Assessing On-Premise Architectures for AWS Migration Using the Well-Architected Framework
Migrating from on-premises infrastructure to the AWS Cloud is no longer just a technical task—it is a strategic business initiative. Organizations today seek agility, cost-efficiency, and scalability. Yet many begin their migration journey without a clear, structured way to evaluate where they are and what they need.
The AWS Well-Architected Framework provides that structure. While originally designed for cloud-native workloads, it also offers a powerful diagnostic lens for evaluating on-premises architectures before migration. By applying its principles early, organizations can uncover risks, surface inefficiencies, and prepare a solid foundation for a scalable transition to AWS.
Why Cloud? Why AWS?
Before discussing frameworks or blueprints, every organization must first ask: Why migrate at all?
- Elastic scalability to adapt to shifting business demands
- Access to advanced services such as analytics, AI/ML, and modern data platforms
- Cost optimization through pay-as-you-go pricing
- Stronger resilience with built-in disaster recovery and high availability options
- Reduced hardware overhead by eliminating maintenance and lifecycle management
AWS often emerges as the cloud of choice because of its maturity, global reach, service breadth, and deep ecosystem of partners and tooling.
The Value of the AWS Well-Architected Framework
The Framework helps teams evaluate workloads across five core pillars:
- Operational Excellence – Streamlined operations, monitoring, and incident response
- Security – Safeguarding data, systems, and assets
- Reliability – Designing for recovery, consistency, and failover
- Performance Efficiency – Using resources efficiently to meet business needs
- Cost Optimization – Reducing waste and maximizing return on cloud spend
When applied before migration, these pillars help identify gaps in existing on-prem environments, from outdated monitoring practices to brittle security controls, giving organizations a clear view of what must change to thrive in AWS.
Mapping On-Premises to Cloud Readiness
Re-framing your current environment through the Well-Architected pillars enables organizations to:
- Uncover architectural blind spots (e.g., limited monitoring, lack of automated failover)
- Evaluate cultural readiness, including DevOps maturity and operational models
- Prioritize workloads for migration based on both business value and technical fit
- Develop a structured roadmap that aligns with AWS best practices
This exercise is not a one-time event but the first iteration in an ongoing journey. As workloads move into AWS, the Well-Architected Framework continues to serve as a feedback loop for improvement and governance.
What’s Next
In the next part of this series, we’ll explore pre-migration preparation. Topics include:
- Aligning stakeholders around migration goals
- Building an application and dependency inventory
- Establishing cost baselines and TCO models
- Mapping workloads to the AWS Migration Strategies (the “6 Rs”)
By the end of Part 2, you’ll be equipped with a structured path to accelerate your AWS journey while reducing risk and cost.
📘 Read: Preparing for Migration