Cloud migration has matured from "lift and shift everything" to nuanced portfolio strategies. After migrating 500+ applications across AWS, Azure, and GCP, we've refined our approach using the 6 Rs framework—updated for 2025 realities.
Rehost (Lift and Shift)
Move applications to cloud infrastructure without modification. Appropriate for stable applications nearing end-of-life, where refactoring ROI doesn't justify investment. Quick wins demonstrate cloud value while planning deeper transformations.
Caution: Lift and shift without optimization often increases costs. Right-sizing and reserved instances are essential follow-ups.
Replatform
Minimal modifications to leverage cloud services—migrating databases to managed RDS, replacing self-managed message queues with SQS. Balances speed with cloud benefits. Our warehouse management migration used replatforming to adopt managed PostgreSQL, reducing DBA overhead 60%.
Refactor (Cloud-Native)
Rebuild applications for cloud-native architectures: microservices, containers, serverless. Highest transformation value but longest timeline. Appropriate for strategic applications where cloud capabilities enable competitive advantage.
Unity Bank's core banking refactor enabled real-time processing impossible on mainframe architecture.
Repurchase (SaaS)
Replace custom applications with SaaS alternatives. CRM, HR, and collaboration tools often fit here. Evaluate total cost of ownership including customization limits and data portability.
Retire
Decommission applications no longer needed. Portfolio assessments typically identify 20-30% of applications candidates for retirement. Sunsetting unused systems reduces migration scope and ongoing costs.
Retain
Keep applications on-premises when cloud migration doesn't make sense: regulatory requirements, latency-sensitive workloads, or applications with years of remaining useful life.
Building Your Migration Roadmap
Assess each application against business criticality, technical debt, and cloud readiness. Prioritize quick wins that fund longer transformations. Sequence migrations to build organizational capability before tackling complex systems.
Cloud migration is a journey, not a project. The enterprises succeeding treat it as ongoing capability building, not a one-time event.