include a documented rollback plan — the ability to revert to on-premise if the migration encounters blocking issues. Post-migration, optimize your cloud spend by right-sizing instances, implementing auto-scaling where appropriate, and using reserved instances or committed-use discounts for stable workloads. The migration is not complete until your team is trained, runbooks are updated, and you have decommissioned the on-premise infrastructure you no longer need.