Creating a cutover runbook for application migration

Suraj Nikam and Michal Urbaniak, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

October 2021 (document history)

This guide provides planning and implementation tools for successfully performing the cutover stage of the application migration process. The guide explains the steps required to create effective pre-migration checklists and cutover runbooks. It includes a sample cutover runbook template that you can customize based on your specific migration requirements.

Overview

Migrations to the cloud are a combination of many moving parts. Successful migrations to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud involve collaboration between all stakeholders and a careful planning at every stage of the process with the right tools to accelerate it. One such tool that can be very effective during a migration is a cutover runbook. It is a living document for tracking activities, their respective planned start and end times, sequence, and owners. A cutover runbook is an essential artifact during the migration journey.

This guide provides an overview of the importance of cutover runbooks, key principles to keep in mind while creating one, and best practices. A sample template is also included. You can use the sample template as a baseline when using the rehost migration strategy with AWS Application Migration Service.

Targeted business outcomes

The intended outcome of this guide is to provide a prescriptive guidance on how to successfully run the cutover stage of the application migration process. Using this guide as a reference will provide you the following benefits: