Cloud migration is no longer a side project for most organizations. If you lead technology as a chief technology officer (CTO) or IT director, you are expected to modernize systems, keep data safe, and hold the line on costs at the same time. At the same time, your team is still supporting legacy servers, line-of-business apps, and a growing list of cloud tools. It is easy for “move to the cloud” to become a vague goal instead of a clear plan.
This guide is here to keep things simple. We will walk through what “moving to the cloud” actually means in day-to-day terms, where it creates real value for your business, and how to think about the first waves of migration.
What “Moving To The Cloud” Really Means
“Move to the cloud” sounds simple. In practice, it covers a wide range of choices that affect how your team builds, runs, and supports technology every day. For most organizations, the future is not “all cloud” or “all on-prem.” It is a mix. Some workloads stay on site. Others run in one or more public clouds. Many teams rely on a growing set of software-as-a-service tools for email, collaboration, and line-of-business work.
At a basic level, you are deciding where your compute, storage, and apps live. Public cloud provides shared infrastructure that you can consume on demand. A private cloud keeps resources dedicated to your organization. Many cb20 clients adopt a hybrid model, where key systems still run in their own data centers, while new or modernized workloads run in one or more public clouds. In fact, around 90% of organizations are anticipated to adopt a hybrid cloud approach by 2027. That mix lets technology leaders move at a reasonable pace without risking core operations.
You are also choosing how much of the stack you want to own. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) lets you run virtual machines and storage in the cloud while you still manage operating systems and many security controls. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) shifts more of that work to the provider and provides your developers with managed databases, app platforms, and integration services. Software as a Service (SaaS) hands off almost all of the underlying infrastructure, so your team can focus on adoption, data, and governance. A real cloud strategy usually blends all three models.
From cb20’s point of view, cloud migration is a shift in how your IT organization works. Before any assets move, cb20 helps clients clarify requirements, map which workloads belong in which model, and plan how identity, security, networking, and recovery will work in the new setup. The goal is to use public cloud and, where it fits best, multi-cloud, while connecting them cleanly to managed IT services and your existing infrastructure.
A Practical Cloud Migration Path
With the big picture in place, here’s a practical path from initial plans to stable day-two operations.
Clarify Outcomes And Guardrails
Start with the “why.” Are you trying to reduce hardware spend? Improve resilience for one or two key apps? Give remote staff a smoother experience? Clear outcomes guide every choice that follows.
Set guardrails early. Recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) should tie to real systems and users. Decide what can be offline for a short window and what cannot. Connect those decisions to compliance requirements and any service-level commitments.
This is usually where cb20 joins the conversation. Our team uses planning and discovery sessions to line up cloud goals with risk, budget, and your broader technology roadmap.
Assess And Choose
With outcomes in place, review what you already run. Build an inventory of applications, data stores, and key integrations. Look for hidden dependencies that could complicate a move. Some workloads can shift with minimal change. Others should be modernized or retired rather than migrated.
From there, choose a path for each workload. Some fit well with infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). Others work better with managed services in a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model or with software-as-a-service (SaaS). cb20 often helps clients land on a mix of on-premises, public cloud, and SaaS that fits their size and security needs.
Plan, Run, And Improve
Design the move in phases. Start with lower-risk workloads, refine your runbooks, then move into core systems. Plan cutovers carefully, with clear success measures and rollback steps.
After migration, focus on cost, performance, and operations. cb20’s role as an IT partner can help here too, with managed IT, cloud, security, and network services working together so your team can focus on users and long-term strategy.
Bringing Your Cloud Plan To Life
Cloud migration does not have to be a leap into the unknown. The best projects start with clear outcomes, a realistic look at what you already run, and a plan that respects risk, cost, and people. When you treat migration as a structured path instead of a one-time push, the cloud becomes a steady way to support your work and opens room for new projects, not just another thing to maintain.
You also do not have to do it alone. cb20’s cloud, managed information technology (IT), security, and network services are built to work together, with a team that knows how to support complex organizations over the long haul. For many clients, cb20 serves as an IT partner from early planning through migration and day-two operations.
If you are ready to move from “we should be in the cloud” to a practical roadmap, let’s talk. Connect with cb20 to schedule a cloud readiness conversation and start planning your next step.
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