1. Describe the business outcome
Start with the problem you want to solve. Is your team struggling to release updates, support remote users, recover from failures or manage an aging application? Write down the current limitation and the improvement you want to measure.
Moving a workload does not automatically resolve its design or operating problems. A cloud project may involve modernizing an application, integrating services or improving deployment practices. Agree on the desired result before choosing the implementation.
2. Inventory workloads and dependencies
Identify applications, databases, file stores and integrations. Record the business owner and technical owner for each workload. Include dependencies that are easy to miss, such as scheduled jobs, email delivery, identity providers and external APIs.
Describe usage patterns and critical workflows. Note where users connect from, which integrations must remain available and what happens when a dependency fails. An inventory helps you select a manageable first workload and identify items that require separate investigation.
3. Set data and access boundaries
Classify the information the workload uses and identify the people responsible for approving access. Record any location, retention or contractual requirements your organization has confirmed. Bring these requirements to the design discussion rather than assuming a provider handles every obligation.
Plan individual accounts, role-based permissions and authentication appropriate to the environment. Separate development, testing and production access. Decide how credentials will be managed and removed when an employee or service no longer needs them. Do not share credentials through a public consultation form.
4. Define recovery expectations
Discuss how long the business can tolerate an outage and how much recent work it could afford to lose. Different workloads may need different recovery arrangements. Name the people who can approve those priorities.
Specify backup ownership, restoration testing and the fallback process for critical operations. A backup that has never been restored is an untested assumption. Ask how recovery will be demonstrated and documented before the project is considered ready for production.
5. Establish cost and operating ownership
Identify the person responsible for usage monitoring, billing review and changes to capacity. Set a budget boundary and decide how the team will respond when usage approaches it. Include the services that support the workload, such as logging, storage and data transfer, in the cost discussion.
Assign ownership for patching, deployments, access reviews and incident handling. Clarify the responsibilities of the provider, your internal team and any consultant. A platform can supply capabilities; your organization still needs an operating process around them.
6. Plan the transition and acceptance checks
Choose a first workload with a clear boundary and a reviewable outcome. Define the testing environment, migration window, rollback decision and person who approves the cutover. Identify any changes customers or employees will need to make.
Agree on acceptance criteria that cover representative workflows, permissions, performance expectations and recovery. Record known limitations and the handover material your team will need. A phased transition can reveal gaps before they affect a larger part of the business.
Your consultation checklist
- The business problem and desired outcome.
- A high-level workload and dependency inventory.
- Data restrictions and access ownership.
- Availability and recovery expectations.
- Budget boundaries and the operating owner.
- A proposed first workload, timeline and acceptance criteria.
You do not need a completed architecture to begin. A clear summary helps us discuss fit, scope and the next decision. Blue Scorpion Labs offers cloud development consulting and DevSecOps consulting. We usually reply within one business day, excluding weekends.
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