Cloud Migration Readiness Checklist

This document is a guide designed for small and medium-sized business (SMB) leaders who are planning a cloud migration while aiming to minimize operational disruption. It outlines a comprehensive checklist to help reduce downtime, cost overruns, and execution risks associated with cloud transitions. The guide details several key areas, including migration strategy and architecture, environment and resource planning, automation and execution controls, testing and cutover management, backup and rollback protection, and cloud control and optimization. Each section provides specific actions to take, such as creating a migration roadmap, inventorying servers, selecting migration tools, and monitoring performance post-migration. Additionally, it includes a scoring model to assess migration readiness and highlights immediate red flags that indicate operational exposure. The document concludes with recommendations for scheduling a structured Cloud Migration Readiness Assessment if necessary.