What factors should you consider when estimating data center migration costs and ROI?

1 Migration strategy

The first factor that you should consider is the migration strategy that you will use to transfer your data and applications. There are different approaches, such as lift-and-shift, re-platform, re-architect, or refactor, that have different implications for the cost, time, and risk of migration. For example, lift-and-shift is the simplest and fastest method, but it may not optimize the performance and scalability of your applications in the new environment. Re-architecting or refactoring, on the other hand, may require more resources and time, but it can improve the efficiency and functionality of your applications.

2 Migration scope

The second factor that you should consider is the migration scope, which refers to the amount and type of data and applications that you will migrate. The migration scope will affect the cost and complexity of the migration process, as well as the potential benefits and challenges that you will face. For example, if you migrate a large amount of data and applications, you may incur higher costs for bandwidth, storage, and licensing, but you may also achieve greater savings and performance improvements in the long run. If you migrate a small amount of data and applications, you may reduce the costs and risks of migration, but you may also miss out on some of the advantages of the new environment.

3 Migration tools

The third factor that you should consider is the migration tools that you will use to facilitate and automate the migration process. There are various tools available in the market, such as data migration software, cloud migration services, or migration platforms, that can help you with different aspects of migration, such as data extraction, transformation, loading, testing, validation, or monitoring. The choice of migration tools will depend on your migration strategy, scope, budget, and timeline. You should evaluate the features, functionality, compatibility, and reliability of the migration tools before selecting them.

4 Migration risks

The fourth factor that you should consider is the migration risks that you may encounter during or after the migration process. There are different types of risks, such as technical, operational, security, compliance, or business risks, that can affect the success and outcome of the migration. For example, you may face technical issues such as data loss, corruption, or inconsistency, operational issues such as downtime, disruption, or performance degradation, security issues such as data breaches, leaks, or attacks, compliance issues such as regulatory violations, fines, or penalties, or business issues such as customer dissatisfaction, revenue loss, or reputation damage. You should identify, assess, mitigate, and monitor the migration risks and prepare contingency plans for them.

5 Migration benefits

The fifth factor that you should consider is the migration benefits that you can expect to gain from the migration process. There are different types of benefits, such as cost, performance, scalability, reliability, security, or innovation benefits, that can enhance the value and efficiency of your data and applications. For example, you may reduce the cost of ownership, maintenance, and operation of your data and applications, improve the performance, speed, and quality of your data and applications, increase the scalability, flexibility, and availability of your data and applications, enhance the security, privacy, and protection of your data and applications, or enable new features, functionality, and opportunities for your data and applications. You should quantify, measure, and communicate the migration benefits and align them with your business goals and expectations.

6 Migration ROI

The sixth factor that you should consider is the migration ROI, which is the ratio of the migration benefits to the migration costs. The migration ROI is a key indicator of the success and value of the migration process, and it can help you justify and evaluate the migration decision. To calculate the migration ROI, you need to estimate the migration costs, which include the direct costs such as hardware, software, bandwidth, storage, licensing, and labor, and the indirect costs such as downtime, disruption, risk, and opportunity costs. Then, you need to estimate the migration benefits, which include the savings, improvements, enhancements, and innovations that you can achieve from the migration. Finally, you need to compare the migration benefits and costs and determine the payback period, breakeven point, and return rate of the migration.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?