Cloud Migration Consulting Services

The 5 R's of cloud migration are: Rehost (lift-and-shift to the cloud), Refactor (re-architect applications to leverage cloud-native features), Re-platform (make targeted optimizations without a full re-architecture), Repurchase (switch to a different cloud-native product), and Retire (decommission applications no longer needed). Our consultants assess each workload and recommend the most appropriate strategy to balance cost, effort, and business value.

The 7 types are: Rehost (lift-and-shift), Replatform (lift-tinker-and-shift), Repurchase (move to SaaS), Refactor/Re-architect (rebuild for cloud-native), Retire (decommission), Retain (keep on-premises), and Relocate (move infrastructure to the cloud without changes). Choosing the right type for each workload is critical—our consultants analyze your application portfolio and map each system to the most suitable migration strategy.

Cloud migration typically follows four phases: Assessment (evaluating current infrastructure, dependencies, and readiness), Planning (designing the migration architecture, sequencing workloads, and defining success metrics), Migration (executing the move in controlled, phased waves), and Optimization (performance tuning, cost right-sizing, and establishing ongoing governance). Vorstel's methodology covers all four phases with dedicated consulting support at each stage.

A migration consultant evaluates your existing IT environment, identifies the right cloud platforms and migration strategies for your workloads, designs a sequenced migration roadmap, oversees the technical execution, and ensures security and compliance throughout the process. They act as both a strategic advisor and a technical guide—bridging the gap between business goals and the engineering work required to achieve them.

A cloud migration specialist handles the hands-on technical work of moving workloads to the cloud—configuring cloud environments, managing data transfers, executing application migrations, and validating that migrated systems perform correctly. They work closely with migration consultants to implement the agreed strategy, troubleshoot issues during the move, and ensure the target cloud environment is stable, secure, and optimized before handover.

The foundational 4 R's are: Rehost (move applications as-is to the cloud), Refactor (redesign for cloud-native architectures), Rearchitect (make significant structural changes to fully exploit cloud capabilities), and Rebuild (redevelop the application from scratch using cloud-native technology). These four strategies form the basis for most migration decisions and help organizations balance migration speed against the level of cloud optimization they want to achieve.

Timelines vary significantly based on the number of workloads, their complexity, and the chosen migration strategy. Simple rehost migrations for smaller environments can be completed in 4–8 weeks, while complex enterprise migrations involving re-architecting critical applications typically span 3–12 months. Vorstel designs phased migration plans that deliver early wins quickly while managing longer-horizon workloads in parallel to minimize business disruption.

Security is embedded into every phase of our migration process—not treated as an afterthought. Before migration begins, we establish identity and access management policies, encryption standards, network security architecture, and compliance controls relevant to your industry and operating regions. We conduct security reviews at each migration wave and perform post-migration audits to confirm that the cloud environment meets all defined security and regulatory requirements.