Azure Migrate was first announced at Microsoft Ignite 2017. Since it went generally available in early 2018 it's undergone a number of changes, continuously adding functionality.

Timeline of events

We've seen it grow from a product that can only do a server discovery assessment on VMware virtual environments to now being able to discovery virtual and physical servers, as well as having third party solutions built in and accessible from the Azure Portal. The product really is the Hub for your data centre migrations now.

With all the technology innovations to the product there has also been a bit of an evolution with the products name.

Azure Migrate is the name of the hub, where you go to find discovery tools, or migration tooling. It’s the head of the product family if you will. Under that banner is several tools, some native and some third party.

Natively we have, Azure Migrate: Server Assessment, which is the discovery tool, that helps you catalog your server inventory. Azure Migrate: Server Migration is the native tooling that helps you move your servers into Azure.

Third party wise Cloudamize, Corent Tech, Device42, Turbonomic, UnifyCloud, Movere, Carbonite, and RackWare are built into the platform to help with either your discovery or your migration.

Why I love Azure Migrate

What I really love about Azure Migrate is that it is extremely versatile in what it can do for you and your organisation. Azure Migrate: Server Assessment can help you understand your environment in preparation for a data center migration project but I’ve also seen people utilize it as a discovery tool when they start a new job! They’ve implemented the Server Assessment and Dependency Mapping tool to understand what resides within their environment and help them to start to plan for future projects. Which I think is a testament to how flexible and easily accessible the tool is.

It’s free! If you are working within an IT department and you are trying to convince your boss or senior executive team that utilizing Azure is a good move for your organisation you use Azure Migrate and it’s native tooling to provide great cost analysis reports that you can leverage in your discussions. Other than your time there is no cost to your organisation for leveraging the tool.

Silver coloured watch moving fast

The implementation time of having Azure Migrate up and running and collecting information about your organisation is fast! The implementation time into VMware or Hyper-V environment can be anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour depending on your download bandwidth and environment configuration. The most complex part of getting the Server Assessment tooling into your environment will no doubt be your change control process! ;)

So the next time you hear the name Azure Migrate, think big, think versatile, think hub.