Cloud Migration Services for Small Business

What cloud migration services include and cost

A cloud migration service plans the move, copies the data, switches users over and cleans up afterward, and the price is mostly labor. No independent survey of small business migration project totals exists, so be wary of anyone quoting a single average. What can be priced:

• Migration tool licenses: about $2 to $15 per mailbox for Microsoft 365 email moves, and $10 to $35 per user when documents and drives are included ¹.
• Consultant time: $150 to $250 an hour for external consultants in the same 2026 vendor guide ¹. Planning, identity setup, pilot support and cutover weekends add up faster than the data copy itself.
• New subscriptions: Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $7, Business Standard $14 and Business Premium $22 per user per month on annual commitment, as of the July 1, 2026 price change ³⁸⁹.
• Running costs in Azure or AWS if servers move there, which replace hardware refresh and power costs but arrive monthly.

Ask for a fixed-price statement of work with named deliverables rather than open hourly billing. A good quote lists mailbox count, data volume, number of servers and apps, how many cutover events, and what support is included after go-live. For the ongoing support side, see our managed IT pricing guide.

What moves to the cloud well and what doesn't

Email, files and sign-in move well for almost every small business; older line-of-business software and very large local files are where migrations stall.

Usually moves well:

• Email and calendars to Exchange Online or Google Workspace.
• File shares to SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive, after cleanup of permissions and duplicate data.
• User sign-in to Microsoft Entra ID, which then enables MFA and single sign-on everywhere.
• Backups to cloud storage, ideally immutable. Our backup and disaster recovery guide covers what to keep and for how long.
• Vendor apps that have a SaaS version, such as accounting and practice management.

Often needs more thought:

• Older server software whose vendor only supports on-premises installs, or whose licensing is tied to hardware.
• Very large design, CAD or video files that staff open all day over a slow internet line.
• Equipment controllers, phone systems and anything that has to talk to devices on the shop floor or in the office.
• Databases with heavy, constant traffic to on-site desktop apps.

The answer for these is often hybrid: keep one small server or file cache on site and move everything else. Defense contractors handling CUI have a narrower choice of cloud, covered in our GCC High guide.

On-premises to cloud: when moving pays off

Moving pays off most when a server is near end of support, when staff work from several places, or when nobody on site wants to own hardware. Windows Server 2016 reaches the end of extended support in January 2027 ⁴, and Exchange Server 2019 left support in October 2025 ⁵. A business running either faces a replacement decision anyway, which is the cheapest moment to migrate.

Cloud vs on-premises server, in practice:

• Cloud turns hardware purchases into monthly fees, removes the single box in the closet, and makes remote work and backups simpler. Costs grow with users and storage, and need watching.
• On-premises can be cheaper over five or more years for stable, heavy workloads, and keeps working during an internet outage. It needs patching, backups, spare parts and someone responsible.

Vendor savings claims deserve a careful read. AWS says customers migrating legacy applications through its program average 31% infrastructure savings ⁶, but that is a vendor figure about infrastructure, not total cost including licenses and support. Ask a provider to model your own numbers for three to five years, including Microsoft 365 licensing, cloud compute, internet upgrades and their management fee.

Microsoft 365, Azure and AWS migrations

Most small businesses start with a Microsoft 365 migration, then decide whether any remaining servers belong in Azure, AWS or nowhere at all.

Microsoft 365 migration services cover mailboxes, archives, calendars, shared mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint. Moves from Google Workspace or another Microsoft 365 tenant (after an acquisition, for example) use the same tooling priced per mailbox and per user ¹. Microsoft's own FastTrack deployment and migration help is only available to tenants with at least 150 licenses of eligible plans such as Business Premium ², so most firms under that size work with a partner. Our Microsoft 365 support guide explains licensing and daily administration.

Azure migration suits businesses already on Microsoft 365 that need to keep a few Windows servers running: an accounting database, a line-of-business app or a file server for large files. It shares the same sign-in and security tools.

AWS migration is common for software and web businesses, or where an application vendor recommends it. AWS runs a Migration Acceleration Program offering tools, training, partners and financial investments to offset early migration costs ⁶; ask your provider whether your project qualifies.

Whichever platform you pick, someone has to manage it afterward. Managed cloud services cover patching, monitoring, backups, security settings and monthly cost reviews.

Migration risks to plan for

The biggest risks are security gaps during the move, missed data and a rough first Monday, and each can be planned away.

• Weak sign-in security. Moving mail to the cloud makes it reachable from anywhere. MFA reduces the risk of account compromise by 99.22% in Microsoft's research ⁷, so turn it on before cutover, not after.
• Overshared files. Old folder permissions often get copied as "everyone" access. Clean up permissions during the move.
• No backup of the new cloud data. Cloud platforms keep data available but do not protect you from deletion or ransomware by default. Add backup at the same time.
• Forgotten dependencies. Scanners that email to a server, apps that read a mapped drive, and shared mailboxes nobody listed. A thorough inventory catches these.
• Runaway cloud bills. Servers left running, oversized machines and forgotten storage. Ask for budget alerts and a monthly cost review.
• Old hardware left behind. Wipe or destroy drives before disposal and cancel old support contracts.

If you handle regulated data, check that the new setup still meets your rules. Our cybersecurity for small business guide lists the controls insurers and customers now expect.

How to choose a cloud migration partner

Choose a partner by the questions they ask you, not the platform they push. A good cloud consulting partner starts with an inventory and a written plan, and will tell you when something should stay on site.

Questions to ask:

1. What exactly is in the fixed price, and what would trigger extra charges?
2. Which migration tools do you use, and how do you handle shared mailboxes, archives and permissions?
3. How many similar-sized migrations have you done on this platform in the past year?
4. What does the cutover weekend look like, and who is on call Monday morning?
5. How do you set up MFA, backups and device management as part of the project?
6. After go-live, who manages the cloud environment and reviews costs, and what does that cost per month?
7. If we leave you later, how do we keep admin access to our own tenant?

For a one-off project you may want a consultant rather than a full managed contract; our IT consulting guide explains the difference. For the long-term provider decision, use our guide to choosing an MSP.