Moving email, files and business applications to the cloud can lower costs and make remote work easier, but only if the move is planned. This checklist covers the decisions that matter most for small and mid-size businesses moving to Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Azure, AWS or Salesforce.
1. Inventory what you have
List your applications, file shares, databases and integrations, and who uses each one. You will find tools nobody uses and dependencies nobody documented.
2. Decide what moves, and how
- Replace with a SaaS product, such as moving CRM to Salesforce.
- Rehost a server as-is on Azure or AWS.
- Retire what is no longer needed.
- Keep on site what must stay local for cost, latency or compliance reasons.
3. Set up identity before data
Create accounts, groups and multifactor authentication before anyone signs in to the new platform. Our Microsoft Entra ID basics cover the essentials.
4. Clean data before you move it
Migrations copy problems along with data. Remove duplicates, archive what is old and fix ownership first. For CRM moves, see our Salesforce implementation best practices.
5. Plan integrations
List every system that exchanges data with the one you are moving. Our integration guide walks through the options.
6. Pilot, then migrate in waves
Move a small group first, fix what you learn, then move the rest by department or site.
7. Control licensing and costs
Right-size licenses after the move and track renewals. Cloud costs drift upward when nobody owns them.
8. Retire the old systems properly
Decommission old servers and wipe or destroy their drives. Our decommissioning checklist explains how.
Planning a move?
CloudMosaic implements Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS and Google Workspace as part of our cloud and business apps practice. Tell us what you want to move.