When migrating many servers to a cloud provider, which of the following is recommended as an early project activity?

• A. Backups are up to date
• B. Develop migration checklist
• C. Establish baselines
• D. Test failover

Answer: (C)

Starting a cloud migration by establishing baselines gives you a factual snapshot of the current environment that you’ll measure against after the move. This includes how resource-heavy each server is, typical performance metrics, cost, capacity, and dependencies. With solid baselines, you can prioritize which servers to move first, size cloud resources appropriately, and set realistic targets for cost and performance. It also creates a reference point for validating success once the migration is complete and helps you design a practical migration plan, SLAs, and cutover steps. While keeping backups up to date, building a migration checklist, and planning failover are all important activities, baselining provides the essential data foundation that makes those activities meaningful and actionable from the start.