Migrate without the chaos
Cloud migrations fail when they're treated as lift-and-shift projects instead of platform transformations. We migrate your workloads to AWS, Azure, or GCP — with zero unplanned downtime and a platform you can actually operate.
Talk to an engineerWhy Choose THNKBIG for Cloud Migration
THNKBIG is a US-based cloud migration consulting firm with deep roots in Texas and California, serving enterprises nationwide. Our cloud migration services combine hands-on engineering expertise with proven methodologies developed across hundreds of successful migrations to AWS, Azure, and GCP.
What sets our cloud migration consulting apart is our zero-downtime approach and obsession with risk mitigation. We do not treat migrations as lift-and-shift projects. Every engagement includes comprehensive discovery, dependency mapping, and a phased migration roadmap tailored to your compliance requirements and business constraints.
Our clients consistently achieve 40-60% infrastructure cost savings while gaining a cloud-native platform their teams can actually operate. We stay engaged through hypercare and knowledge transfer, ensuring your organization is self-sufficient long after the migration is complete.
How we execute migrations without the chaos
Cloud migration projects fail when they are treated as lift-and-shift exercises that move workloads without transforming operations. Teams relocate VMs to EC2 instances, declare victory, and then spend the next two years fighting cloud-specific problems with on-premises playbooks. The servers are different but the operational pain remains unchanged. Worse, cloud billing surprises erode the cost savings that justified the migration in the first place.
Our cloud migration approach treats every engagement as a platform transformation, not a datacenter relocation. We start by understanding your application portfolio at a deep level: dependencies between services, data gravity considerations, compliance boundaries, performance requirements, and operational practices. This discovery phase identifies which workloads benefit from containerization, which can lift-and-shift safely, and which require refactoring to realize cloud benefits. You get a prioritized roadmap based on business value and technical risk, not a one-size-fits-all migration factory.
Migration execution follows a disciplined phased approach. Each wave of workloads moves through the same validation gates: functional testing in the target environment, performance benchmarking against production baselines, security controls verification, and operations runbook validation. We run parallel environments during cutover windows, with automated traffic shifting and instant rollback capabilities. Our team has completed migrations across AWS, Azure, and GCP for organizations with compliance requirements spanning HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2, and FedRAMP. Zero-downtime migration is not aspirational — it is the standard we deliver.
Post-migration success depends on your team's ability to operate the new platform independently. We do not disappear after cutover. Our hypercare period includes intensive monitoring, rapid incident response, and knowledge transfer sessions that build operational confidence. Documentation covers not just what we built but why we made each architectural decision. By the time we disengage, your team owns the platform completely and can evolve it without external dependency.
Start with clarity, not chaos
Before any migration, you need to understand what you're moving, why, and how. Our free assessment gives you a clear picture — no commitment required.
Discovery Call
30-minute call to understand your environment, goals, and constraints.
Quick Analysis
We review your architecture and identify migration complexity.
Roadmap Delivery
You get a preliminary roadmap with timeline and cost estimates.
Four phases to production
Every migration follows the same disciplined process. No shortcuts, no surprises.
Discovery & Assessment
2-4 weeks
We map your entire application landscape — dependencies, data flows, compliance requirements, and performance baselines. You get a detailed migration roadmap with risk assessment.
Deliverables
- Application inventory
- Dependency mapping
- Risk assessment
- Migration roadmap
- Cost projection
Architecture & Planning
2-3 weeks
We design your target architecture: Kubernetes platform, networking, security controls, and operational tooling. Every decision is documented and reviewed with your team.
Deliverables
- Target architecture
- Network design
- Security controls
- DR/HA strategy
- Runbook templates
Build & Validate
4-8 weeks
We build the target environment and migrate workloads incrementally. Each migration wave is tested thoroughly before cutover. No big-bang migrations, no surprises.
Deliverables
- Platform deployment
- Migration automation
- Testing validation
- Performance benchmarks
- Rollback procedures
Cutover & Stabilize
2-4 weeks
We execute the final cutover with your team, monitor intensively, and resolve any issues. We stay engaged until your operations team is fully confident.
Deliverables
- Zero-downtime cutover
- Intensive monitoring
- Issue resolution
- Operations handoff
- Knowledge transfer
How we eliminate migration risk
Every migration carries risk. Here's how we mitigate the ones that matter.
| Risk | Impact | Mitigation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extended downtime | Revenue loss, customer impact | Blue/green deployment, incremental migration waves, automated rollback | Zero unplanned downtime |
| Data loss or corruption | Compliance violations, business continuity | Continuous data sync, validation checkpoints, point-in-time recovery | 100% data integrity |
| Performance degradation | User experience, SLA breaches | Baseline benchmarks, load testing, gradual traffic shift | Performance parity or better |
| Cost overruns | Budget breach, project cancellation | Right-sizing, reserved capacity, cost monitoring from day 1 | 40-60% cost reduction |
| Team knowledge gaps | Operational instability post-migration | Embedded collaboration, documentation, hands-on training | Self-sufficient operations |
The right approach for each workload
Lift & Shift
Move workloads to cloud with minimal changes. Fastest path but may miss optimization opportunities.
Best for: Time-sensitive migrations, legacy apps with limited modification budget
Timeline: 4-8 weeks per wave
Replatform
Containerize applications and deploy to Kubernetes. Better cloud-native benefits with moderate effort.
Best for: Apps that can benefit from containers, teams ready for Kubernetes
Timeline: 8-12 weeks per wave
Refactor
Re-architect applications as microservices. Maximum cloud-native benefits but highest effort.
Best for: Strategic applications, long-term modernization initiatives
Timeline: 12-24 weeks per app
Hybrid
Mix strategies based on application value and constraints. Practical approach for complex portfolios.
Best for: Large enterprises with diverse application landscapes
Timeline: Varies by workload
Frequently asked questions
Technology Partners
Cloud migration done right
IL-5 classified workloads migrated to AWS GovCloud with Rancher
We migrated classified defense workloads to Kubernetes on AWS GovCloud — achieving 90% faster deployments while maintaining full IL-5 compliance throughout the transition.
Read the full case study →Related Reading
Cloud Migration Strategies That Actually Work
Lift-and-shift vs re-platform vs re-architect — choosing the right approach for your workloads.
On-Prem vs Cloud: A TCO-Based Decision Guide
When does cloud make sense? A practical framework for total cost of ownership analysis.
AWS re:Invent 2022 Kubernetes Keynote Review
Key announcements for EKS, cloud migration tools, and AWS container strategy.
Cloud Migration Strategy: What Actually Determines Success
Cloud migration projects succeed or fail based on decisions made before the first workload is moved. Organizations that approach cloud migration as a purely technical exercise — listing servers and replicating them in the cloud — consistently underperform organizations that treat it as a business transformation with technology as the implementation vehicle. The core business questions must be answered first: which workloads generate the most value and carry the highest risk? Which teams will operate the new infrastructure and what do they need to succeed? What does the end state look like, and how will you measure that you have reached it? THNKBIG begins every cloud migration engagement with structured discovery and strategy work that answers these questions before committing to an execution path.
Rehost, replatform, refactor, repurchase, retire — the classic migration strategies capture a spectrum of investment and return. A simple lift-and-shift moves workloads quickly but captures little cloud value. A full refactor to cloud-native architecture captures the most value but requires the most time and carries the most risk. The right strategy for each workload depends on its business importance, its remaining useful life, the effort required to modernize it, and the cloud capabilities that would benefit it. THNKBIG's migration assessment produces a workload disposition framework that assigns a strategy to each application based on these factors — enabling organizations to prioritize high-value modernization while handling lower-priority applications with faster, simpler approaches.
Database migration is consistently the most complex and highest-risk component of cloud migration projects. Migrating application servers is relatively straightforward; migrating databases with terabytes of data, complex schemas, stored procedures, and zero-downtime requirements requires careful planning and specialized expertise. THNKBIG has migrated Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL databases to cloud-managed equivalents — RDS, Azure Database, and Cloud SQL — using both offline migration with application downtime windows and online replication approaches that enable zero-downtime cutovers for applications that cannot tolerate disruption. Our database migration practice includes schema assessment, performance validation, and comprehensive rollback planning for every engagement.
Ready to make AI operational?
Whether you're planning GPU infrastructure, stabilizing Kubernetes, or moving AI workloads into production — we'll assess where you are and what it takes to get there.
US-based team · All US citizens · Continental United States only