The best cloud migration tools help automate processes, track progress, and ensure nothing gets lost in the transition
More businesses than ever are migrating to the cloud – according to McKinsey, $8 out of every $10 of IT hosting will go toward cloud infrastructure by 2024. However, transitioning to the cloud requires finding and using the right tools to ensure data is safe, secure, and compliant before, during, and after migration.
While every cloud migration is different, the best cloud migration tools will help your organization assess its infrastructure needs, automate migration processes, track your progress, and ensure nothing gets left behind. Any one of the following tools will be an asset to your migration efforts — choose the options that best suit your business needs.
What Is a Cloud Migration Tool?
A cloud migration tool is an application or service that supports a company as they move IT architecture like data, servers, and applications from a physical location to a cloud environment or between cloud environments. For many organizations, cloud migration will be impossible to navigate without these tools. The migration process can be extremely complex and time-consuming — so much so that attempting it manually could take several years. Cloud migration tools streamline and accelerate migration, reducing the investment of money, time, and human resources necessary to make the transition.
Ready to take your understanding of cloud migration further? Check out The Essential Guide to Cloud Migration.
The 5 Best Cloud Migration Tools
#1. DuploCloud
What it is: DuploCloud is a DevOps Automation Platform designed to speed up cloud migration, provisioning, and orchestration for cloud-native applications.
Advantages:
- Enables DevOps teams to map current infrastructure to public cloud topology, maximizing the success of migration.
- Automate configuration and deployment to speed up migration times and reduce human error through high-level application specifications.
- Cost estimation and optimization tools prevent overspending on unnecessary resources.
- Standardized security and compliance control sets map to PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, and GDPR and provides developer guardrails to reduce security vulnerabilities and non-compliance.
- Enables developer self-service through no-code/low-code implementation.
- Allows migration to Google Cloud, AWS, Azure Cloud, and other cloud environments.
- Offers solutions for small businesses and enterprises.
Disadvantages:
- One of the newest entries on the market, though it has roots in the most widely used cloud platforms. DuploCloud was built by founding members of the Microsoft Azure team and now boasts 100+ customers.
Bottom line:
DuploCloud enables DevOps teams to speed up migration times by up to 80%. Once businesses are in the cloud, DuploCloud further reduces cloud operating costs by a factor of ten. These enhancements are immediately noticeable for its users — DuploCloud currently sees an average rating of 4.5 stars on G2, with users describing the platform as “a game-changer” for migrating to and managing cloud-native environments.
Are you cloud migration ready? Cloud migration can set the foundation for your organization's future. Make sure you're prepared and compliant with our free checklist:
#2. AWS Migration Services
What it is: AWS Migration Services is a leading cloud migration software suite that helps organizations move their on-premises IT architecture to the AWS cloud.
Advantages:
- Capable of transferring on-premises, virtual, or cloud IT assets to AWS cloud environments.
- Provides pre-migration analysis via AWS Management Console.
- Can use automation to migrate large workloads rapidly.
- Handles the migration of both homogeneous and heterogeneous databases.
- Enables performance optimization via Amazon CloudWatch.
- Easy to use for most IT teams.
Disadvantages:
- Will only help organizations looking to move their IT assets to the AWS cloud: Does not work for moving applications to data to Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), etc.
- Infrastructure mapping can be challenging without the use of scripting.
- Cost can be prohibitive for some organizations.
Bottom line: For many AWS Migration Services users, the solution’s support for the migration of both homogeneous and heterogeneous databases is its standout feature. As one G2 review noted, “it's the most helpful service for migrating database to AWS cloud easily as well as securely to take the advantage of availability, scalability of an AWS cloud for your application, the most amazing thing about AWS Database Migration service is that it supports both homogeneous and heterogeneous migration to the AWS cloud easily.”
#3. Azure Migrate
What it is: Azure Migrate is a free tool that Azure customers can use to assess, plan, and manage the migration of applications and data centers to the Azure Cloud.
Advantages:
- Uses a progress dashboard to help organizations understand and manage the entire migration process.
- Provides pre-migrations assessment via Azure tool ecosystem.
- Enables both data and application migration.
- Supports performance optimization via the tool’s dashboard or through third-party applications.
- Helps organizations remain compliant during the migration process.
- Free to use for Microsoft Azure customers.
Disadvantages:
- Will only help organizations looking to move their IT assets to the Azure cloud.
- Native cost estimation features lack precision, often necessitating the usage of additional estimations tools.
Bottom line: Azure Migrate is full-featured and powerful cloud migration software that has been reliably handling these kinds of projects for years. And its user reviews reflect this quality: “Flexibility, scalability, security. It is reachable from any PC anywhere if you need to manage. I think it gives more people time back so that they can spend it with their families.”
#4. Carbonite Migrate
What it is: Carbonite Migrate is a cloud migration tool built for various cloud environments and designed to minimize downtime.
Advantages:
- Enables migration from on premises infrastructure, virtual machines, and even other cloud computing platforms.
- Compatible with full-server or data-only migrations.
- Eliminates vendor lock-in through flexible compatibility with hypervisor, hardware, and cloud vendors.
- Reduces operational downtime through continuous replication at scale.
- Protects in-flight data with AES 256-bit encryption.
Disadvantages:
- Pricing is higher than other competitors.
Bottom line:
Carbonite Migrate is a helpful cloud migration tool for businesses that may not have the resources or knowledge to successfully complete a migration on their own. User reviews agree that it is a helpful, easy-to-use, and highly configurable tool that can fit many specific IT needs.
#5. Flexera One
What it is: Flexera One provides cloud migration planning and cost assessment tools to help businesses prepare for their migration.
Advantages:
- Receive an in-depth report of on premises IT inventory through intelligent mapping.
- Assess cloud migration and operation costs by analyzing current systems against necessary cloud equivalents.
- Gain complete visibility into workloads to prioritize system migration for maximum optimization.
- View operational efficiency post-migration across multiple public, private, and hybrid cloud systems.
Disadvantages:
- Requires additional applications to complete cloud migration.
Bottom line: Successful migrations require in-depth planning, and Flexera One enables businesses to keep track of their current on premises inventory and cloud instances with powerful discovery tools. User reviews specifically highlight its detailed summary dashboard as being extremely useful for optimizing the cloud migration process.
Learn More About Leading Cloud Migration Tools
From DuploCloud to Flexera One, this article has explored five of the best cloud data migration tools available. To get a more in-depth look at how leading solutions can help you navigate IT modernization, read our recent white paper, whichexplores how DuploCloud leverages automation to accelerate the migration process.
