Know the bill before you move.
An Azure migration has two costs: what it takes to move, and what it costs to run afterwards. Microsoft's own tooling, Azure Migrate, is free and builds a business case comparing the two. QServices uses it to decide what moves, where it lands and which licences and funding offset the bill.
| Cost | Moving | Running |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment | Azure Migrate is free | Not applicable |
| Labour | Discovery, landing zone, migration, testing | Operations and monitoring |
| Compute and storage | Running old and new side by side for a while | The main ongoing cost; right-size after moving |
| Licences | Hybrid Benefit lets you reuse Windows and SQL Server licences with Software Assurance | Reservations and savings plans |
| Security updates | Free Extended Security Updates on Azure VMs for older Windows and SQL Server | On-premises Windows Server ESUs cost 100% of the licence a year |
Azure Migrate's business case uses defaults such as $250 per server a year for security and a 7% cost of capital, which you should replace with your own.
Microsoft's advice: start on the managed platforms and move to Kubernetes when your requirements demand it.
| App Service | Container Apps | AKS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Web apps and APIs | Containerised services and jobs | Many services, with a platform team |
| Running effort | Low | Low | High |
| Billing | Per instance in a plan | Per use, with a free monthly allowance; nothing when scaled to zero | Per node; production needs several |
| SLA | Yes | Yes | Not on the Free tier |
From Microsoft Learn's compute decision guides, October 2026.
Formerly Azure Accelerate: funded assessments, deployment help and partner funding. Eligibility and amounts are set per project, not published.
Reuse Windows Server and SQL Server licences with Software Assurance; minimum 8 core licences per VM; 180 days of dual use.
Free on Azure VMs for older Windows Server and SQL Server, paid on-premises.
Microsoft recommends a like-for-like move with a blue-green cutover; a moderately complex workload takes roughly 6 to 13 weeks.
Two bills: moving (assessment, labour, a period of running both) and running (compute, storage, licences, operations). Azure Migrate's free business case compares the two; Hybrid Benefit and free security updates on Azure often change the answer.
Sometimes. Frontier Accelerate for Azure, formerly Azure Accelerate, can fund assessments, deployment help and partner work, but eligibility and amounts are decided per project and not published.
You reuse Windows Server and SQL Server licences that have Software Assurance or qualifying subscriptions, with a minimum of 8 core licences per VM and 180 days of dual use while you migrate. Microsoft says SQL savings are up to 30% or more.
App Service for web apps and APIs, Container Apps for containerised services, and AKS only when you have many services and a team to run Kubernetes.
Map services, move like for like with Azure Migrate (treating EC2 as physical servers), cut over blue-green, then optimise. Ask AWS to waive data transfer out charges for leaving.
Ask for an Azure Migrate business case before any quote, their plan for licences and funding, how they cut over and roll back, and who runs it afterwards.
Facts on this page checked on 22 October 2026.
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