AWS Migration Evaluator

1. Introduction

Migrating workloads to the cloud hinges on gaining quantifiable insights into your on‑premises environment. AWS Migration Evaluator is designed to help organizations capture a detailed baseline of their current infrastructure—including server configurations, usage patterns, and dependencies—to build a compelling, data‑driven business case for moving to AWS. This approach not only supports cost optimization and performance improvement but also guides the target architecture design for a successful migration.

2. AWS Migration Evaluator Overview

AWS Migration Evaluator is a cloud‑based service that collects detailed information about your on‑premises hardware, software, and utilization metrics. It then leverages advanced analytics and machine learning to produce actionable insights, including:

• Centralized Inventory: A consolidated view of your current on‑premises footprint.
• Usage and Dependency Analysis: Insights into resource utilization, server inter-dependencies, and performance trends.
• Cost Modeling: Detailed cost estimates comparing on‑premises operations with various AWS pricing models (e.g., On-Demand, Reserved Instances, Savings Plans), along with recommendations on rightsizing.
• Optimized Migration Planning: Actionable steps and a roadmap to migrate workloads efficiently, mitigating risks and reducing costs.

These outcomes empower organizations to model multiple migration scenarios and forecast the economics of moving to AWS.

2.1. Key Benefits

• Fast-Track Decision Making:
  Quickly assess your current environment and obtain a data‑driven view that accelerates planning and decision‑making.

• Cost Optimization:
  Identify over‑provisioned resources and compare costs of on‑premises operations versus AWS services (e.g., BYOL vs. LI options) to optimize spending.

• Enhanced Visibility:
  Gain a detailed understanding of your infrastructure’s usage patterns and dependencies to mitigate migration risks.

• Improved Performance:
  Receive recommendations to right‑size workloads and optimize performance in the AWS cloud.

• Comprehensive Reporting:
  Detailed, visual reports support the development of a robust migration strategy and business case.

2.2. Use Cases

• Migration Planning:
  Use the service at any stage—from initial discovery to detailed migration planning—to understand your current infrastructure and its dependencies.

• Business Case Development:
  Build a financial and operational justification for migration with clear cost models and performance insights.

• Resource Optimization:
  Identify opportunities to right‑size resources and eliminate waste, thereby reducing both costs and operational overhead.

• Risk Mitigation:
  Early identification of potential bottlenecks and compatibility issues reduces the risk during the actual migration process.

3. Gathering Baseline Data

A key aspect of AWS Migration Evaluator is its ability to provide an accurate, real‑time snapshot of your current environment. There are two primary methods for gathering this baseline data:

3.1. Agentless Collector

The Agentless Collector offers broad‑based discovery without requiring software agents on every server. Once deployed (often as a virtual appliance), it periodically gathers telemetry such as:

• Server configurations (OS, CPU, memory)
• Software inventories
• Resource utilization and performance metrics
• Network dependencies

This method provides a near‑real‑time snapshot of your infrastructure, ensuring that the evaluation reflects current usage patterns.

3.2. Data Import Feature

For organizations that already maintain inventory or utilization data (for example, through a CMDB or IT Asset Management system), AWS Migration Evaluator supports a data import feature. Using a specially formatted template, you can upload snapshots of resource metrics (like CPU usage and storage capacity) for analysis. This alternative is especially useful if you already have comprehensive discovery data from other tools.

4. How It Works

AWS Migration Evaluator operates in three main stages:

1. Discover:
   • Automatically collects detailed data from your on‑premises environment using the Agentless Collector or by processing imported CSV files.
   • Gathers information on hardware, software, performance metrics, and server dependencies.
2. Assess:
   • Analyzes the collected data using built‑in rules, best practices, and machine learning algorithms.
   • Evaluates the compatibility of each asset with AWS services while identifying potential migration issues (e.g., performance bottlenecks or licensing challenges).
   • Produces cost estimates comparing current on‑premises expenditures with projected AWS costs.
3. Report:
   • Generates detailed reports complete with visualizations, cost projections, and actionable recommendations.
   • Helps you decide which workloads are best suited for migration and how to optimize them on AWS.

5. Analyzing and Developing Your Migration Plan

Once AWS Migration Evaluator compiles the baseline data, it provides a clear roadmap by:

• Identifying Dependencies: Pinpointing relationships between servers and applications to better understand migration risks.
• Defining Performance Trends: Highlighting peak usage periods and essential resource configurations.
• Right-Sizing Recommendations: Suggesting appropriate AWS service options tailored to your workload’s needs.
• Cost Comparisons: Producing detailed models that contrast on‑premises costs with various AWS pricing scenarios.
• Roadmap Creation: Outlining timelines, recommended services, and migration phases for an optimized transition.

This systematic approach eliminates guesswork, enabling you to build a solid business case for AWS migration.

6. Leveraging Cost Insights and AWS Guidance

One of the standout features of AWS Migration Evaluator is its ability to pinpoint potential cost savings by aligning workloads with AWS pricing models. The detailed cost projections not only help in understanding immediate migration costs but also in planning long-term cost efficiencies. In addition, organizations can seek further guidance from AWS experts to refine their migration strategies, especially when dealing with large-scale or complex environments.

7. Integration & Technical Details

• Collector Installation & Configuration:
  For environments needing deeper insight, AWS offers a dedicated Migration Evaluator Collector (a Windows service and IIS application) with comprehensive installation guides addressing system requirements and connectivity for VMware, Hyper‑V, SQL Server, and more.

• AWS Migration Hub & MAP:
  AWS Migration Evaluator integrates seamlessly with AWS Migration Hub to track progress across the entire migration journey. It is also a key tool within the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), which follows a structured three‑phase approach (Assess, Mobilize, Migrate & Modernize) to accelerate cloud migrations.

8. Conclusion

AWS Migration Evaluator bridges the gap between an on‑premises analysis and a cloud‑bound future by providing a factual, data‑driven baseline of your current environment. Whether using the Agentless Collector or importing existing data, the tool delivers deep insights into resource usage, server dependencies, and cost implications. These insights enable you to develop a clear migration roadmap with optimized AWS service recommendations and cost models—eliminating guesswork and accelerating your journey to the cloud with confidence.