Focus on selecting workloads, migration strategies, target architectures, and modernization opportunities. Use the current official SAP-C02 exam guide to verify objective wording and weights before exam day.

What This Domain Tests

Assessing workload portfolios, dependencies, business outcomes, and migration readiness
Choosing among retire, retain, rehost, relocate, repurchase, replatform, and refactor/re-architect approaches
Selecting migration tooling for servers, databases, files, and partner transfers
Building repeatable waves, test plans, cutovers, and rollback paths
Modernizing with containers, serverless, microservices, and managed database services
Balancing downtime, data consistency, security, operating effort, risk, and cost

Official Task Outline

Task	Focus
4.1 Select existing workloads and processes for potential migration	Portfolio assessment, asset planning, prioritization, waves, TCO, and the 7Rs
4.2 Determine the optimal migration approach for existing workloads	Data/application/database transfer, networking, identity, and governance choices
4.3 Determine a new architecture for existing workloads	Compute, containers, storage, and database platform selection
4.4 Determine opportunities for modernization and enhancements	Serverless, containers, purpose-built data stores, and application integration

Task names aligned to the official SAP-C02 exam guide. The guide may change; recheck before exam day.

Migration Strategy at a Glance

Strategy	Typical decision
Retire	Workload is no longer needed; validate dependencies before shutdown
Retain	Keep temporarily or permanently for business, technical, compliance, or timing reasons
Rehost	Move server with minimal changes; MGN can support eligible server migrations
Relocate	Move a supported virtualized environment with minimal redesign; validate current service and platform support
Repurchase	Replace with SaaS or a different product
Replatform	Make limited optimizations while preserving the core architecture
Refactor / re-architect	Change application architecture to meet business goals that cannot be met by smaller changes

The official SAP-C02 guide uses the seven common migration strategies (7Rs). Use its labels and definitions, and verify the live guide before the exam.

Files in This Domain

Migration services and programs

AWS Transform MGN — continuous server block replication and EC2 test/cutover launches
AWS DMS — full load, ongoing CDC, and database migration design
AWS DataSync — managed online file/object transfer and recurring copies
AWS Snow Family — offline-transfer decision and current availability caveat
AWS Transfer Family — managed partner-facing file-transfer protocols
AWS Migration Hub — application inventory and portfolio progress tracking
AWS Migration Acceleration Program — assessment, mobilization, migration methodology, and conditional program support

Modernization patterns

Microservices patterns — decomposition, strangler migration, service boundaries, and data ownership
Container migration — packaging, orchestration selection, and operational trade-offs
Serverless migration — event-driven decomposition and serverless fit
Database migration patterns — engine choice, conversion, replication, and cutover

Workload Decision Flow

Discover goals, dependencies, constraints, and ownership
                         |
                 Is workload needed?
                  /             \
                no               yes
                |                 |
              Retire       Can it remain for now?
                                /       \
                              yes       no / move
                              |            |
                            Retain    Choose migration R
                                           |
                           +---------------+----------------+
                           |               |                |
                         Server          Database        Files / partner
                         MGN             DMS             DataSync / Transfer
                                           |
                                   test + cutover + validate
                                           |
                                  optimize / modernize later

Exam Decision Cues

Facility deadline, undocumented application, minimal change: rehost in waves, test, then modernize later.
Different database engine and short outage: assess/convert schema, full load plus CDC where supported, and plan a controlled write cutover.
Large file share with online bandwidth: DataSync; use a current eligible physical-transfer alternative if the network cannot meet the window.
External partners require SFTP/AS2: Transfer Family, not DataSync.
Portfolio tracking across tools: Migration Hub; it does not execute the copy.
Business asks for a program and migration factory: MAP-style assessment/mobilization; it is not the replication service.
Business capability cannot be met by simple movement: consider refactor/re-architecture with explicit value, cost, and risk justification.