Cloud Migration ROI and Payback Calculator

This calculator estimates how long a migration takes to pay for itself. Enter the one-time cost of moving, including staff or contractor time, temporary double running of old and new systems, and any new tooling. Subtract any provider credits or incentives by entering them in the credits field. Then enter the yearly net saving, which is the old hosting and maintenance cost minus the new running cost, plus the value of time saved.

Worked example with the defaults: 12,000 dollars of cost minus 2,000 dollars of credits is 10,000 dollars net. With 8,000 dollars saved in year one, growing 3 percent a year, cumulative savings pass 10,000 dollars about 1.2 years in, and the gain after three years is roughly 14,500 dollars minus 10,000, or 4,500 dollars. All inputs are illustrative.

Limits: the tool treats savings as certain and ignores downtime risk, price changes and the cost of capital. Use cautious inputs, and treat a payback longer than your realistic planning horizon as a warning sign.