cloudthinker-ai AWS to GCP Migration Plan
Guides a structured migration from AWS account {{ source_aws_account_id }} to GCP project {{ target_gcp_project }} with a target timeline of {{ migration_timeline }}.
Workflow
Step 1 — Discovery & Assessment
- Inventory all AWS services currently in use
- Map each AWS service to its GCP equivalent:
- EC2 → Compute Engine
- S3 → Cloud Storage
- RDS → Cloud SQL / AlloyDB
- Lambda → Cloud Functions / Cloud Run
- DynamoDB → Firestore / Bigtable
- SQS/SNS → Pub/Sub
- EKS → GKE
- CloudFront → Cloud CDN
- Route 53 → Cloud DNS
- IAM → Cloud IAM
- Document dependencies between services
- Identify services with no direct GCP equivalent and plan alternatives
Step 2 — Architecture Design
- Design target GCP architecture
- Plan networking topology (VPC, subnets, firewall rules)
- Map IAM roles and policies to GCP IAM
- Design data migration strategy per data store
- Plan DNS cutover strategy
Decision Matrix: Migration Approach per Workload
| Workload | Rehost | Replatform | Refactor | Retire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compute | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Database | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Storage | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Network | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
Step 3 — Foundation Setup
- Configure GCP organization and project hierarchy
- Set up networking (Shared VPC, Cloud Interconnect if needed)
- Configure IAM and security policies
- Set up monitoring with Cloud Monitoring and Cloud Logging
- Establish CI/CD pipelines for GCP deployments
Step 4 — Migration Execution
- Migrate data stores (use Transfer Service, Database Migration Service)
- Deploy compute workloads to GCP
- Configure load balancers and traffic management
- Run parallel environments for validation
- Execute DNS cutover with gradual traffic shifting
Step 5 — Validation & Optimization
- Run integration and performance tests on GCP
- Validate data integrity post-migration
- Compare cost baseline between AWS and GCP
- Optimize resource sizing and committed use discounts
- Decommission AWS resources after stabilization period
Counter-Rationalizations
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "We can skip some steps for this case" | Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them | Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate |
| "The user seems to already know what to do" | Complete all workflow phases with the user | The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses |
| "This is a minor case, full process is overkill" | Scale the process down, don't turn it off | Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears |
| "I'll fill in the details later" | Complete each section before moving on | Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate |
| "The template output isn't necessary" | Always produce the structured output format | Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams |
Output Format
- Migration Inventory Spreadsheet: Service-by-service mapping with migration method
- Architecture Diagram: Target GCP architecture with networking
- Migration Runbook: Step-by-step execution guide per workload
- Rollback Plan: Procedures to revert each migration phase
- Cost Comparison: Pre- and post-migration cost analysis