Moving your GIS system to the cloud is a big decision. It touches your data, your apps, and the people who use them every day. If you rush into it without a plan, small problems can turn into big headaches later. That is why you need a clear ArcGIS Cloud Migration Checklist before you start.

This checklist walks you through the important steps your team should take first. It covers things like checking your data, reviewing your security, and understanding your ArcGIS licenses. It also helps you think about costs, backups, and who will manage the system once it moves.

You do not need to be a cloud expert to follow this guide. Each step is simple and easy to follow, even if this is your first time planning a move like this. By the end, you will know exactly what to check before your ArcGIS system goes live in the cloud.

What Does an ArcGIS Cloud Migration Involve?

An ArcGIS Enterprise to cloud move touches many parts of your GIS setup, from your servers and data to your security rules and user accounts. Below are the main parts of your GIS environment that this process usually touches.

• Your GIS data, maps, and layers
• ArcGIS Server, Portal, and related components
• User accounts, roles, and ArcGIS licensing
• Network settings and security policies
• Backup files and disaster recovery plans

 

The global government and public sector cloud migration services market is valued at roughly $2 billion, projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 17% to 25%.

ArcGIS Cloud Migration Checklist: 15 Things to Do Before You Start

A good ArcGIS migration readiness checklist covers more than just moving files. Below are the fifteen steps your team should complete before you begin, to keep your GIS infrastructure modernization project on time and on budget.

1. Define the Business Reason for Migration

Write down why your organization wants to move to the cloud. Maybe you need better performance, lower costs, or easier scaling during busy seasons. A clear goal helps you measure success later and keeps your ArcGIS cloud migration planning focused on what matters most to your team.

2. Inventory Your ArcGIS Environment

List every ArcGIS Server, Portal, Data Store, and add-on tool your organization currently uses. Record the software versions, supporting hardware, and how each system connects with the others.

This step improves your GIS cloud readiness by giving your team a complete view of the environment before migration. Many organizations start with a GIS health check to identify dependencies, performance issues, and potential risks before moving anything to the cloud.

3. Review GIS Data and Content

Check your feature layers, imagery, and file geodatabases for size and quality. Remove old or duplicate data you no longer need. This makes the move faster and keeps your new cloud environment clean from the start.

4. Map Application and System Dependencies

Find out which apps, dashboards, and third party tools connect to your ArcGIS environment. Missing a single dependency can break a workflow after the move, so take time to trace every connection carefully.

5. Select the Appropriate Cloud Deployment Model

Decide whether you want ArcGIS Enterprise on virtual machines, a hosted setup through ArcGIS Enterprise hosting services, or Esri managed cloud services. Each option changes how much control your team keeps and how much maintenance work falls on your staff.

6. Classify Sensitive and Critical Data

Sort your data by sensitivity level, such as public, internal, or restricted. This helps you apply the right security rules to each dataset once it moves to the cloud and supports a smoother cloud migration risk assessment later.

7. Review Identity and Access Management

Check who has access to your GIS systems today and whether those permissions still make sense. Set up single sign on and multi factor authentication where you can, since identity gaps are one of the most common security risks during migration.

8. Establish Security Requirements

Write down the security standards your new cloud setup must meet, including firewalls, encryption, and network isolation. Good cloud security and backup planning early on prevents costly fixes after your systems go live.

9. Plan Backup and Disaster Recovery

Decide how often you will back up your data and how fast you need to recover if something goes wrong. A tested recovery plan gives your team confidence during and after the ArcGIS Enterprise cloud migration.

10. Review ArcGIS Licensing

Confirm your current ArcGIS licenses will work in the cloud, and check if you need to adjust your Esri agreement. Licensing questions often surprise teams late in the process, so review this early.

11. Estimate Infrastructure and Operating Costs

Compare compute, storage, and network costs across cloud providers. Include ongoing costs like support, monitoring, and scaling, not just the setup fees, so your budget reflects the true cost of your move.

12. Establish Performance Benchmarks

Record how your current system performs today, including map load times and user response times. These benchmarks give your team a clear baseline for measuring improvements in ArcGIS enterprise performance optimization after the migration and help confirm that users are getting a better experience.

13. Create a Testing and Validation Plan

Plan how you will test maps, apps, and data after migration, before real users depend on them. Include both technical checks and feedback from actual GIS users in your department.

14. Plan Downtime, Communication, and Rollback

Set a maintenance window, tell your users ahead of time, and prepare a rollback plan in case something does not go as expected. Clear communication reduces frustration during the cutover.

15. Confirm Skills, Ownership, and Ongoing Support

Make sure your team knows who owns the cloud environment after migration and who handles day to day support. Training or outside help may be needed if your staff is new to cloud systems.

AWS vs. Azure vs. Esri Managed Cloud Services

Choosing the right platform depends on your team’s skills, budget, and how much control you want to keep for your ArcGIS Enterprise to cloud strategy. The table below compares AWS, Azure, and Esri managed cloud services across a few key factors.

Factor	AWS	Azure	Esri Managed Cloud Services
Setup Control	Full control, more setup work	Full control, more setup work	Esri manages setup for you
Maintenance	Your team handles updates	Your team handles updates	Esri handles most maintenance
Cost Structure	Pay for what you use	Pay for what you use	Fixed subscription pricing
Best For	Teams with cloud experience	Teams already using Microsoft tools	Teams that want less hands-on management
Scalability	Highly scalable, manual tuning	Highly scalable, manual tuning	Scales with Esri support included

 

Esri Managed Cloud Services” typically runs on AWS or Azure underneath — it’s a management model, not a separate infrastructure layer. 

In practice, the choice isn’t always one option or the other. Many organizations run ArcGIS Enterprise on their own AWS or Azure environment while a managed services partner operates it day to day, handling monitoring, patching, and support. This gives you the control of owning your cloud infrastructure with the operational support of a managed services model.

Local government organizations allocate roughly 20.6% of their total IT budgets specifically to cloud solutions, while national/federal entities trend slightly higher at 22%.

What Happens After Migration: Operating ArcGIS in the Cloud

Migration is the beginning of your cloud GIS environment, not the end of the project. Once ArcGIS Enterprise is running on AWS or Microsoft Azure, someone needs to keep it patched, monitored, backed up, and secure, day in and day out.

This is where Managed ArcGIS Cloud Services (MACS) come in. Instead of your team taking on ongoing ArcGIS administration, patching, upgrades, and 24×7 monitoring on top of everything else they manage, a managed services partner handles the operational side of your cloud GIS environment while your team focuses on the GIS work itself.

Data protection also becomes an ongoing responsibility rather than a one-time migration task. CyberTech’s DataSafe approach addresses this by securing data across three layers: the user layer, data in transit, and the server layer, so protection doesn’t stop once the migration is complete.

If your organization is planning a move to AWS or Azure and wants to know what ongoing support looks like, CyberTech’s Managed ArcGIS Cloud Services page walks through what’s included.

Common ArcGIS Cloud Migration Mistakes

Even well planned migrations run into trouble when teams skip small but important steps. Below are the things to check before ArcGIS cloud migration, based on the most common mistakes we see during ArcGIS cloud migration services projects.

• Skipping a full inventory of GIS data and apps before starting
• Underestimating licensing changes needed for the cloud
• Ignoring security and identity checks until late in the project
• Not testing performance before moving real users over
• Forgetting to plan for rollback if something goes wrong
• Choosing a cloud model without checking team skills first

How CyberTech Supports ArcGIS Cloud Migration

As an Esri Platinum Partner, CyberTech’s ArcGIS cloud migration services team works with organizations at every stage of their move, from the first GIS Health Check through final testing and handover. We help you build a realistic ArcGIS migration readiness checklist, choose the right deployment model, and set up Managed ArcGIS Cloud Services (MACS) that match your budget and skill level, backed by 24×7 monitoring and DataSafe’s approach to data protection.

Whether you need help with a complex utility network setup or a full GIS infrastructure modernization project, CyberTech supports your team with practical guidance instead of generic advice, both during migration and long after your systems are live in the cloud.

With the right partner and a clear plan, your organization can move to the cloud with confidence, and keep it running smoothly with managed support for years to come.

Ready to talk through your migration plan? Explore Managed ArcGIS Cloud Services or reach out to CyberTech’s team to get started.