Server to cloud migration checklist for small and mid-sized businesses
Moving the office server, ERP or file shares to the cloud goes well when the boring parts are done first: knowing what you have, testing the move, and having a way back. Here is the checklist, from inventory to the first month after.
The short answer
List every system and what depends on it, choose for each one whether to move it as is, rebuild it or replace it with a SaaS tool, set up security and backups in the cloud first, rehearse the move with a copy, then cut over on a quiet day with a tested rollback plan.
Before the move
- Inventory: servers, apps, databases, file shares, licences, and who uses each
- Dependencies: which app talks to which database, printer, scanner or device; what runs on schedules
- Decide per system: lift and shift, rebuild on managed services, or replace with SaaS
- Size from real usage (CPU, memory, disk, bandwidth), not from the old hardware
- Licences: check that Windows, SQL Server and ERP licences can move to the cloud
- Choose the region and confirm any data location rules
- Agree downtime windows with the business
Build the landing zone
- Accounts or subscriptions separated for production and testing
- Single sign-on and multi-factor authentication for every admin
- Network: private subnets, VPN or private link to the office, no databases on the public internet
- Backups and monitoring switched on before any data arrives
- Budget alerts so a mistake does not become a large bill
The move
- Rehearse with a copy of production and time each step
- Test with real users: login, printing, reports, integrations, month-end jobs
- Freeze changes on the old system before cut-over
- Transfer the final data, switch DNS and connections, and check from a user’s desk
- Keep the old server running, read-only, until the rollback window ends
The first month
- Check backups by restoring one, not by reading the report
- Right-size machines after two weeks of real usage
- Review the bill weekly for the first month
- Turn off and securely wipe the old hardware once you are sure
- Write down what was done, so the next person can run it
Move to the cloud without the surprises
keyt plans and runs cloud migrations for SMBs in the Gulf and Egypt: the right region, a tested cut-over, and backups you have actually restored.