AWS to GCP Migration Plan (2026)

A complete guide to planning and executing an AWS-to-GCP migration project. Covers service mapping, migration tooling, phase splitting, TCO estimation, and the organizational success factors.

The 6 R Migration Framework

Strategy	Description	Use case
Rehost (Lift & Shift)	EC2 → GCE as-is	Fast migration
Replatform	EC2 → Cloud Run / GKE Autopilot	Operational efficiency
Repurchase	Switch to SaaS	Commercial solutions
Refactor / Re-architect	Cloud-native rewrite	Long-term competitiveness
Retire	Decommission	Unneeded systems
Retain	Keep on AWS	Hard to migrate / cost rationale

Key Service Mapping

AWS	GCP
EC2	Compute Engine (GCE)
ECS	Cloud Run (simple) / GKE Autopilot
EKS	GKE
Lambda	Cloud Functions 2nd gen
Fargate	Cloud Run / GKE Autopilot
Elastic Beanstalk	App Engine / Cloud Run
S3	Cloud Storage
EFS / FSx	Filestore
RDS	Cloud SQL
Aurora	AlloyDB
Aurora DSQL	Spanner
DynamoDB	Firestore / Bigtable
ElastiCache	Memorystore
Redshift	BigQuery
Athena	BigQuery / BigLake
EMR	Dataproc
Kinesis	Pub/Sub + Dataflow
SNS / SQS	Pub/Sub + Cloud Tasks
EventBridge	Eventarc
Step Functions	Workflows / Cloud Composer
CloudFront	Cloud CDN / Media CDN
Route 53	Cloud DNS
VPC	VPC (Global)
Direct Connect	Cloud Interconnect
IAM	IAM (+ Cloud Identity)
KMS	Cloud KMS / HSM / EKM
CloudWatch	Cloud Monitoring + Logging
X-Ray	Cloud Trace
Bedrock	Vertex AI Model Garden
SageMaker	Vertex AI
CodeBuild / CodeDeploy	Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy
ECR	Artifact Registry
WAF	Cloud Armor

Migration Tooling

Migrate to Virtual Machines (M2VM): EC2 → GCE
Migrate to Containers (M2C): EC2 → Cloud Run / GKE
Database Migration Service: RDS / Aurora → Cloud SQL / AlloyDB
BigQuery Migration Service: Redshift → BigQuery
Storage Transfer Service: S3 → GCS (online)
Transfer Appliance: Physical-device data transfer (PB scale)
Migration Center: Migration planning + TCO estimation

Typical Phased Migration Plan

Phase 0 (1 month): Assessment
- Scan the AWS environment with Migration Center
- TCO estimation + migration priority matrix
- Organizational structure + skills assessment
Phase 1 (1-2 months): Foundation
- GCP Organization / Folder / IAM design
- Build out VPC / Interconnect
- Cloud Identity integration
- Terraform IaC groundwork
Phase 2 (2-3 months): Quick Wins
- Migrate Dev / Staging environments
- Start with stateless web workloads
- Build up operational know-how
Phase 3 (6-12 months): Production Wave 1
- Migrate major production apps in sequence
- Use DMS for continuous DB migration
- Parallel operation + staged cutover
Phase 4 (3-6 months): Modernization
- VM → Container (M2C)
- Move to managed services (Cloud Run / BigQuery)
- CI/CD integration (Cloud Build / Deploy)
Phase 5 (ongoing): Optimization
- FinOps (CUD / Sustained Use Discount)
- Apply Recommender API suggestions
- Leverage new features (Gemini / Vertex AI)

Data Transfer Methods

Method	Use case	Pricing
Storage Transfer Service (online)	S3 → GCS, scheduled sync	AWS egress + standard GCS pricing
Transfer Appliance	PB scale, low-bandwidth on-prem	$300/month + shipping
BigQuery Data Transfer	Redshift → BigQuery	Free + Redshift egress
Datastream	Real-time CDC	$0.30/GB
Cloud Interconnect	Dedicated line	VLAN Attachment + standard egress

Organizational Success Factors

Early executive commitment from CFO / CTO (cost ownership)
Form a Center of Excellence (CoE) team (5-10 people)
Earn GCP certifications (PCA / PMLE / PDE)
Budget for the parallel-operation period
GCP training for the operations team
Engage SI partners (KPMG / Accenture / domestic SIers)
Go/No-go decision per phase

Typical TCO Savings

Compute: 20-30% reduction via Sustained Use Discount + CUD
Storage: 30% reduction via Lifecycle optimization + moving Multi-region to Region
Data: 50% reduction via BigQuery on-demand + partitioning
Ops headcount cost: 30-40% reduction by moving to managed services
Overall: 15-30% TCO reduction is typical

Why migrate from AWS to GCP?

Cost optimization (Sustained Use Discount / TPU), stronger AI and data analytics (BigQuery / Gemini), better container UX (Cloud Run / GKE Autopilot), and as part of a multi-cloud strategy.

How long does a migration take?

Small (10 apps): 3-6 months. Medium (50-100 apps): 12-18 months. Large (500+ apps): 24-36 months. A phase-by-phase approach is the realistic option.

What is the AWS to GCP service mapping?

EC2 to GCE, ECS to Cloud Run / GKE, Lambda to Cloud Functions, S3 to Cloud Storage, RDS to Cloud SQL, Aurora to AlloyDB, DynamoDB to Firestore / Bigtable, Redshift to BigQuery, and so on.

What about egress charges?

AWS to GCP egress incurs roughly $0.09/GB on the AWS side. For large data migrations, use Cloud Storage Transfer Service Online (pull-based) or Transfer Appliance (physical).

How long is the parallel-operation period?

Typically 3-6 months: both clouds running with data synchronized. You want to minimize it because of egress costs and operational load.

Can my AWS knowledge be reused?

About 80% of the concepts overlap (VPC / IAM / Compute / Storage, etc.). The deltas can be learned in 2-4 weeks. AWS SAP holders can typically pass GCP PCA in 1-2 months.

What are common failure patterns?

Big-bang (one-shot) migration is dangerous. Phase splitting with minimal-impact validation at each phase is essential. Organizationally, early alignment with the cost owner (CFO) is also key.

How do I estimate TCO?

Google Cloud Migration Center can automatically estimate AWS-to-GCP TCO. Typical savings are 15-30% (Sustained Use Discount + CUD + TPU, etc.).

Related Articles - Migration / Multi-cloud

GCP vs AWS Storage & DB Comparison (2026)

Cloud Storage vs. S3, BigQuery vs. Redshift, Spanner vs. Aurora. Honest feature-by-feature comparison.

GCP vs AWS Compute Comparison: GKE, Cloud Run, Functions vs EKS, Fargate, Lambda (2026)

Compute service comparison — feature parity, pricing, ergonomics. The decision framework for multi-cloud.

Database Migration Service Complete Guide (2026)

DMS features — supported source/target, minimal downtime, common migration patterns.

Cloud Storage Complete Guide: Buckets, Classes, Lifecycle (2026)

Cloud Storage fundamentals — storage classes, lifecycle, signed URLs, common access patterns.

Note: Google Cloud and AWS are trademarks of their respective owners. For the latest, see the official Migration Center page.

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NicheeLab Editorial Team

NicheeLab editorial team focused on data engineering and cloud certification learning. Content is structured around practical study needs and official exam domains.

AWS to GCP Migration Project Plan: Service Mapping, TCO & Timeline