Cloud journeys stall when stages blur. This checklist separates assess, modernize, migrate, and optimize with exit criteria for each. Leadership can then see progress and risk clearly.
Assessment covers applications, data, dependencies, and regulatory constraints. Skipping assessment is how surprises appear in production. Honesty early is cheaper than incident learning.
Modernization addresses what should change before or during the move. Migrating unchanged anti-patterns recreates problems in a new venue. Design the target deliberately.
Migration executes with rollback plans and progressive cutovers. Big-bang moves concentrate risk. Controlled change protects customers.
Optimization tackles cost, reliability, and platform maturity after workloads land. Calling the journey done at migration locks in mediocrity. FinOps and operability are part of success.
Security baselines and identity design belong in every stage. Shared responsibility still requires configuration discipline. Controls travel with workloads.
Skills and operating model changes should be planned beside technical work. Tools without capable operators become expensive ornaments. Capability is the journey.
Dependencies on vendors and partners need explicit tracking. Hidden couplings surface at the worst moment. Inventories reduce drama.
Customize weights for your industry, but keep stage discipline. Blurry programs cannot be governed. Clear stages enable clear decisions.
Ethics Code runs this checklist with clients as a working tool, not a slide appendix. Journeys then finish with operability, not only relocated servers. Cloud value shows up in how you run.