Understanding providers
What are cloud migration service providers?
Cloud migration service providers are companies that plan and execute the move of an organization's applications, servers, databases, and files from on-premises data centers or another cloud into a target cloud platform. They supply the people, methodology, and tools to migrate workloads safely, then support them after cutover.
The work spans strategy and hands-on execution. Some firms focus on the early decisions, such as what to move and why, which is often sold as cloud migration consulting services. Cloud migration service providers carry the project through execution: building the target environment, replicating data, testing, running cutover weekends, and stabilizing systems afterward. Many firms do both.
Cloud migration service providers are professional services firms that assess, plan, and execute the migration of applications, infrastructure, and data to a cloud platform, including environment setup, workload and data migration, testing, cutover, and post-migration support.
The migration process itself, including the "7 Rs" strategies such as rehosting, replatforming, and refactoring, is explained in the cloud migration section of our main guide. This page focuses on choosing and working with the providers who carry it out.
Types of cloud migration service providers
There are five main types of cloud migration service providers: the cloud platforms' own professional services teams, global systems integrators, managed service providers, specialist migration firms, and independent contractors. The right choice depends on the size of the migration, the complexity of the workloads, and whether you want ongoing operations support afterward.
| Provider type | Strengths | Tradeoffs | Often fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud platform professional services | Deep product knowledge, direct access to platform engineering | Recommend their own platform; often focused on large customers; frequently work alongside partners | Large, complex migrations to one platform |
| Global systems integrators | Scale, program management, industry and ERP expertise | Higher rates; staffing layers; smaller clients may get less attention | Enterprise data center exits, multi-year programs |
| Managed service providers | Migrate and then run the environment; one relationship | Migration depth varies; watch for long operations lock-in | Mid-size organizations wanting ongoing support |
| Specialist migration firms | Focused expertise, senior engineers, faster decisions | Limited capacity for very large programs | Specific platforms, workloads, or industries |
| Independent contractors | Flexible capacity for defined tasks | No team depth, coverage, or accountability for outcomes | Small, well-defined migrations with internal leadership |
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
Well-known examples illustrate the categories. AWS Professional Services, Microsoft's consulting and deployment teams, and Google Cloud Consulting are platform-run services. Accenture, Deloitte, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, and several India-headquartered firms such as Infosys, TCS, and Wipro operate as large systems integrators. Thousands of smaller partners are listed in each cloud platform's partner directory. These names are examples only, not recommendations. Fit matters more than size.
What cloud migration service providers deliver
A full-scope cloud migration provider delivers discovery and assessment, a business case and migration plan, a secure landing zone, migration of workloads and data in waves, testing, cutover, a hypercare period, and decommissioning of old systems. Confirm which of these each provider includes, because quotes often cover only part of the work.
| Phase | What the provider does | What you should receive |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and assessment | Inventories servers, applications, databases, and dependencies; measures utilization | Application inventory, dependency map, readiness report |
| Business case | Estimates cloud costs, one-time migration costs, and savings | Total cost of ownership comparison |
| Migration strategy | Chooses an approach per workload (rehost, replatform, refactor, retire, and so on) | Workload-by-workload plan |
| Wave planning | Groups workloads into waves by risk and dependency | Wave schedule with owners and downtime windows |
| Landing zone | Builds accounts, networking, identity, security, and logging | Environment defined as infrastructure as code |
| Migration execution | Replicates servers, migrates databases and files, reconfigures applications | Migrated workloads, run logs |
| Testing and cutover | Tests functionality, performance, security, and backups; runs cutover | Test sign-offs, cutover and rollback runbooks |
| Hypercare | Provides intensive support after each wave goes live | Issue log and resolution report |
| Optimization and decommissioning | Rightsizes resources, removes old systems, closes data center contracts | Cost optimization report, decommission records |
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The landing zone step overlaps with cloud implementation services, and modernization work during migration overlaps with cloud development services. After migration, many organizations move to a managed operations or cloud security managed services arrangement.
Tools cloud migration providers use
Most cloud migration service providers rely on the cloud platforms' own migration tools for discovery, server replication, and database migration, sometimes supplemented by third-party tools. Ask which tools a provider will use, what they cost, and whether you keep access to the outputs.
| Platform | Discovery and planning | Server and database migration |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | AWS Transform, migration planning tools, partner assessment tools | AWS Application Migration Service, AWS Database Migration Service |
| Microsoft Azure | Azure Migrate discovery and assessment | Azure Migrate server migration, Azure Database Migration Service |
| Google Cloud | Migration Center | Migrate to Virtual Machines, Database Migration Service |
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Providers are also adopting AI-assisted tools. AWS, for example, offers AWS Transform, which uses AI agents to help with VMware, mainframe, and .NET migration and modernization tasks. These tools can speed up analysis and code conversion, but they do not replace testing, business sign-off, or experienced engineers. Very large data volumes may also require offline transfer devices or dedicated network links.
Cloud provider migration funding programs
AWS, Microsoft, and Google each run migration programs that can offset part of the cost of moving to their platform through credits, partner funding, or expert assistance. Programs are usually accessed through qualified partners, eligibility and amounts vary, and terms change often.
- AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP): a methodology built around three phases (assess, mobilize, and migrate and modernize), supported by AWS Professional Services, specialized partners, tools, and financial investments.
- Microsoft Azure Accelerate: launched in 2025 and now marketed as Frontier Accelerate for Azure. It combines expert help through Microsoft's Cloud Accelerate Factory, Azure credits, partner delivery funding, and training.
- Google Cloud Rapid Migration and Modernization Program (RaMP): combines assessment, migration planning, partner and Google expertise, and incentives for moving workloads to Google Cloud.
Incentives can meaningfully reduce migration costs, but they should not decide which cloud you move to. Choose the platform that fits your workloads, skills, and long-term costs, then ask every shortlisted provider which programs they can apply for on your behalf and what conditions come with them.
Buying migration services
When to use cloud migration service providers
Organizations typically hire cloud migration service providers when they face a deadline, lack in-house migration experience, need to move complex or business-critical systems, or want to reduce the risk of downtime and data loss during the move.
- A data center lease, hardware refresh, or colocation contract has a fixed end date.
- Virtualization licensing or support changes, such as those that followed Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, have made staying put more expensive.
- Critical systems such as ERP, core databases, or customer-facing applications must move with minimal downtime.
- Your team has not run a large migration before, or cannot spare the time from daily operations.
- An earlier migration attempt stalled or went over budget.
- You need to move quickly after an acquisition, divestiture, or merger.
Small, simple migrations, such as a handful of servers or a straightforward move to SaaS, are often manageable in-house with the cloud platforms' free tools and documentation.
How cloud migration service providers price their work
Cloud migration service providers usually charge a fixed fee for assessment, time and materials or fixed fees per migration wave for execution, and sometimes a per-server or per-workload rate for straightforward rehosting. The provider fee is only part of total migration cost.
Common pricing models
- Fixed-fee assessment: a defined discovery and planning phase, often the best way to start with a new provider.
- Per-server or per-workload pricing: common for simple lift-and-shift migrations where the work is repeatable.
- Fixed fee per wave: each wave priced once its scope is known, which limits overrun risk.
- Time and materials: used for refactoring, complex databases, or uncertain scope; ask for estimates and caps.
- Bundled migration and managed services: migration discounted in exchange for a multi-year operations contract. Read the operations terms carefully.
Costs beyond the provider's fee
- Running old and new environments in parallel during migration
- Cloud usage for replication, testing, and new environments
- Software licensing changes, since some licenses do not transfer to the cloud on the same terms
- Data transfer, network links, or offline transfer devices
- Third-party migration or backup tools
- Internal staff time for testing, decisions, and sign-offs
- Early termination fees for data center or hardware contracts
Rates vary widely by region and provider, so this guide does not quote figures. Ask each provider for a total cost of ownership comparison and a realistic month-by-month cloud cost forecast. For general service pricing models, see the pricing section of our cloud tech services guide, and for what drives the ongoing cloud bill, see our cloud cost guide.
How to choose cloud migration service providers
Choose among cloud migration service providers by checking proven experience with your specific workloads and target platform, verified partner credentials, a documented methodology with testing and rollback, the actual team assigned, security practices, post-migration support, and references from similar migrations.
Evaluation criteria
- Workload experienceAsk for migrations of similar systems: VMware estates, Windows and SQL Server, Oracle databases, SAP, mainframes, or custom applications. Experience with your hardest workload matters most.
- Platform credentialsCheck the provider's status in the official partner directories. AWS has a Migration and Modernization Competency, and Microsoft and Google Cloud offer migration-related specializations. Verify current status rather than relying on logos.
- MethodologyAsk for a sample migration plan, wave plan, cutover runbook, and rollback plan. Look for dependency mapping, rehearsals, and clear go/no-go criteria.
- TeamMeet the migration lead and architects who will work on your project, and ask how continuity is handled.
- Security and complianceConfirm how data is protected in transit and at rest during migration, how access to your environments is controlled, and experience with your compliance requirements.
- ToolsUnderstand which tools will be used, their costs, and whether outputs such as inventories and runbooks belong to you.
- Post-migration supportCheck hypercare length, optimization support, and whether operations support is optional or bundled.
- ReferencesSpeak with two or three recent customers of similar size, and ask about downtime, budget accuracy, and how problems were handled.
Example scorecard
A simple weighted scorecard keeps comparisons objective. The weights below are an illustration; adjust them to your priorities.
| Criterion | Example weight | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant workload experience | 25% | Recent, referenceable migrations of similar systems |
| Methodology and risk management | 20% | Documented waves, rehearsals, rollback, and go/no-go criteria |
| Team quality | 15% | Named, experienced leads committed to the project |
| Total cost | 15% | Transparent pricing with clear assumptions and exclusions |
| Security and compliance | 10% | Clear controls and relevant compliance experience |
| Post-migration support | 10% | Defined hypercare and optimization, optional operations |
| Credentials | 5% | Verified partner status and certified staff |
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
Questions to ask
- Which of our workloads do you consider highest risk, and why?
- What migration strategy would you use for each application group?
- How do you handle cutover failures, and have you ever rolled back?
- Which funding programs can you apply for on our behalf?
- What will our cloud bill look like after migration, and how confident are you in that estimate?
- What do we own at the end: inventories, runbooks, infrastructure code?
Red flags
- A firm timeline and price before any discovery work.
- Promised cost savings without an analysis of your actual usage.
- No rollback plan, or cutovers planned without rehearsals.
- Migration discounts that only make sense with a long, hard-to-exit operations contract.
- Cloud accounts or infrastructure code owned by the provider.
- Recommending one approach, such as full refactoring or pure rehosting, for every workload.
Writing an RFP for cloud migration services
A good request for proposal (RFP) gives every provider the same information and asks for comparable answers. Include your inventory, constraints, and goals, and ask providers to state their approach, assumptions, risks, team, timeline, and a detailed price breakdown.
What to include
- Business goals and deadlines, such as a data center exit date
- Current inventory: servers, applications, databases, storage volumes, and key dependencies
- Target platform, if already chosen, and any regions or compliance requirements
- Acceptable downtime windows and blackout periods
- Responsibilities your team will keep
- Expectations for hypercare and post-migration support
What to ask providers for
- Proposed approach and migration strategy by workload group
- Wave plan and timeline
- Assumptions, exclusions, and identified risks
- Named team members and their experience
- Tools to be used and their costs
- Pricing broken down by phase and wave, with change-request rates
- Relevant references and partner credentials
Contract terms that protect a migration
Migration contracts should define acceptance criteria for each wave, rollback responsibilities, downtime commitments, data handling, ownership of deliverables, hypercare, and exit terms. Settling these before work starts prevents most disputes.
- Wave acceptance: specific tests and sign-offs required before a wave is considered complete and invoiced.
- Rollback: who decides to roll back, how quickly, and who pays for the extra work.
- Downtime: agreed maintenance windows and consequences for exceeding them.
- Data handling: encryption, access controls, and deletion of any temporary copies.
- Ownership: inventories, runbooks, scripts, and infrastructure code belong to you.
- Hypercare: duration and response times after each wave.
- Exit: handover obligations if the engagement ends early.
For general contract guidance, see the contracts section of our cloud tech services guide.
Cloud migration service providers by business size
Small businesses usually need a specialist or managed service provider for a short, fixed-scope migration. Mid-size organizations often combine a specialist or regional integrator with platform funding programs. Enterprises typically run multi-wave programs with a systems integrator, the cloud platform's professional services, and several specialists.
Small businesses
Typical migrations include file servers, a few line-of-business applications, and email. Look for fixed-scope packages, clear downtime plans, and a provider who can also offer affordable ongoing support.
Mid-size organizations
Migrations often involve dozens to hundreds of servers, several databases, and integrations. A provider with strong platform credentials can help secure funding and bring repeatable methods, while your team keeps architecture and business decisions.
Enterprises
Large programs involve many waves, business units, and regulated workloads. Governance, a migration factory approach for repeatable workloads, specialist teams for complex systems such as SAP or mainframes, and clear division of responsibilities between multiple providers are essential.
Reference
Cloud migration service providers FAQs
What do cloud migration service providers do?
Cloud migration service providers assess your current environment, plan the migration, build the target cloud environment, move applications and data in waves, test, run cutovers, and support systems after go-live. Many also help optimize costs and decommission old infrastructure.
Who are the main types of cloud migration service providers?
The main types are the cloud platforms' own professional services teams, global systems integrators, managed service providers, specialist migration firms, and independent contractors. Each suits a different size and complexity of migration.
How much do cloud migration services cost?
Costs depend on the number and complexity of workloads, data volumes, migration strategy, compliance needs, and timeline. Beyond provider fees, budget for parallel running, cloud usage during migration, licensing changes, data transfer, and internal staff time. Cloud platform funding programs may offset part of the cost.
Can AWS, Microsoft, or Google pay for part of a migration?
Often, yes. AWS's Migration Acceleration Program, Microsoft's Azure Accelerate program, and Google Cloud's RaMP can provide credits, partner funding, or expert help for eligible migrations. They are usually accessed through qualified partners, and terms vary.
How long does a cloud migration take with a provider?
Small migrations can take a few weeks. Moving a portfolio of applications usually takes several months and is done in waves. Timelines depend on workload count, dependencies, data volumes, testing, and how quickly decisions are made.
What is the difference between migration consulting and migration services?
Migration consulting focuses on assessment, strategy, business case, and planning. Migration services carry out the move: building environments, migrating workloads and data, testing, and cutover. Many providers offer both, and some organizations hire different firms for each.
Should the same provider migrate and then manage our cloud?
It can work well because the provider already knows the environment, but it is not required. Keep the migration and operations contracts separate enough that you can change operations providers later, and make sure you own all accounts and documentation.
How do we reduce downtime during migration?
Use continuous replication so the final cutover only syncs recent changes, rehearse cutovers, schedule them in low-traffic windows, lower DNS time-to-live values in advance, and define clear go/no-go and rollback criteria.
Sources and further reading
Programs and tools in this guide are described in the following primary sources. Program names and terms change often, so check the current pages.
- AWS, Migration Acceleration Program (MAP)
- AWS Prescriptive Guidance, About the migration strategies
- AWS, AWS Transform
- AWS, AWS Application Migration Service and AWS Database Migration Service
- AWS, AWS Partner Solutions Finder
- Microsoft, Frontier Accelerate for Azure (Azure Accelerate)
- Microsoft, About Azure Migrate
- Google Cloud, Rapid Migration and Modernization Program (RaMP)
- Google Cloud, Migration Center documentation
- Google Cloud, Partner directory
About this guide
This guide is published by Crecso as an independent educational resource and is part of our cloud technology guide. Companies and programs are named as examples only; the guide is not affiliated with or sponsored by any of them, does not rank or endorse providers, and does not describe services offered by Crecso.
Last reviewed on . If you spot something that has changed, please let us know through our contact page.