Aspect	Rehost	Replatform	Repurchase	Refactor	Retire	Retain	Relocate
Timeline	Weeks-Months	1-3 months	1-6 months	6-18 months	1-3 months	N/A	Weeks-Months
Complexity	Low	Medium	Medium	High	Low	N/A	Low-Medium
Risk Level	Low	Medium	Medium	High	Low	Low	Low
Cloud Benefits	Minimal	Moderate	High	Maximum	N/A	None	Minimal
Cost Savings	0-10%	15-30%	Variable	40-70%	100%	0%	0-10%
Dev Effort	None	Low	Low	High	None	None	None

How to Choose the Right Strategy

Consider these factors for each application in your portfolio

Business Value

Strategic importance of the application to business operations

High:Refactor for maximum agility

Low:Rehost, Retire, or Repurchase

Technical Debt

Amount of accumulated shortcuts and outdated components

High:Refactor or Repurchase

Low:Rehost or Replatform

Change Frequency

How often the application requires updates

High:Refactor for faster delivery

Low:Rehost or Replatform

Timeline Pressure

Urgency of migration (data center exit, contracts)

High:Rehost or Relocate

Low:Refactor or Replatform

Available Budget

Investment capacity for migration

High:Refactor for long-term ROI

Low:Rehost or Retire

Skills Available

Cloud-native development expertise in team

High:Refactor with confidence

Low:Rehost or Repurchase

Strategy Deep Dives

Detailed information about each migration strategy

Rehost

“Lift and Shift”

Move applications to the cloud with minimal or no changes. Simply migrate existing servers and applications as-is to cloud infrastructure.

Best for: Legacy applications, time-sensitive migrations, applications with complex dependencies

Timeline: Weeks to months

Complexity: Low

Risk Level: Low

Cost Impact: Similar or slightly higher than on-prem initially

Key Activities

1Assess current infrastructure
2Select target cloud instances
3Configure networking and security
4Migrate VMs or containers
5Test and validate
6Cutover and decommission

Common Tools

AWS Application Migration ServiceAzure MigrateGoogle Migrate for Compute EngineVMware HCX

When to Use

Large-scale migrations with tight deadlines
Applications scheduled for retirement
Stable applications with low change rate
Data center exit scenarios

Advantages

Fastest migration path
Minimal changes to applications
Lower initial risk
Quick time-to-cloud
Preserves existing operations

Challenges

Limited cloud-native benefits
May carry technical debt
Higher ongoing cloud costs
Doesn't address scalability issues
May require optimization later

Replatform

“Lift, Tinker, and Shift”

Make targeted optimizations during migration without changing core architecture. Leverage cloud services for specific components like databases or caching.

Best for: Applications that can benefit from managed services with moderate effort

Timeline: 1-3 months per app

Complexity: Medium

Risk Level: Medium

Cost Impact: 15-30% cost reduction vs. rehost

Key Activities

1Identify optimization opportunities
2Select managed services (RDS, ElastiCache, etc.)
3Modify configurations
4Update connection strings
5Migrate and test
6Optimize performance

Common Tools

AWS Database Migration ServiceAzure Database Migration ServiceGoogle Database Migration Service

When to Use

Self-managed databases moving to RDS/Cloud SQL
Applications needing better scalability
Workloads with high operational overhead
Systems using outdated middleware

Advantages

Better cloud cost efficiency
Reduced operational overhead
Improved availability
Maintains core application logic
Good balance of effort vs. benefit

Challenges

More complex than rehost
Requires cloud expertise
Some application changes needed
Testing requirements increase
May introduce new dependencies

Repurchase

“Drop and Shop”

Replace existing applications with cloud-native SaaS alternatives. Move from licensed software to subscription-based services.

Best for: Commodity applications with available SaaS alternatives (CRM, HR, Email)

Timeline: 1-6 months

Complexity: Medium

Risk Level: Medium

Cost Impact: Variable - often lower TCO over 3-5 years

Key Activities

1Evaluate SaaS alternatives
2Plan data migration
3Configure new platform
4Migrate users and data
5Train users
6Decommission legacy system

Common Tools

Native SaaS migration toolsThird-party ETL toolsData migration services

When to Use

Legacy on-prem email to Microsoft 365/Google Workspace
Custom CRM to Salesforce/HubSpot
Legacy HR systems to Workday/BambooHR
Homegrown apps with commercial alternatives

Advantages

Fully managed service
Always up-to-date
Reduced IT overhead
Better features and UX
Predictable costs

Challenges

Data migration complexity
Loss of customization
Vendor lock-in
Change management required
Ongoing subscription costs

Refactor

“Re-architect”

Redesign and rebuild applications to fully leverage cloud-native features. Transform monoliths to microservices, implement serverless, or containerize.

Best for: Strategic applications requiring scalability, resilience, and agility

Timeline: 6-18 months

Complexity: High

Risk Level: High

Cost Impact: 40-70% cost reduction at scale + agility gains

Key Activities

1Application assessment and design
2Decompose into microservices
3Implement cloud-native patterns
4Containerize or go serverless
5Build CI/CD pipelines
6Deploy and iterate

Common Tools

KubernetesDockerAWS Lambda/FargateAzure Functions/AKSGoogle Cloud Run/GKETerraform

When to Use

Core business applications
Customer-facing systems needing scale
Applications with frequent changes
Systems with performance bottlenecks

Advantages

Maximum cloud benefits
Improved scalability
Better resilience
Faster feature delivery
Optimal cost efficiency

Challenges

Highest complexity and risk
Significant investment
Requires skilled developers
Longest timeline
May introduce new issues

Retire

“Decommission”

Identify and decommission applications that are no longer needed. Reduce portfolio complexity and costs before migration.

Best for: Redundant, obsolete, or trivial applications with low business value

Timeline: 1-3 months

Complexity: Low

Risk Level: Low

Cost Impact: 100% savings on retired applications

Key Activities

1Identify retirement candidates
2Validate with business owners
3Plan data archival
4Notify users
5Archive necessary data
6Decommission infrastructure

Common Tools

Application portfolio management toolsCMDBData archival solutions

When to Use

Duplicate applications
Unused or low-usage systems
Applications with available alternatives
Legacy systems with no business case

Advantages

Immediate cost savings
Reduced complexity
Fewer applications to migrate
Lower security surface
Simplified operations

Challenges

May face resistance from users
Data retention requirements
Hidden dependencies
Compliance considerations
Change management needed

Retain

“Revisit Later”

Keep certain applications on-premises or in current environment. Some workloads may not be ready or suitable for cloud migration.

Best for: Recently upgraded systems, compliance-restricted apps, low-priority workloads

Timeline: N/A

Complexity: N/A

Risk Level: Low

Cost Impact: Status quo - no change

Key Activities

1Document reasons for retention
2Ensure hybrid connectivity
3Plan future reassessment
4Maintain security posture
5Monitor for migration triggers
6Schedule periodic reviews

Common Tools

Hybrid connectivity (VPN, Direct Connect)Identity federationMonitoring tools

When to Use

Recent hardware/software investments
Strict data residency requirements
Mainframe applications
Applications pending sunset

Advantages

No immediate disruption
Preserves recent investments
Addresses compliance needs
Allows focus on other priorities
Can revisit when ready

Challenges

Maintains on-prem costs
Hybrid complexity
May delay modernization
Technical debt accumulation
Potential skill gaps

Relocate

“Hypervisor-Level Lift and Shift”

Move infrastructure to cloud at the hypervisor level, particularly useful for VMware workloads moving to VMware Cloud on AWS/Azure/GCP.

Best for: VMware-based environments seeking rapid migration with minimal changes

Timeline: Weeks to months

Complexity: Low-Medium

Risk Level: Low

Cost Impact: Premium pricing for VMware cloud services

Key Activities

1Assess VMware environment
2Plan network architecture
3Set up VMware Cloud
4Configure HCX for migration
5Migrate VMs (live or scheduled)
6Validate and optimize

Common Tools

VMware HCXVMware Cloud on AWSAzure VMware SolutionGoogle Cloud VMware Engine

When to Use

Large VMware estates
Data center consolidation
Disaster recovery scenarios
Tight migration timelines

Advantages

Fastest path for VMware shops
Minimal application changes
Familiar operational model
Live migration capability
Consistent tooling

Challenges

Higher cloud costs
Limited cloud-native benefits
VMware licensing costs
May not be long-term solution
Vendor dependency

The Migration Journey

Regardless of strategy, successful migrations follow these phases

Assess

Discover and analyze your application portfolio

Application discovery
Dependency mapping
TCO analysis
Strategy assignment

Mobilize

Build foundation and prepare for migration

Landing zone setup
Security baseline
Team training
Pilot selection

Migrate

Execute migration in waves

Wave planning
Application migration
Testing & validation
Cutover execution

Optimize

Improve and modernize post-migration

Cost optimization
Performance tuning
Security hardening
Modernization roadmap

Portfolio-Based Approach

Most organizations use multiple strategies across their application portfolio. A typical enterprise migration might look like:

40-50%

Rehost (quick wins)

25-30%

Replatform (optimize)

10-15%

Refactor (strategic)

15-25%

Retire/Retain/Repurchase

We help you assess each application and build a migration roadmap that balances speed, cost, and business value.

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