Data center migration checklist

48 items across the six phases of a migration. Each one is here because leaving it out has a specific, recurring consequence — where that consequence is not obvious, it is written underneath. Tick state is stored in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere and there is no signup.

0 of 48 complete

01 Discovery and dependency mapping

4–8 weeks · owned by Infrastructure architecture · gate: A dependency graph signed off by application owners, with every system assigned to a move group.

Full asset inventory: serial, model, age, warranty status, rack position, power drawAge and warranty decide what moves and what gets replaced instead — moving a five-year-old server usually costs more than retiring it.
Application-to-server mapping, with a named owner for every application
East-west traffic capture over at least two weeks to find undocumented dependenciesTwo weeks catches weekly batch jobs; a single day does not.
Month-end and quarter-end process calendar — the windows you cannot touch
Licence audit: which licences are hardware-locked, site-locked or need re-issuing
Data classification: what is regulated, where it is legally allowed to live
Current power draw per rack measured, not derived from nameplate ratingsNameplate is typically 40–60% above real draw. Sizing the new contract on nameplate means paying for capacity you never use.
Existing contract review: notice period, exit clauses, auto-renewal date
Move groups defined — each group internally dependency-complete

02 Target site selection and design

6–12 weeks · owned by Infrastructure + procurement · gate: Signed colocation contract with commissioned space, power energised, and cross-connects ordered.

Requirements matrix: power, density, latency, carriers, compliance, expansion option
Shortlist of three to five facilities with published or quoted pricing
Site visits with the operations team, not just procurementCable management, spare parts storage and loading dock access are visible in ten minutes on site and invisible in any proposal.
Certification evidence collected: current reports, not marketing claims
Cabinet elevations and power distribution designed for the target load
Expansion clause: right of first refusal on adjacent space, priced now
Cross-connect pricing and monthly recurring charges confirmed in writingCross-connects are where a cheap headline rate turns expensive — some operators charge more per cross-connect per month than per kW.
SLA reviewed against your actual availability requirement, with the credit mechanism read
Remote hands rates, response times and escalation path agreed

03 Network and connectivity build

8–16 weeks · owned by Network engineering · gate: Both sites live on the same L2/L3 fabric, tested at full bandwidth, with the temporary inter-site link in place.

Carrier circuits ordered with confirmed delivery datesOrder these the week the contract is signed. Everything else in the plan can compress; carrier lead time cannot.
Temporary inter-site link sized for replication traffic plus migration bursts
IP addressing plan: what is re-addressed, what moves, what is NATed during transition
DNS TTLs lowered at least 48 hours before each cutover window
Firewall and security policy ported and reviewed, not copied blindly
Internet breakout and DDoS protection live at the target site
Out-of-band management access tested from outside the corporate networkThe one path you need most when a cutover goes wrong is the one that gets forgotten.
Monitoring, logging and alerting pointed at the new site before anything lands

04 Pilot wave

2–4 weeks · owned by Migration lead · gate: Pilot systems running in the target site for a full business cycle with no rollback and no unplanned outage.

Pilot group chosen: non-critical, self-contained, representative of the estate
Runbook written to the level where someone else could execute it
Rollback procedure written and timed — you need the go/no-go clockA rollback that takes longer than the remaining window is not a rollback.
Logistics chain tested end to end: packing, transport, insurance, receiving, racking
Post-move validation script: automated checks that prove the system actually works
Pilot retrospective with the runbook updated before wave one

05 Production waves

8–26 weeks · owned by Migration lead + application owners · gate: Each wave signed off by its application owner after a post-move validation pass.

Wave calendar published to the business, with blackout dates honoured
Change requests raised and approved per wave
Freeze on unrelated changes during each cutover window
Transport insurance covering asset replacement value, confirmed per shipment
Spare kit on site: cables, rails, PDUs, optics, at least one spare of anything critical
Named on-call bridge with the application owners, not just infrastructure
Go/no-go checkpoint at a fixed clock time in every windowDecided in advance, in writing. At 3 a.m. nobody makes a good rollback call from scratch.
Backups verified restorable — tested, not merely completed — before each wave moves
Post-move validation run and signed off before the window closes

06 Decommission and exit

4–12 weeks · owned by Facilities + procurement · gate: Written confirmation from the outgoing provider that the space is returned and billing has stopped.

Certificate of data destruction for every drive, matched to the asset register
Asset disposal or resale executed, with residual value credited to the project
Cross-connects and circuits at the old site formally cancelled
Cabinets cleared to contract condition, exit inspection completed
Written confirmation that billing has stopped, with the final invoice reconciledBilling continuing past the exit date is the single most common post-migration cost leak.
Documentation, diagrams and CMDB updated to the new reality
Lessons-learned review recorded while the detail is still fresh

The checklist tells you what to do. The cost calculator tells you what it will cost, the cutover runbook covers the night itself, and the facility catalog plus certification directory narrow the target shortlist.

Get quotes for the target site

Tell us the footprint and the market — we return facilities that fit and benchmark pricing.

NameWork emailPhone (optional)CompanyYour roleRacks to migrateTarget market

I agree that Coloprice may process this data to answer my request. No resale, no spam.

We reply within one business day. No spam, no reselling your contacts.