---
title: "Migration Framework Expedition: Discovery to Day-2 Operations"
description: "Guided end-to-end expedition through the STACKIT Migration Framework, from discovery and R-strategy decisions to factory waves, cutover, and day-2 operations."
scfTrail:
  tags: ["wip"]
  maintainers:
    - user: "tobias.mueller"
  steps:
    - style: "compass"
      title: "Capture the Discovery Evidence Base"
      id: "discovery"
      trailContext: "Every migration decision downstream is only as good as the discovery input. Start by consolidating inventory, dependencies, utilization, and operational constraints into a migration-ready evidence base."
      pageId: "migration/design-and-mobilize/discovery/overview/#what-discovery-typically-captures"

    - style: "compass"
      title: "Classify the Workload"
      id: "classify"
      trailContext: "Before choosing how to migrate, make transparent what is migrated. Use the classification dimensions to profile migration object, state, criticality, connectivity, downtime, and compliance per request."
      pageId: "migration/design-and-mobilize/design/workload-migration-use-cases/#classification-dimensions"

    - style: "stairs"
      title: "Decide the R-Strategy"
      id: "r-strategy"
      trailContext: "With workload profiles in hand, route each application into its migration path. The decision criteria make explicit when Relocate, Rehost, Replatform, Repurchase, Refactor, or Retain/Retire is the right call."
      pageId: "migration/design-and-mobilize/design/overview/#decision-criteria-by-r-strategy"

    - style: "hut"
      title: "Automate the Landing Zone Foundation"
      id: "landing-zone"
      trailContext: "Provision the platform and application landing zone baseline as code before the first wave starts, so governance, networking, IAM, and security controls are reproducible instead of hand-crafted."
      assetId: "migration/assetcontainer/stackit/landing-zone-foundation-opentofu.mdx"

    - style: "shield"
      title: "Anchor Security and Compliance Early"
      id: "security"
      trailContext: "Security and compliance is a parallel stream, not a final gate. Map the control topics early so evidence pipelines, sovereignty requirements, and zero-trust decisions land in the design instead of the audit."
      imageSrc: "migration/design-and-mobilize/security-and-compliance/files/security-and-compliance-overview-map-en.svg"
      imageAlt: "Security and compliance topic map"
      imagePosition: right

    - style: "chairlift"
      title: "Set Up the Migration Factory"
      id: "factory"
      trailContext: "Scale from single moves to governed waves. The factory operating model defines intake, roles, throughput, and quality gates so migration capacity grows across teams without losing control."
      pageId: "migration/design-and-mobilize/migration-plan/overview/#migration-factory-operating-model"

    - style: "gondola"
      title: "Run the Migrate Phase"
      id: "migrate"
      trailContext: "Execute approved waves through the core modules of the Migrate phase, with clear boundaries between migration runs, optimization, and the operating-model handover."
      pageId: "migration/migrate/#core-modules-in-this-phase"

    - style: "rocket"
      title: "Cut Over with a Governed Runbook"
      id: "cutover"
      trailContext: "Bring a workload live on STACKIT with explicit prerequisites, cutover governance, validation checklists, and rollback boundaries instead of improvised go-lives."
      assetId: "migration/assetcontainer/stackit/runbook-vm-app-rehost-cutover.mdx"

    - style: "chart"
      title: "Stabilize Through Hypercare"
      id: "hypercare"
      trailContext: "Directly after cutover, run a focused Hypercare window: heightened monitoring, fast remediation, and explicit exit criteria close the immediate post-migration risks before steady-state operations."
      pageId: "migration/run/hypercare/overview/#why-hypercare-is-essential"

    - style: "summit"
      title: "Hand Over to Customer Success"
      id: "customer-success"
      trailContext: "Close the expedition by connecting the stabilized workload to the long-term coordination layer: adoption tracking, stakeholder alignment, and escalation routing through STACKIT Customer Success."
      pageId: "migration/run/customer-success/overview/#customer-success-at-stackit"
  presentations:
    - id: exec
      label: "Executive overview"
      description: "Short pitch for decision makers: strategy, one factory example, go-live."
      steps:
        - discovery
        - r-strategy
        - { id: factory, role: sub }
        - migrate
        - customer-success
    - id: technical
      label: "Technical deep-dive"
      description: "Full engineering walk-through with security and cutover detail."
      steps:
        - discovery
        - classify
        - r-strategy
        - landing-zone
        - { id: security, role: sub }
        - factory
        - migrate
        - cutover
        - { id: hypercare, role: hidden }
        - customer-success
source_url: "https://framework.stackit.cloud/migration/trails/tm/migration-framework-expedition/"
source_file: "docs/migration/trails/tm/migration-framework-expedition.mdx"
---

## Steps

### 1. Capture the Discovery Evidence Base

Stage: `compass`

Every migration decision downstream is only as good as the discovery input. Start by consolidating inventory, dependencies, utilization, and operational constraints into a migration-ready evidence base.

Page: [/migration/design-and-mobilize/discovery/overview/#what-discovery-typically-captures](/migration/design-and-mobilize/discovery/overview/#what-discovery-typically-captures) — source: [/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/discovery/overview.md](/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/discovery/overview.md), section `#what-discovery-typically-captures`

### 2. Classify the Workload

Stage: `compass`

Before choosing how to migrate, make transparent what is migrated. Use the classification dimensions to profile migration object, state, criticality, connectivity, downtime, and compliance per request.

Page: [/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/workload-migration-use-cases/#classification-dimensions](/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/workload-migration-use-cases/#classification-dimensions) — source: [/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/workload-migration-use-cases.md](/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/workload-migration-use-cases.md), section `#classification-dimensions`

### 3. Decide the R-Strategy

Stage: `stairs`

With workload profiles in hand, route each application into its migration path. The decision criteria make explicit when Relocate, Rehost, Replatform, Repurchase, Refactor, or Retain/Retire is the right call.

Page: [/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/overview/#decision-criteria-by-r-strategy](/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/overview/#decision-criteria-by-r-strategy) — source: [/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/overview.md](/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/design/overview.md), section `#decision-criteria-by-r-strategy`

### 4. Automate the Landing Zone Foundation

Stage: `hut`

Provision the platform and application landing zone baseline as code before the first wave starts, so governance, networking, IAM, and security controls are reproducible instead of hand-crafted.

Asset: [/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/landing-zone-foundation-opentofu/](/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/landing-zone-foundation-opentofu/) — source: [/raw/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/landing-zone-foundation-opentofu.md](/raw/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/landing-zone-foundation-opentofu.md)

### 5. Anchor Security and Compliance Early

Stage: `shield`

Security and compliance is a parallel stream, not a final gate. Map the control topics early so evidence pipelines, sovereignty requirements, and zero-trust decisions land in the design instead of the audit.

### 6. Set Up the Migration Factory

Stage: `chairlift`

Scale from single moves to governed waves. The factory operating model defines intake, roles, throughput, and quality gates so migration capacity grows across teams without losing control.

Page: [/migration/design-and-mobilize/migration-plan/overview/#migration-factory-operating-model](/migration/design-and-mobilize/migration-plan/overview/#migration-factory-operating-model) — source: [/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/migration-plan/overview.md](/raw/migration/design-and-mobilize/migration-plan/overview.md), section `#migration-factory-operating-model`

### 7. Run the Migrate Phase

Stage: `gondola`

Execute approved waves through the core modules of the Migrate phase, with clear boundaries between migration runs, optimization, and the operating-model handover.

Page: [/migration/migrate/#core-modules-in-this-phase](/migration/migrate/#core-modules-in-this-phase) — source: [/raw/migration/migrate.md](/raw/migration/migrate.md), section `#core-modules-in-this-phase`

### 8. Cut Over with a Governed Runbook

Stage: `rocket`

Bring a workload live on STACKIT with explicit prerequisites, cutover governance, validation checklists, and rollback boundaries instead of improvised go-lives.

Asset: [/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/runbook-vm-app-rehost-cutover/](/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/runbook-vm-app-rehost-cutover/) — source: [/raw/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/runbook-vm-app-rehost-cutover.md](/raw/migration/assetcontainer/stackit/runbook-vm-app-rehost-cutover.md)

### 9. Stabilize Through Hypercare

Stage: `chart`

Directly after cutover, run a focused Hypercare window: heightened monitoring, fast remediation, and explicit exit criteria close the immediate post-migration risks before steady-state operations.

Page: [/migration/run/hypercare/overview/#why-hypercare-is-essential](/migration/run/hypercare/overview/#why-hypercare-is-essential) — source: [/raw/migration/run/hypercare/overview.md](/raw/migration/run/hypercare/overview.md), section `#why-hypercare-is-essential`

### 10. Hand Over to Customer Success

Stage: `summit`

Close the expedition by connecting the stabilized workload to the long-term coordination layer: adoption tracking, stakeholder alignment, and escalation routing through STACKIT Customer Success.

Page: [/migration/run/customer-success/overview/#customer-success-at-stackit](/migration/run/customer-success/overview/#customer-success-at-stackit) — source: [/raw/migration/run/customer-success/overview.md](/raw/migration/run/customer-success/overview.md), section `#customer-success-at-stackit`