Money · Cloud migration

Cloud Migration TCO & Payback Calculator

Directional TCO and payback for migration waves with risk buffers.

CFO-readable Year-1/3/5 TCO, payback months, and net savings for migration business cases.

How it works

Enter estate size, on-prem annual run cost, cloud annual estimate, and one-time migration cost.
Set a risk buffer % and planning horizon — Year-1/3/5 TCO, payback, and net savings update live.
Use bands in CFO/CIO reviews; unlock a printable one-pager with a work email when ready.

Migration & run-cost inputs

Directional TCO model — validate against detailed bills and wave plans.

Servers / VMs in scope Wave sizing signal — larger estates usually need higher buffers.

120

On-prem annual run cost ($) Hardware, facilities, ops labor, licenses for in-scope estate. Cloud annual run estimate ($) Steady-state cloud for same scope (compute, storage, support, typical egress). Migration one-time cost ($) Discovery, refactor, dual-run, tooling, training, cutover. Risk buffer (%) Inflates one-time cost for discovery misses and wave overruns.

20%

Years horizon Planning window for net savings (Year-1/3/5 TCO always shown).

TCO & payback

Defaults match the form. Change any input — numbers refresh instantly.

Year-1 TCO (cloud) — Buffered migration + year-1 run

Year-3 TCO (cloud) — Buffered migration + 3× run

Year-5 TCO (cloud) — Buffered migration + 5× run

Payback — Months to recover buffered migration

Net savings (horizon) — On-prem TCO − cloud TCO

Confidence note — Based on estate size, buffer, and savings gap

Business-case note

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Adjust inputs to see a tailored note.

Directional financial estimate only — not a quote, audit, or guarantee of savings.

How the model works

Buffered migration = one-time cost × (1 + risk buffer %).
Cloud TCO (N years) = buffered migration + (cloud annual × N).
On-prem TCO (N years) = on-prem annual × N.
Monthly savings = (on-prem annual − cloud annual) ÷ 12 when positive.
Payback months ≈ buffered migration ÷ monthly savings (or “not on run-cost alone” if cloud run ≥ on-prem).
Net savings (horizon) = on-prem TCO − cloud TCO over the selected years.

All math runs in your browser. Treat results as planning bands before board commitment.

Unlock printable TCO summary

Work email unlocks Print / Save as PDF. Same subscribe flow as the newsletter.

FAQ

How does the Migration TCO calculator work?

You enter servers/VMs in scope, on-prem annual run cost, cloud annual run estimate, one-time migration cost, a risk buffer %, and a planning horizon. The model compares Year-1/3/5 TCO, estimates payback months, and shows net savings vs staying on-prem.

What is included in migration one-time cost?

Treat it as wave cost: discovery, refactor/replatform effort, dual-run, tooling, training, and cutover. The risk buffer inflates that one-time amount to cover overruns.

How is payback calculated?

Monthly run savings = (on-prem annual − cloud annual) ÷ 12. Payback months ≈ buffered migration cost ÷ monthly savings when savings are positive. If cloud run is higher than on-prem, payback is marked as not achieved on run-cost alone.

Why show Year-1, Year-3, and Year-5 TCO?

Migration cost hits early years; run-cost delta compounds later. Multi-year TCO keeps finance and architecture aligned on when the business case turns positive.

Does VM count change the math?

VM count is a confidence and planning signal (wave sizing). Dollar math uses your annual run and migration inputs. Very large estates usually need higher buffers and staged waves.

Is this a binding financial model?

No. It is a directional CFO/CIO conversation tool. Validate with detailed FinOps bills, egress, licenses, and exit fees before board commitment.

How it works

How the model works

Unlock printable TCO summary

FAQ

Cloud Migration TCO & Payback Summary