A successful migration starts with a defensible target decision.
“Move SQL Server to Azure” is not an architecture. The right answer depends on application dependencies, latency, feature use, operational maturity, recovery requirements, licensing, and the amount of change the organization can safely absorb.
What readiness covers
Business driver
Lifecycle, capacity, resilience, cost, compliance, consolidation, or delivery speed—and how success will be measured.
Estate and dependencies
Instances, databases, jobs, SSIS, linked servers, applications, authentication, network, and external integrations.
Compatibility
Version, feature, code, collation, agent, cross-database, and operational gaps by target option.
Target architecture
Platform fit, topology, HA/DR, security, monitoring, maintenance, and ownership model.
Cost assumptions
Compute, storage, backup, data movement, licensing benefits, operational work, and growth—not a marketing calculator.
Migration mechanics
Wave plan, synchronization, cutover, validation, rollback, downtime, and stakeholder communications.
Decision paths
- Assessment only: receive the target recommendation, assumptions, risks, and roadmap for internal execution.
- Paired delivery: Candidus leads database planning and execution while your application, network, security, and cloud teams own their domains.
- Defined migration project: a fixed-scope implementation with milestones, approval gates, validation, documentation, and handoff.
Common risks identified early
Unsupported or hidden dependencies, insufficient performance baselines, unrealistic downtime assumptions, feature incompatibility, forgotten SQL Agent or SSIS workloads, incomplete identity design, untested rollback, and cost comparisons that omit operational or licensing effects.