SAP-C02 domain - 20% of the exam

Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization

Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization is 20% of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional (SAP-C02) exam. These are the objectives it covers, each with practice questions and worked explanations.

Objectives in this domain

Sample question from this domain

Free sampleAccelerate Workload Migration and Modernizationmedium

A retailer is planning a data-centre exit and has hundreds of servers to move within a fixed lease deadline. The portfolio includes a packaged commercial ERP suite the vendor sells only as a per-server licence and a self-hosted Microsoft SQL Server estate the team is willing to retire in favour of a managed engine. The licensing and finance teams want the team to label every application with one of the seven common migration strategies before any move begins, so that wave planning, effort estimates and the business case all use the same vocabulary. Which classification correctly pairs each of these two workloads with the appropriate 7Rs strategy?

  • AClassify the commercial ERP suite as refactor because it is packaged software that should be re-architected, and the self-hosted SQL Server estate as relocate, moving both workloads into AWS with the least possible change so the existing licences and configuration carry across untouched.
  • BClassify the commercial ERP suite as repurchase because it is licensed packaged software better moved to a SaaS or new licensing model, and the SQL Server estate as replatform because it moves to a managed engine such as Amazon RDS with only configuration changes. Correct
  • CClassify the commercial ERP suite as rehost because its servers can be lifted unchanged onto EC2, and the SQL Server estate as retire because moving its data to a managed engine means the old database is decommissioned and its function ends entirely after cutover.
  • DClassify the commercial ERP suite as retain because licensed software cannot move to AWS, and the SQL Server estate as rehost, lifting the database servers onto EC2 unchanged so the existing engine and licences carry across without modification.
Map licensed packaged software to repurchase and a self-managed database moving to a managed engine to replatform within the 7Rs strategies. The 7Rs are retire, retain, rehost, relocate, repurchase, replatform and refactor. Repurchase covers dropping licensed or packaged software for a SaaS or different commercial product, which suits a per-server ERP suite. Replatform is a lift-and-optimise that swaps a self-managed component for a managed equivalent, such as moving self-hosted SQL Server to Amazon RDS, without rewriting the application. Rehost, relocate, retire and retain each describe a different intent that does not match these two workloads.

Why A is wrong: Refactor means re-architecting an application you control, which a closed packaged ERP suite does not allow, and relocate is the VMware Cloud on AWS hypervisor move rather than a database engine change, so both labels are mismatched to the stated facts.

Why B is correct: Repurchase fits packaged or licensed software that is dropped for a SaaS or new commercial product, and replatform fits a lift-and-optimise move of a self-managed database onto a managed service like Amazon RDS without rewriting the application, so each label matches the workload.

Why C is wrong: Rehost ignores that the ERP is licensed per server and a SaaS move is the stated intent, and retire means switching an application off for good, not migrating its data to a managed engine, so both classifications misread the seven strategies.

Why D is wrong: Retain means deliberately keeping a workload in place this wave, which contradicts the data-centre exit deadline, and rehosting SQL Server onto EC2 keeps the self-managed engine the team explicitly wants to drop, so both labels conflict with the requirements.

Other domains in this exam

See also the SAP-C02 cert hub, the study guide, and the cheat sheet.

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