How long does it take to migrate a company to AWS? A realistic timeline by company size
This is one of the first questions any company asks before deciding to migrate to the cloud, and the honest answer is that it depends on several factors. Still, it is possible to have a realistic reference for the timeline, considering the size of the company, the complexity of the current environment, and the chosen migration strategy.
The factors that define the timeline of a migration
The number of applications to be migrated directly influences the timeline, as does the level of dependency between these systems. Isolated applications are faster to migrate than interconnected systems, which require careful coordination so as not to break integrations during the process.
The chosen strategy also matters. A migration in the rehost model, which moves the system practically unchanged, is usually much faster than a complete refactor, which involves redesigning the application for the cloud.
The technical maturity of the internal team and the availability of documentation about the current environment also affect the timeline. Well-documented environments progress faster than legacy systems without a clear record of how they were built.
Small companies: weeks to a few months
Smaller companies, with few systems and a relatively simple architecture, usually complete a full migration in a few weeks, especially when the chosen strategy is rehost or replatform. The initial assessment is faster, and coordination between systems is less complex.
Mid-sized companies: a few months
Companies with a larger portfolio of applications, some integrations between systems, and a more significant volume of data usually take three to six months to complete a full migration, considering the time for planning, phased execution, and validation of each migrated system.
Large companies: six months to more than a year
Companies with complex environments, many interdependent applications, specific regulatory requirements, and the need for zero downtime in critical systems usually have longer timelines, often migrating in waves, with groups of systems migrated in sequential phases over several months.
Why migrating everything at once is rarely the best choice
Even in smaller companies, migrating all systems simultaneously increases the risk and the complexity of coordination. The safest approach is usually to divide the migration into phases, starting with lower-criticality systems to validate the process, and progressively advancing to the most important systems as confidence in the process increases.
How to speed up the timeline without increasing the risk?
A detailed technical assessment at the start of the project, with complete mapping of dependencies between systems, reduces surprises along the way and avoids delays caused by late discoveries. Having a partner that has already carried out similar migrations also reduces the learning time that normally consumes the first weeks of a project conducted from scratch.
CloudDog has already conducted hundreds of AWS migration projects, with timelines adjusted to the reality of each company. Learn about our AWS Cloud Migration service and receive a realistic timeline for your company’s migration.
