Migration · Insights ·
Why most cloud migrations go over budget
The planning gaps, scope creep, and operational surprises that inflate AWS migration costs — and how to avoid them.
Migration budgets fail quietly. The invoice is fine at go-live — then month 3–6 brings optimization work, tooling, data egress, and “we forgot about that integration.”
1. Discovery was a meeting, not an inventory
If you cannot list applications, owners, RTO/RPO, and dependencies, your estimate is fiction. Budget for discovery as a deliverable, not a free prelude.
2. Phase 1 scope was never defined
“Move to AWS” without in-scope / out-of-scope lists becomes endless. Fix: written phase 1 with explicit exclusions (e.g. mainframe, fax server, that one Windows 2008 box).
3. Lift-and-shift without phase 2 plan
Importing inefficiency is valid for speed — but right-sizing and managed services cost money if unplanned. Call phase 2 a line item, even if TBD.
4. Licensing and compliance surprises
SQL Server licensing, HIPAA BAA gaps, or VPN hardware nobody remembered. Engage legal/compliance before cutover, not during.
5. Run operations were underestimated
Alarms, backups, patching, on-call — someone owns this after consultants leave. Either hire, train, or contract managed cloud.
6. Data transfer and hybrid linger
Migrations that “finish” but keep a data center link for 18 months pay twice. Model egress and hybrid months explicitly.
Budget honesty wins trust with finance. Use our lift-and-shift vs. refactor guide to pick a path, then the pre-migration checklist so go-live week is not where you discover the gaps.