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When it comes to cloud migration tools, enterprises have two basic options: the free tools offered by the public cloud vendors or the more comprehensive — but also more expensive — tools offered by independent cloud computing companies.
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The advantage of the free tools is the low cost. And if you plan to use just one vendor, a free service may be all you need. In addition, the public cloud vendors also offer offline data transfer devices that can be faster than using public Internet connections if you have a very large volume of data to migrate to the cloud.
However, these free tools generally aren’t the best option if you plan to pursue a multicloud strategy. In this case, one of the products by the independent vendors will likely be a better fit. Many can help you decide which cloud service will be the best match for each of your workloads. In addition, some add monitoring, management, optimization and/or automation capabilities. Depending on how many workloads you plan to migrate, these additional features may more than compensate for the cost of the migration software.
The list below includes tools from eight of the top cloud migration vendors. For this list, we focused on software and cloud services that automates the cloud migration process. It does not include vendors that offer only cloud migration consulting and professional services. The table at the bottom provides an overview of the products.
Vendors were chosen for the list based on the capabilities of their products, analyst reviews, customer testimonials and independent research.
Jump to: Cloud Migration Comparison Table
AWS Migration Services
As the leader in the public cloud market, Amazon offers a wide variety of very popular cloud migration services. These include the AWS Database Migration Service, the AWS Server Migration Service, AWS Migration Hub and the Snow Family of offline data transfer appliances. Most services are available for free – if you’re an AWS customer – but the tools only support AWS.
That AWS offers its extensive tool set for free is hard to top. As an added plus, AWS offers a service that is a collection of physical hardware that customers can use to ship their data to AWS data centers. Enterprises load up the devices at their own data centers and then ship the equipment to Amazon.
Azure Migration Tools
For customers migrating workloads to Azure, Microsoft offers a comprehensive service called Azure Migrate, as well as a Database Migration Service and its Data Box hardware for offline data transfer. Like the other public cloud vendors, it offers most migration services for free, but it does not support any other cloud vendors. These tools are particularly well suited for hybrid cloud environments that run Windows and other Microsoft software.
Carbonite Migrate
If your cloud migration project is related to disaster recovery, business continuity or backup needs, Carbonite Migrate might be a good option for you. It can transfer data to and from any cloud, physical or virtual environment, and it promises minimal downtime with near-immediate failover in the case of an emergency. The company also boasts award-winning technical and customer support
Corent SurPaaS
Corent’s unique selling proposition is that is can help customers package apps so that they can be delivered on a software as a service (SaaS) basis to internal or external customers. In addition to serving the enterprise market, it also makes its products available to systems integrators, independent software vendors, cloud computing vendors and managed service providers. It has won multiple awards and supports a very long list of public cloud providers.
Google Migration Services/Velostrata
Google has recently acquired the startup Velostrata, which has dramatically improved its cloud migration capabilities. Velostrata’s technology can make migrations up to ten times faster. Like the other public cloud vendors, most of Google’s migration services are available for free, but they support only Google Cloud.
Micro Focus PlateSpin Migration Factory
Micro Focus offers one of the most comprehensive and highly scalable cloud migration products on the market. It supports multiple clouds and includes advanced security features like role-based permissions. It’s a good option for any organization with a really large, multicloud migration planned.
Turbonomic
While most of the tools and services on this list focus on cloud migration, Turbonomic offers a complete hybrid cloud automation platform. In other words, it can manage, monitor and optimize your workloads even after your migration is complete. It’s a great option for DevOps teams that use AWS and Azure.
VMware/CloudHealth Technologies
VMware offers a wide variety of somewhat disparate tools for cloud migration, most of which are related to hybrid clouds. It recently acquired CloudHealth Technologies, which has greatly expanded its cloud migration capabilities. Enterprises that use VMware virtualization and other technologies in their data centers will likely be attracted to its cloud migration tools.
Cloud Migration Comparison Table
| Features | AWS | Azure | Carbonite | Corent SurPaaS | Google Cloud /Velostrata | Micro Focus PlateSpin Migration Factory | Turbonomic | VMware/ CloudHealth Technologies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supported Clouds | AWS | Microsoft Azure | AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and VMware vCloud Director | Microsoft Azure, AWS, Oracle OCI Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Vmware, OpenStack | Google Cloud | AWS, Azure, VMware | AWS, Azure | Varies by product |
| Data Migration | Yes | Limited capabilities through Azure Database Migration Service | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server Migration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, through Velostrata | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Discovery | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, through Velostrata | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Planning | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, through Velostrata | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Project Management | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, through Velostrata | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dashboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Physical Hardware | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Security | Encryption in transit and at rest. Snowmobile includes dedicated security personnel, GPS tracking, alarm monitoring, 24/7 video surveillance. | Industry-leading security, including AES encryption for Data Box migration hardware. | AES 256-bit encryption | Integrated security | Encryption | Multi-tenancy, built-in credential store, plus user authentication, authorization, and logging | Automatically adheres to compliance policies; Premier edition adheres to SLAs. | Varies by product |
| Services Available | Cloud migration planning, acceleration, assessment and optimization, as well as technical support. | Billing, subscription management and technical support. | Award-winning 24/7 technical and customer support | 24/7 technical and customer support | Consulting, training, certification, labs and technical account management | Support, consulting and other professional services | Education, certification, adoption services, resident engineer, technical account manager, onboarding | Training, certification, technical account manager, consulting |
| Pricing | Most migration services are free for AWS customers. Snow family hardware starts at $200 per job. | Most services are free. Pricing for the Data Box family of products starts under $100. | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Free for most data transfer services. Transfer appliances start at $300 plus shipping. Velostrata pricing not disclosed. | Not available | Not disclosed | Varies by product |
