Cloud Journey: Understanding Migration Together

Use this illustrated mountain journey to introduce cloud migration to people without a technical background. It gives business stakeholders and delivery teams a shared picture for a kick-off, an introductory customer conversation, or a workshop before exploring the framework in detail.

The cloud journey

The illustration uses German labels. The guide below explains the scenes in English. Its six stations tell a simplified story; they are not six formal Migration Framework phases. Preparation, security, and operations need attention before workloads move, even where the mountain path might suggest a strict sequence. The cable car is a conversation starter about support and tooling, not a promise that preparation can be skipped.

Explain the journey in five minutes

1. Start at the tourist information office. Ask why the organization wants to move and what a successful journey would look like. Identify the people joining the trip and their concerns.
2. Follow the strategy and planning signs. Discuss what should move, what should stay, and which route fits the organization’s needs. Different workloads can take different routes.
3. Pause at basecamp and the landing zone. Basecamp represents skills, methods, tools, and people who help. The landing zone is the prepared cloud environment: access, connectivity, security rules, and visibility must be ready before workloads arrive.
4. Walk through migration and implementation. Move in manageable stages, check that services work, and prepare a way back if a move fails. Agree who decides when each stage is complete.
5. Look beyond arrival. Operation and optimization keep services useful and reliable. Innovation is an opportunity to explore once the foundation and business priorities support it.

Connect the scenes to the framework

Swipe sideways to see the whole table

Scene in the illustration	Framework connection	Question to discuss
1. Orientierung und Beratung	Assess establishes the initial context and readiness.	Why are we moving, and where are we starting?
2. Strategie und Planung	Design and Mobilize develops the target and delivery plan.	What should move, and which route fits?
3. Vorbereitung und Befähigung; Basecamp; Landing Zone	Enablement prepares people; Landing Zones prepares the cloud foundation.	What must be ready before the first move?
4. Migration und Umsetzung	Migrate delivers and validates migration waves.	How will we know each move worked?
5. Betrieb und Optimierung	Optimize improves migrated workloads; Run covers stabilization and ongoing operations.	Who keeps services healthy and improves them?
6. Innovation und Wachstum	Follow-on opportunities depend on business goals; this is not a separate migration phase.	What could the cloud make possible next?

Use it in a conversation

Ask participants to point to where they are today, name the next obstacle, and identify who can help. Close by agreeing on one next action and its owner. Use the relevant framework chapter for the detailed planning that follows.

Cloud Framework Explore the Migration Framework Open page