7 Types of Cloud Migration Every Business Should Know Before Making the Move

Key Takeaways

• There are seven recognized types of cloud migration, and each one fits a different business scenario
• Choosing the right migration type directly affects cost, speed, and long-term cloud performance
• Most businesses use a combination of two or more migration types rather than a single approach
• Highly regulated industries like healthcare, legal, and finance often need a hybrid strategy that keeps some systems on-premises
• Working with a local, experienced IT partner reduces the risk of costly migration errors

Moving a business to the cloud is one of the most impactful technology decisions an organization can make. However, an often overlooked factor is that how the migration is executed matters just as much as the decision itself. Choosing the wrong approach can lead to unnecessary downtime, higher costs, and systems that fail to perform as expected.

A common question among small and mid-sized businesses is: “Which type of cloud migration is the right fit?” The answer depends on factors such as existing systems, budget constraints, and long-term goals. There is no single approach that works for every organization.

This guide breaks down the different types of cloud migration clearly and practically, helping decision-makers approach planning with greater clarity and confidence.

Rehosting

Rehosting is the most straightforward type of cloud migration available to businesses. You take your existing applications and infrastructure exactly as they are and move them to a cloud environment. No changes to the code, no redesign, no restructuring.

This approach is attractive because it is fast. A business that needs to exit an on-premises data center quickly, or that wants to reduce hardware costs without a long development project, will find rehosting appealing. It gets you into the cloud with minimal disruption to daily operations.

The trade-off is that rehosting does not unlock the full performance benefits of cloud-native architecture. You are essentially running old systems in a new location. For some businesses, that is perfectly fine as a starting point. For others, it is a short-term fix that leads to a larger refactor project later.

Rehosting works best when speed is the priority and the applications involved are stable, low-complexity, and not customer-facing systems that require high performance.

Replatforming

Replatforming takes the lift-and-shift concept one step further. You move your applications to the cloud, but you make targeted improvements along the way without fully rewriting anything. Think of it as a light upgrade during the move.

A common example is migrating a database from a self-managed server to a managed cloud database service. The application itself does not change, but now the database is maintained, backed up, and scaled automatically by the cloud provider. You gain meaningful operational benefits without a major investment in redevelopment.

For SMBs, replatforming is often a sweet spot. It is more cost-effective than a full refactor, but it delivers noticeably better performance and manageability than a pure lift-and-shift. Businesses with aging but functional systems that could benefit from cloud-native features like auto-scaling or automated backups.

Refactoring

Refactoring, sometimes called rearchitecting, is the most comprehensive type of cloud migration. It involves redesigning the core architecture of your applications to take full advantage of what the cloud offers, including scalability, microservices, containerization, and serverless computing.

This is not a quick process. Refactoring requires significant development time, planning, and investment. But for businesses whose growth depends on application performance, refactoring can deliver transformational results. A customer-facing platform that struggles with traffic spikes, for example, can be rebuilt as a cloud-native system that scales automatically and costs less during slower periods.

The right time to consider refactoring is when an application is holding your business back, cannot scale, is difficult to maintain, or causes constant performance issues. If you are running a growing business in South Florida and your key systems cannot keep up, this migration type deserves serious consideration.

Repurchasing

Repurchasing means moving away from an existing application entirely and adopting a cloud-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) alternative. Instead of migrating old software to the cloud, you replace it with a modern platform designed to run in the cloud from the start.

This approach is increasingly common among SMBs that are still running legacy software bought years ago. Instead of trying to migrate a cumbersome old CRM, accounting system, or document management tool, you switch to a modern, subscription-based platform that handles updates, security, and maintenance automatically.

Repurchasing reduces technical debt and often lowers long-term costs. The challenge is the transition period your team needs to learn new software, and data from the old system must be migrated carefully. However, for businesses stuck with outdated tools that limit productivity, the disruption is usually worth it.

Rehosting in the Cloud

The relocation strategy is a newer addition to the cloud migration framework, developed primarily by AWS. It is closely related to rehosting but applies specifically to virtual machine environments. Businesses move large numbers of virtual machines from their on-premises infrastructure to the cloud without purchasing new hardware or changing how those machines are managed.

This approach is designed for larger organizations with extensive virtualization infrastructure. The benefit is speed and scale. You can move a large number of workloads quickly with minimal disruption. However, it requires specific cloud platform support and is most relevant when you have a VMware-based environment that you want to shift wholesale.

For South Florida businesses managing complex infrastructure, the relocation strategy can dramatically accelerate a cloud transition timeline without requiring a rebuild of existing virtual environments.

Retiring

Not every system or application deserves a place in your cloud environment. The retiring migration strategy is about identifying what to shut down rather than what to move.

During a cloud migration assessment, many businesses discover applications that are rarely used, duplicated by newer tools, or simply no longer relevant to how the company operates. Migrating these to the cloud would be time- and money-wasting. Retiring them frees up budget, simplifies your IT environment, and reduces the attack surface for cybersecurity threats. Research shows that removing unused software components can reduce security vulnerabilities by limiting the overall attack surface.

Retiring is a strategic decision that makes every other part of your cloud environment leaner and easier to manage.

Retaining

Sometimes the best cloud migration decision is to not migrate a particular system at all. Retaining means deliberately keeping certain applications or data on-premises, either permanently or until a later phase of migration.

This is a legitimate and often necessary strategy. Businesses in regulated industries, such as healthcare, legal, and financial services, frequently have compliance requirements that make certain data difficult or impossible to move to a public cloud. Other businesses have latency-sensitive applications that perform better locally, or systems so deeply customized that the cost of migrating outweighs the benefit.

Retaining often leads to a hybrid IT environment, where some systems live in the cloud and others remain on-premises. Managing a hybrid environment effectively requires the right tools and expertise. C&W Technologies has helped South Florida businesses design and manage hybrid infrastructure for decades, ensuring that both environments work together seamlessly and securely.

Final Takeaway

Cloud migration is a strategic process made up of deliberate decisions about each system, application, and workload in your business. Understanding the seven types of cloud migration gives you the vocabulary and the framework to have those conversations confidently and make choices that align with your real business goals.

The businesses that get the most out of cloud migration are not the ones that move the fastest. They are the ones who plan carefully, assess each workload honestly, and work with partners who understand both the technology and the business context behind it.

C&W Technologies has been a trusted technology partner for South Florida businesses since 1985. Our cloud migration services are designed to take the guesswork out of these decisions. From the initial assessment all the way through implementation and ongoing support. 

Whether you are planning your first move to the cloud or looking to optimize an existing cloud environment, we are here to help you do it right. Explore our cloud migration services or reach out to our team to start the conversation.