Infrastructure and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure

Specialization

Program guide, audit checklist, and FAQ

V1.4
Valid March 13, 2024 - June 30, 2024

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Program updates and announcements

Module B – Mar 13, 2024

The V1.4 checklist is released. For qualified, renewing partners only, the checklist has been updated to
include an alternate evidence path in addition to the core audit, that includes Windows and SQL.
Microsoft will alert you if you qualify for this checklist version, this is not a self-nomination process.
• Both checklists now require 2 unique customers for demonstrated evidence.

Module B – Jan 1, 2024

The V1.3 checklist is now published and required. Changes from V1.21 include Controls 2.1, 3.1, 3.2,
4.4, 5.1, and 5.2. In these:

• Oracle can be used in migration scenarios three (3) and four (4) for the listed controls as the
“source” database and evidence of the partner’s ability to migrate a customer to the Azure DB
platform. Oracle migration to PostgreSQL, Cosmo DB or Azure SQL will qualify for these
scenarios.

Module B – Dec 1, 2023

The V1.3 Infra and DB Migration to Azure checklist was made available for partners in preview.
Two (2) customer projects rather than three (3) are now required. All four (4) specific migration
scenarios must be demonstrated. This will be required Jan 1, 2024.

Module A – Oct 1, 2023

Azure Active Directory has been renamed Microsoft Entra ID

Module B - October 24, 2023

Control 1.1 Certifications. The control was clarified to convey that the partner must be a member of either
the Red Hat Business Partner Program or the SUSE One Partner Program, or they must have two (2) full-time
employees who have at least one (1) of the qualifying certifications verified by certifying agencies.

August 28, 2023

The Microsoft Cloud Partner Program changed its name to the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program,
effective immediately.

Module B - June 5, 2023

V1.2 Infrastructure and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization checklist is published.
This checklist version is required for audits during July 5, 2023- Jan 2, 2024

Control 3.1 Solution Design has added security products such as Azure security services, Microsoft 365
security, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud as evidence for this control.

Module B- Feb 17, 2023

V1.1 in Control 1.1 adds a new verification source for third party certifications; Verify a Red Hat Certified
Professional | redhat.com can be used for RedHat validation

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Module B - Jan 9, 2023
Effective Jan 9, 2023, partners with active enrollments for either or both of the Linux and Open-Source
Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization or the Windows Server and SQL Server Migration
to Microsoft Azure Specialization are auto enrolled in (or “grandfathered in”) to the Infra and
Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization. Partners will maintain the anniversary date of the
specialization they were auto- enrolled from (or the latter of the two if a partner was in both specializations
prior to auto- enrollment into the new Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization). Upon
a partner’s respective anniversary dates, a partner will need to meet the requirements of the new Infra and
Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization, including the specialization’s audit checklist. For more
information on this, please visit Partner Center.

Module B - Dec 9, 2022

The V1.0 PREVIEW of Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization was made available
for partners. It replaced several legacy Azure specializations:
As of Jan 9, 2023, the new Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization and its audit checklist
replaces both the V2.1 Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization audit
checklist and the V2.1 Linux and Open-Source Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization audit
checklist.

Module B - Oct 3, 2022

Microsoft retired partner Gold Cloud competency, the aligned Solutions Partner designation is now required.
For this specialization, your organization must have an active Solutions Partner for Data & AI (Azure) or a Solutions
Partner for Infrastructure (Azure) designation.
Module A - July 1, 2022
Checklist updates published May 2, 2022, in preview for Module A checklist are now required. In Control 2.2,
a new required Skilling Plan has been added to the checklist and is now required.

Module B - May 2, 2022

• Guidance for the definition of Proof of Concept and Pilots added to the FAQ.
• Preview updates to Module A were made available, these are required July 1, 2022

Jan 1, 2022
Guidance and FAQ Updates

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Contents

Infra and DB Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization Program Overview ................................................ 5

How to apply ............................................................................................................................................................. 5
NDAs for the audit .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Payment terms and conditions ............................................................................................................................... 6
Audit blueprint .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Audit roles .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Audit Process: High-level overview......................................................................................................................... 7
Audit Process: Details ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Audit preparation best practices and resources ................................................................................................. 10
Audit checklists ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
Partner FAQ ............................................................................................................................................................. 34

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Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization Program
Overview

This document defines the requirements to earn the Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure
Specialization. It also provides further requirements, guidelines, and an audit checklist for the associated audit
that is required to earn this Azure specialization.

The Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization is designed for partners to demonstrate
deep knowledge, experience, and success in planning and migrating their customer’s infrastructure and
database workloads to Azure. Partners with demonstrated expertise across both Windows Server and SQL
Server and across Linux and Open-Source database migration to Microsoft Azure may apply.

The Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization allows partners with an active Solutions
Partner for Infrastructure designation or Solutions Partner for Data & AI designation to demonstrate their
capabilities, build stronger connections with customers and differentiate their organizations in Infrastructure
and Database migration.

Partners who meet the comprehensive requirements to earn an Azure Specialization, receive a customer-
facing label they can display, badge and a business profile in Microsoft AppSource partner gallery.
In AppSource, access to specific Microsoft go-to-market programs is prioritized in customer searches to
help drive new business. Partners can also generate a certified letter from Microsoft that verifies the
Azure specializations that they have earned. For these reasons, this opportunity is available only to
partners that meet additional, stringent requirements.

Please note: This specialization requires 3rd party certifications to proceed to audit unless you are approved
for the alternate Module B pathway option. These certifications are found in Module B Control 1.1.

How to apply

Only a Microsoft AI Cloud Account Administrator or a Global Administrator of an organization’s Microsoft

partner account can submit an application for the Azure specialization on behalf of the organization.
Partners with the appropriate role and access permissions can apply. To do so, they sign into their Partner
Center account. On the left pane, select Azure under the Specialization section. Toggle to the specialization that
you wish to apply for by using the drop-down menu at the top of the page.

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NDAs for the audit

Auditors comply with requests from partners to sign a direct NDA. All ISSI auditors are under a
nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with Microsoft. If a partner would like an NDA to be signed directly
between ISSI and the partner organization for purposes of the audit, one can be provided by the partner
during the audit scheduling process to ISSI. ISSI will sign and return it.

Payment terms and conditions

Pricing schedule
Module B Audit: $2,000 USD

Module A+B Audits: $3,000USD

AGap Review Meeting is included with each Module audit.

Payment terms

The cost of the audit is payable in full to the audit company and must be settled before the audit begins.
Failure to pay will result in cancellation of the audit.
Program status term

When a partner meets all prerequisite requirements shown in Partner Center and Microsoft receives a valid
Pass Report from the third-party audit company, the partner will be awarded the Infra and Database
Migration Azure Specialization for one (1) calendar year.

The status and the Infra and Database Migration Azure Specialization label can be used only by the
organization (determined by Partner Center MPNPGA ID account) and any associated locations (determined
by MPN PLA ID) that met all requirements and passed the audit. Any subsidiary or affiliated organizations
represented by separate Partner Center accounts (MPN PGA ID) may not advertise the status or display the
associated label.

Audit blueprint
Audits are evidence-based. During the audit, partners will be expected to present evidence they have
met the specific requirements on the checklist. This involves providing the auditor with access to live
demonstrations, documents, and SME personnel to demonstrate compliance with checklist requirements.
The audit checklist will be updated to stay current with technology and market changes, and the
audit is conducted by an independent, third-party auditor.
The following is included in the audit blueprint:

1. Audit Roles
2. Audit Process: High level overview
3. Audit Process: Details
4. Audit Best Practices and Resources

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Audit roles
Role of the auditor

The auditor reviews submitted evidence and objectively assesses whether the evidence provided by the partner
satisfies the audit checklist requirements. The auditor selects and evaluates evidence, based on samples of the
information available from live systems. The appropriate use of such sampling is closely related to the confidence
that can be placed in the audit conclusions. All ISSI auditors are under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with
Microsoft. Auditors will also comply with requests from partners to sign a direct NDA.

Role of the partner

The partner must provide objective evidence that satisfies the auditor for all checklist items. It is the responsibility of
the partner to have reviewed all check-list items prior to the audit, to have collected all necessary documentation and
evidence, and to have ensured that the right subject matter experts are available to discuss and show systems, as
appropriate. All audit evidence must be reproducible and verifiable.

Role of the Microsoft Partner Development Manager

For partners that have an assigned Microsoft Partner Development Manager (PDM), the PDM is responsible for ensuring
that the partner fully understands the requirements prior to applying for the audit. The PDM may attend the optional
consulting engagements that ISSI offers, but the PDM and other Microsoft FTEs may not attend the audit.

Audit Process: High-level overview

Step Action Responsibility

1 Review: Specialization requirements in Partner Center. Review audit Partner

checklists in the specialization and begin to prepare the necessary
evidence with personnel for an evidence-based audit. Recommended:
Before you apply, review the specific audit checklist thoroughly and
confirm SME personnel required for the audit date.

2 Meet the prerequisites and apply for the audit: In the initial application Partner
phase, applications are submitted in two (2) stages:
1. Prerequisite requirements (see Partner Center for details)
2. Audit
Do not start the application process unless you are ready to undertake
the audit. Assess your firm’s ability to complete the audit, including
considerations for readiness, employee availability, and holidays.

3 Validate: The partner meets all requirements prior to audit. Microsoft

Confirmed by Microsoft: Microsoft confirms with the third-party audit Microsoft

4 company that the partner is eligible for audit.

5 Schedule with partner: The auditor will schedule within two (2) business Auditor (with
days. partner)

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 6 Conduct the audit: Within thirty (30) calendar days of the approval for Auditor
audit.
7 Provide a Gap Report: If applicable, to the partner within two (2) Auditor
business days of the completed audit, listing any Open Action Items. *

8 Acknowledge Gap Report receipt and schedule meeting: Within two Partner
(2) business days of receiving the Gap Report, the partner acknowledges
receipt of the report and schedules a Gap Review Meeting. Partners can
begin immediate remediation of open items.

9 Complete the meeting: Within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving Auditor (with
the Gap Report, the partner schedules and completes the Gap Review partner)
Meeting with the auditor to provide evidence and address any Open
Action Items. *
10 Issue Final Report: To the partner within five (5) business days. Auditor
Notify Microsoft of audit Pass or No Pass result.

11 Notify the partner: About program status within two (2) business days. Microsoft

*These steps will be skipped if the partner has no Open Action Items after the audit.

Audit Process: Details

Microsoft uses an independent third-party audit company, Information Security Systems International,
LLC (ISSI), to schedule and conduct Azure specialization audits. After the audit date has been confirmed,
ISSI will provide an agenda for the partner. The duration of an audit is four (4) hours for Module B
workloads and eight (8) hours for Module A+B audits combined, depending upon the scope of the audit.

During the audit, the partner must provide access to the appropriate personnel who can discuss and
disclose evidence that demonstrates compliance with program requirements. We highly recommend that
subject matter experts for each section attend as well as a person who is familiar with the entire audit.

On the day of the audit, the partner must be prepared to provide the auditor with access to live
demonstrations, documents, and personnel, as necessary to demonstrate compliance with the
requirements. During the audit, the auditor will seek to verify that the partner’s evidence has addressed
all required audit checklist items satisfactorily.

A note on audit checklist effective dates: Partners are audited against the checklist items that are active on
the date of their remote audit, not the date they apply. Audits are updated twice annually. The
partner application or renewal date has no bearing on the version of the checklist that is used for the
audit.

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 The audit can produce either of two (2) outcomes:

1. The partner passes the audit.

• The auditor will present a brief synopsis of the audit. This will include identifying
observed strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• The auditor will provide a Final Report to the partner.
• The auditor will notify Microsoft.

2. The partner does not satisfy all checklist items during the audit.
• The auditor will present a brief synopsis of the audit at the end of the day, including
observed strengths and Open Action Items, as outlined in the Gap Report, within
two
(2) business days.
• The partner will acknowledge receipt of the Gap Report within two (2) business days.
• The partner will move into the Gap Review phase and schedule their Gap Review Meeting within fifteen
(15) calendar days.

The Gap Review

If the partner does not, to the auditor’s satisfaction, provide evidence that meets the required scores
across all audit categories during the audit, the partner will move into a Gap Review. A Gap Review is
part of the audit and completes the process.
Within two (2) business days after the audit, the partner will receive a Gap Report, which details any
Open Action Items and the outstanding required evidence. It is suggested to begin remediation of any
open action items as soon as possible following the audit.

The partner then has two (2) business days to acknowledge receipt of the Gap Report and schedule a
Gap Review Meeting. The Gap Review Meeting is conducted with the auditor over the partner’s virtual
conference platform of choice. The meeting must take place within fifteen (15) calendar days of when the
Gap Report was sent, and it may last no longer than one (1) hour. During the Gap Review Meeting the
partner must present evidence that addresses any and all Open Action Items.
The Gap Review Meeting can produce either of two (2) outcomes:

1. The partner resolves all Open Action Items.

• The auditor confirms that the partner has provided the required evidence.
• The auditor provides a Final Report for the partner.
• The auditor notifies Microsoft about the outcome (subject to Auditor Terms and Conditions).

2. The partner does not resolve all Open Action Items.

• The auditor presents a brief synopsis of the audit, including missed items.
• The partner receives a Final Report that details the missed items.
• The auditor notifies Microsoft about the outcome (subject to Auditor Terms and Conditions).

If the partner is still unable to provide satisfactory evidence to the auditor during their Gap Review
Meeting, the partner will be deemed to have failed the audit. Partners that still want to earn this Azure
specialization will need to begin the application process again.
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Completion of the audit
The audit process concludes when ISSI issues the Final Report after the audit or after the Gap Review. Partners will
receive a Pass or No Pass result upon completion of the audit process.

A Pass result satisfies the audit requirement for this Azure specialization for two (2) years. A “No Pass” result
is generated when a partner fails or withdraws from the audit. When a No Pass result is entered into Partner
Center, you will see your status as “Audit Failed” in your dashboard. This status will reset within one week to
“Not Enrolled,” allowing you to reapply. Contact Partner Center Support if needed.

Audit preparation best practices and resources

Partners should ensure that the audit checklist has been thoroughly read in advance of the audit.
• Partners should ensure that all partner stakeholders involved in the audit have a copy of the audit
checklist and are confirmed for the date and time duration of the audit
• A lead stakeholder who knows the entire process must be available for the length of the audit
• Partners should confirm that they have access granted for the auditors, and files and tools are readily
available during the audit exhibits

Stakeholder SME attendance in the audit

Stakeholders who can best address the relevant section should be available for the audit. However, please
make sure that a stakeholder who knows the entire process is available for the duration of the audit.

Auditors often probe for more information

The auditor probes for more information to ensure that mature and repeatable processes are in place with the
partner and that they are established, effective, and efficient. The auditor is looking to see how a document
was created, where it is located, and what source materials were used to create the document. By probing for
more information, the auditor evaluates and validates that the partner is operating at an advanced level. This
can only be done by questioning during the audit. This approach is explained to the partner during the
opening meeting.
Acceptable evidence: Excerpts, exhibit file formats and use of PowerPoints

PowerPoints are a common and accepted format for presenting a high-level overview of a partner’s systems.
However, please also be prepared to present live demonstrations from source files so that the auditor may
confirm that the systems in place are mature and effective. Excerpts can be used to communicate the high-
level overview, however, as sole evidence these are not acceptable. Source documents must also be
presented.

Additional resources: Two optional audit preparation offers from the auditing firm *

To ensure objectivity, consulting auditors and auditors conducting the actual audits are different ISSI auditors.

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1. Partners can participate in a paid optional, one (1)-hour, live Audit Process & Controls Overview
session provided by ISSI. This session provides a high-level overview of key aspects of the Azure
specialization audit process. Partners work directly with ISSI to schedule this remote session (via online
web conference). For more information about this session, see Azure Specialization - Audit Process and
Controls Overview
2. ISSI also provides optional extensive, paid, in-depth consulting engagements to help partners prepare for their
Azure specialization audit. Partners work directly with ISSI to schedule this remote session (via online web
conference). For more information about this type of in-depth engagement, see Azure Specialization
Consulting Offer https://issi-inc.com/az-advspeconsulting/

*Please note that there is a cost associated with both ISSI’s Consulting and the Process and Controls Overview. These can be
scheduled at any time with ISSI; however, Microsoft recommends the partner does not schedule these during the actual audit
but instead if chosen, work these into the planning timeline before the audit is scheduled.

Audit checklists
The Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization checklist contains two (2) modules, Module A,
Cloud Foundation and Module B: The Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization workload.

Module A, Cloud Foundation is required for multiple Azure specializations. To complete Module A, Cloud
Foundation, the partner needs to pass all controls in Module A by providing the specified evidence. Partners
who have passed Azure Expert MSP V1.9 (Full and Progress) and later have satisfied the requirements for
Module A in all audit versions unless otherwise noted. This is good for two (2) years from the AEMSP
program Anniversary date (AD) shown in Partner Center.

When applying to subsequent Azure specializations, to waiver Module A Cloud Foundations, a previous
Module A and B Pass result will satisfy the requirements for Module A if the Pass result B was within the
last two (2) years. The date for the cutover is two years from the relevant Module B Anniversary date (AD)
shown in Partner Center. It can only be applied to the same version of Module A. Partners who passed an
Azure specialization audit before July 1, 2021, and for the Analytics on Microsoft Azure specialization
audit before Oct 1, 2021, have likely not passed the Module A audit, and will need to do so to qualify for
the Module B workload audits.

Module B, The Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization workload module
validates that the partner has adopted robust processes to ensure customer success across all phases of
deploying Infra and Database Migration solutions, from the assessment phase to design, pilot,
implementation, and post-implementation phases. Review the following audit checklist tables for more
details about each control phase and to learn how the partner will be evaluated for an audit. The same
customers may be used for Module A & B. The estimated length of both modules together is eight (8)
hours.

Alternate Pathway Note: You may qualify for an alternate audit checklist using alternate evidence scenarios if Microsoft
communicates this is available to you.

Module A: Cloud Foundation

1. Strategy
2. Plan
3. Environment readiness and Azure landing zone
4. Governance

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 5. Manage

Module B: Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure workload

1. Third- party certifications
2. Assess
3. Design
4. Deployment
5. Review and Release for operations

To pass the audit, the partner must complete all audit checklist items.
Module A, Cloud Foundation is required for multiple Azure specializations. To complete Module A: Cloud
Foundation, the partner needs to pass all controls in Module A by providing the specified evidence.
Alternatively, the partner may present evidence of a previous pass result from Module A or from another
Azure specialization audit conducted on V2.0 or later.
Module B, The Infra and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure Specialization workload. Each control has one
(1) or more requirements and requires evidence the partner must provide for the auditor. Both the
requirements and the required evidence are defined in the following tables. For some controls, a reference
customer or customer evidence is the documentation requested.

Each customer case does not have to include all four (4) scenarios. A single project may satisfy multiple
scenarios.

1. Migration of Infra (Windows Server) Applications to Azure

2. Migration of Linux-based applications to Azure
3. Migration of Microsoft SQL to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance (MI)
4. Migration of MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB or MongoDB database to Azure

For Module B, an alternate pathway:

Each customer case does not have to include all scenarios. A single project may satisfy both scenarios.

1. Migration of Infra (Windows Server) Applications to Azure

2. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance (MI)

For audit evidence relating to customer engagements, the partner can use a customer case study and reference it
multiple times. The same or different customers can be used for Modules A & B if they demonstrate requirements.

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Module A: Cloud Foundation

1.0 Strategy and Economics

The partner must have a defined approach for helping their customer evaluate and define a cloud
adoption strategy beyond an individual asset (app, VM, or data).
Requirement

1.1 Cloud Adoption Business Strategy

The partner must have a process that captures the data-driven business strategies being
used to guide customer decisions. The process should include, at minimum, the following:

• A strategy review that captures the customer’s business needs

and the problems the customer is trying to solve

• Personalized recommendations from the partner for the

customers’ business strategies
Required evidence:
A Report, Presentation, or Document that captures strategic inputs and decisions for two
(2) unique customers, that demonstrates Cloud Adoption Strategy Evaluator assessment
output, with projects completed in the past twelve (12) months. These projects must be
aligned with the above-described process and highlight both customer Business and
Financial outcomes.

For an example, see the Strategy and plan template in the Cloud Adoption Framework for
Azure, or the Cloud Adoption Strategy Evaluator.
2.0 Plan

The partner must have a consistent approach to planning for cloud adoption that is based on the strategy
outlined in the preceding section.
Requirement

2.1 Cloud Adoption Plan

The partner must have a process and approach for planning and tracking the
completion of cloud adoption projects. For an example of a cloud adoption plan, see the
Azure DevOps Demo Generator for the Cloud Adoption Framework.
Required evidence:
The partner must provide evidence of their capability with examples of two (2) unique
customers, with projects that were completed in the past twelve (12) months. Acceptable
evidence must include at least one (1) of the following:

• Cloud Adoption Plan Generator output or

• Azure DevOps backlog or
• Any other tools for project planning and tracking

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2.2 Plan for Skilling
When customers adopt the cloud, their existing technical staff will need a variety of new
skills to aid in making technical decisions and to support the new cloud implementations.
To ensure the long- term success of the customer, the partner must document a skilling
plan to prepare the customer’s technical staff.

The Partner must document a list of key customer technical roles expected to require
new skills such as, but not limited to, IT Admins, IT Governance, IT Operations, and
IT Security.
The documentation must include:
A description of the new skills the technical roles will need to achieve to successfully
manage the new environment.
Resources the customer can leverage when training their technical employees such as
Microsoft learning paths, technical certifications, or other comparable resources.

For guidance, review Microsoft docs Azure Cloud Adoption Framework How to build
a skilling readiness plan.

Required evidence:
The partner must provide a skilling plan for at least two (2) unique customer
engagements completed within the last 12 months. The two (2) skilling plans
documentation can include a customer-facing presentation, planning documents, post
deployment documentation or similar plan documentation.

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3.0 Environment Readiness and Azure Landing Zone

The partner must be able to demonstrate that the following design areas are addressed through their
approach to landing zone implementation.
Requirement

3.1 Repeatable Deployment

The partner must demonstrate adherence to Azure landing zone design areas through a
repeatable deployment. The deployment should configure, at minimum, the following
identity, network, and resource organization attributes:
• Identity
o Adoption of identity management solutions, such as Microsoft Entra ID
(formerly Azure Active Directory) or equivalent

• Networking architecture design (topology)

o Define an Azure network topology - Cloud Adoption Framework | Microsoft Docs
o Application of hybrid architectures that use Azure ExpressRoute, VPN
Gateway, or equivalent services for connecting local datacenters to
Azure

• Resource organization
o Implementation of tagging and naming standards during the project
The partner must demonstrate which of the following approaches they used when they
deployed Azure landing zones:

1. Start small and expand: Azure landing zone does not deploy
governance or operations configurations, which are addressed later
in the implementation.
2. Full Azure landing zone conceptual architecture: Azure landing zones implement
standard approach to the configuration of governance and operations tools
prior to implementation.
3. Alternative approach: If the partner follows a proprietary approach or a mixture
of the two (2) approaches above, the partner must clearly articulate their
approach to environment configuration.
Required evidence:
The partner must provide evidence of a repeatable deployment they used to create landing
zones aligned to the Azure landing zone conceptual architecture or equivalent complete
architecture deployed to two (2) unique customer environments using Bicep, ARM (AZURE
Resource Manager) templates, Terraform modules, or equivalent tools to automatically deploy
the environment configuration.

If a customer deviates from specified architecture, the partner must demonstrate the customer
requirements to justify the deviation.

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 The provided template can be pulled directly from the implementation options, or it can be
based on the partner’s own IP (Intellectual Property). In either case, the script as evidence
must demonstrate the configuration of the identity, network, and resource organization, as
described earlier.

4.0 Governance

The partner must demonstrate their customer’s role in governing cloud-based solutions and the Azure
tools they use to facilitate any governance requirements their customer might have today or in the
future.
Requirement

4.1 Governance Tooling

The partner must demonstrate the ability to deploy the required governance tools for two (2)
unique customer projects.

Required evidence:
The partner must demonstrate the use of Azure Policy or equivalent tool to provide controls
to govern the environment for two (2) unique customers with projects that were completed
in the past twelve (12) months.
5.0 Manage
The partner must demonstrate that they have set up their customers for operational success after the
deployment is completed. All partners have a role in setting up operations management, even if they do
not provide long-term managed services.
Requirement

5.1 Operations Management Tooling

The partner must demonstrate the use of Azure products or equivalent to help their
customer and/or managed service provider operate the environment after deployment.

Required evidence:
The partner must demonstrate the deployment of at least one (1) of the following Azure
products or third-party equivalents: Azure Monitor, Azure Automation, or Azure Backup/Site
Recovery, for two (2) unique customers with projects that were completed in the past twelve
(12) months.

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Module B: Infrastructure and Database Migration to Microsoft Azure
Specialization

1.0 Third-party Certifications required

The partner’s resources are highly knowledgeable in open-source technologies.

Requirement

1.1 Certification required for Infra and Database Migration to Azure standard pathway
The partner must be a member of either the Red Hat Business Partner Program
OR the SUSE One Partner Program
OR they must have two (2) full-time employees who each have one (1) of the following
certifications:
• Linux Foundation Certified Sys Admin
• Linux Foundation Certified Engineer
• LPIC-1Certified Linux Administrator
• LPIC-2Certified Linux Engineer
• Linux Professional Institute DevOps Tools Engineer
• PostgreSQL Professional Certification
• RedHat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)
• RedHat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
• Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)
• SUSE Enterprise Architect (SEA)
• SUSE Certified Engineer (SCE)
• SUSE Certified Administrator (SCA& SCA+)
• EDB Professional Certification

Required Evidence:
Certifications must be verified through one (1) of the following below or show that the partner
is listed as a partner in the Red Hat Partner Program Directory or the SUSE One Partner
directory. If the partner is not listed in the Red Hat or SUSE Program directory, two (2) FTEs
must verify one of the above certifications by:

• The Linux Foundation

• Linux Professional Institute (LPI)
• Verify a RedHat Certified Professional | redhat.com
• Red Hat CCSP Program
• Provide the individual’s profile badge as a PostgreSQL Professional on the
individual’s LinkedIn or other social media pages with this competency or
certification.
• The partner must also provide evidence that the certified personnel are currently full-
time employees.

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2.0 Assess

The partner must have a consistent approach for assessing customer requirements for the workload.

Requirements

2.1 Workload Assessment

The partner must demonstrate how they assess each workload prior to migration to
ensure that adequate pre-migration or pre-deployment planning and sizing were
performed.

The assessment must include mapping that shows the dependencies upstream from the
resources that will be migrated. It must also show:
• The infrastructure, data volumes and database sizes to be migrated.
• The migration timeline and approach.
• The migration risk assessment.
• Backup and disaster recovery for existing workloads.
• Licensing and cost management requirements.
• Documentation of the customer’s existing identity implementation on Azure, gaps
identification, and best practices recommendations.

The partner must provide evidence for all four (4) of the following scenarios, across a
minimum of two (2) unique customer projects completed within the past twelve (12)
months. Each customer case does not have to include all four (4) scenarios, a single project
may satisfy multiple scenarios.

1. Migration of Infra (Windows Server) to Azure

2. Migration of Linux-based applications to Azure
3. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL
Managed Instance (MI)*
4. Migration of MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB or MongoDB database to Azure *
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Oracle migration to PostgreSQL, Cosmo DB or Azure SQL will qualify in scenarios three (3) &
four (4).

Required Evidence: The partner must provide evidence for all four (4) of the above following
scenarios, across a minimum of two (2) unique customer projects completed within the past
twelve (12) months. Each customer case does not have to include all four (4) scenarios, a single
project may satisfy multiple scenarios.

Assessments may be done manually or through an industry-accepted assessment tool.

Accepted Documentation: Output from Assessment Tools such as: Azure Migrate, Movere, or
other similar Third-party Tooling Reports, Assessment Checklists, Templates, Questionnaires and
Project Plans.

18
3.0 Design

The partner has robust methodologies for designing the workload.

Requirement

3.1 Solution Design including Azure Landing Zone

The partner must provide relevant solution design documents that show a consistent approach
to addressing customer requirements that were captured in the Assessment phase.
Required Evidence:
The partner must provide solution designs that show a consistent approach to addressing customer
requirements that were captured from the Assessment phase.
The partner must provide evidence for two (2) of the four (4) following solution design
scenarios across a minimum of two (2) unique customer projects completed within the past
twelve (12) months. Each customer case does not have to include all scenarios, a single project
may satisfy multiple scenarios.
1. Migration of Windows-based applications to Azure
2. Migration of Linux-based applications to Azure
3. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed
Instance (MI)*
4. Migration of MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB or MongoDB database to Azure *

*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Oracle migration to PostgreSQL, Cosmo DB or Azure SQL will qualify in scenarios three (3) & four
(4).

The solution design must show all of the following:

• A migration design or strategy that outlines which applications, databases, or

database auxiliary components (reporting service, integration service) are in scope
for the migration.

• An outline of the migration method (rehost, refactor, or replatform) to be used for the
application, database, database auxiliary components, and so on. It should show how the
design addresses the workload dependencies that were demonstrated in the assessment, with
appropriate mitigations.

• The migration risk assessment and risk mitigation. The high-level migration sequence and
estimated time to finish the migration. The validation of the successful migration completion.

Azure landing zone (ALZ): The environment that supports the referenced customer
deployments should address each of the design areas below required below. If an item is not
relevant, the partner must document the customer’s decision to deviate from applying best
practices.

19
Present evidence of:

o Implementation of Identity & Access Management (IAM) and role-based access control
(RBAC), data sovereignty and encryption, application security, and auditing.
o Establishing a hub and spoke architecture or retrofitting the existing deployment
to separate out the network components of a hub for optimal performance and
security.
o Showing resource and perimeter security, such as bastion hosts, network
security groups and/or Azure Firewall, and/or virtual security and routing
appliances with appropriate monitoring.
o Using security products, such as Azure security services, Microsoft 365 security,
Microsoft Defender for Cloud, or other security solutions, to secure access to
the data.
o Using governance tooling to support cost optimization across the environment.
After estimating the initial cost, setting budgets and alerts at different scopes
to proactively monitor the cost.
o Using backup and recovery solutions to ensure data retention.
o Meeting requirements for government regulatory compliance in the new
environment, such as GDPR and HIPAA, and implementing them through
multiple datacenter regions, as needed.
o Implementing a monitoring solution to provide proactive remediation for the
Azure environment, to integrate with the customer's existing monitoring
tooling, if appropriate.
o Showing that visualization and alerting considerations for solutions are in
place, where appropriate.

Acceptable Documentation: Project Plan, Functional Specifications, Solution Design

Document, Architectural Diagram, Automated Tooling Reports, and Physical and Logical
diagrams.

20
3.2 Azure Well-Architected Review of Workloads
The partner must demonstrate usage of the Azure Well-Architected Review on migrated
applications. The Azure Well-Architected Review is designed to help partners evaluate your
customers' workloads against the latest set of industry best practices. It provides actionable
guidance to design and improve your customers' workloads.

The Review can be used to evaluate each workload against the pillars of the Azure Well-
Architected Framework that matter to that workload.

Unless otherwise specified, Reviews may be conducted before, during, or after deployment.

Required Evidence: The partner must provide exported results from the completed Well –
Architected Review. Evidence for all four (4) of the following migration scenarios across a
minimum of two (2) unique customer projects completed within the past twelve (12) months.
Each customer case does not have to include all four (4) scenarios. A single project may
satisfy multiple scenarios. Please indicate the customer’s name in evidence.

1. Migration of Infra (Windows Server) to Azure

2. Migration of Linux-based applications to Azure
3. Migration of Microsoft SQL to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed
Instance (MI)*
4. Migration of MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB or MongoDB database to Azure*
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Oracle migration to PostgreSQL, Cosmo DB or Azure SQL will qualify in scenarios three (3) &
four (4).

4.0 Deployment

The partner has robust methodologies for deploying the workload.

Requirement

4.1 Infrastructure Migration Deployment

The partner must provide evidence of their ability to migrate infrastructure to a production
environment based on customer approved designs, from one (1) of the following Azure
Infrastructure scenarios:
• Move the application from an on-premises Windows/Linux Server to Azure infrastructure
as a service (IaaS). (*)
• Move the application that is running on Windows Server/Linux from
another public cloud platform to Azure IaaS. (*)

* Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

21
 For more information see Azure Arc as a landing zone accelerator.

Required Evidence: The projects shown for this control must be the same as in Control 3.1
The partner must provide evidence of their ability to implement an infrastructure migration to a
production environment, based on customer-approved designs for a minimum of two (2)
unique customers using one (1) of the above migration scenarios. The documentation must
include at least two (2) of the following evidence items for each customer project, totaling
four (4) evidence artifacts:
• Signed Statements of Work (SOWs) for all projects
• Solution Design Documents for all projects
• The Project Plan and Migration and Deployment sequence
• Architecture Diagrams
• High-level Designs (HLDs) and Low-level Designs (LLDs)
• As-built Documentation
4.2 Database Migrations
The partner must provide evidence of their ability to migrate databases to Azure with customer
approved designs choosing one (1) of the options for deployment from each of the following
two (2) scenario lists.

Scenario 1: Migrations to AZURE SQL

o Rehosting from SQL Server on-premises or from another public cloud to SQL IaaS on Azure.
o Replatforming from SQL Server on-premises or from another public cloud to SQL
platform as a service (PaaS) on Azure (SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance, or
Azure Arc). *
o Replatform from Oracle to Azure SQL IaaS or PaaS.
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Scenario 2: Migrations to Azure Open-Source Databases and Cosmos DB

o Replatform Oracle to Azure Database for PostgreSQL
o Replatform or rehost PostgreSQL to Azure Database for PostgreSQL*
o Replatform or rehost MariaDB to Azure SQL Database for MariaDB
o Replatform or rehost MySQL to Azure SQL Database for MySQL
o Replatform or rehost Cassandra to Azure Cosmos DB or Azure Managed Instance for
Apache Cassandra
o Replatform or rehost MongoDB to Azure Cosmos DB
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Required Evidence:
The projects shown for this control must be the same as in Control 3.1. The partner must
provide evidence of their ability to migrate databases to Azure with customer approved
designs, choosing one (1) of the options for deployment from each of the above two (2)
scenario lists for a minimum of two (2) unique customers. To cover the entire sequence,
including design and production deployment, the documentation must include at least two
(2) of the following items for each customer project, totaling four (4) evidence artifacts
required:

22
 o Signed Statements of Work (SOWs) for the projects
o Solution Design Documents for all projects
o The Project Plan with Migration and Deployment sequence
o Architecture Diagrams
o High-level Designs (HLDs) and Low-level Designs (LLDs)
o As built documentation

4.3 Migration Tools

The partner must demonstrate the specific products, tools, or scripts that were used for the
assessment and migration of customer workloads. The partner must demonstrate the customer
accepted the migration approach by showing confirmation from the customer.

Required Evidence:
Partners must provide documentation and prove customer migration tool experience with at
least one (1) of the following options through a demonstration of tools using (A, B, or C):

A. Show experience with using native Azure migration tools by providing a step-by-
step demonstration that they can effectively use at least four (4) of the following
tools:
• Azure Migrate Server Assessment for VMware and Hyper-V
• Data Migration Assistant (DMA)
• SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA)
• Azure Migrate Server Migration VMware and Hyper-V (use of Azure Site Recovery is
also accepted)
• Azure Database Migration Service
• Storage Migration Service
B. Show experience with third-party tools that integrate with Azure Migrate by demonstrating a
customer project where assessment data is available from Azure Migrate or available to them
offline and they perform the migration by using third-party tooling.

C. Show experience with all other third-party tools by referencing the tools used in a project plan
for successfully migrating a customer to Azure, or by providing a spreadsheet with output from
and snapshots of results in an output file from the tools that they used.

Tools may include but are not limited to:

• CloudSphere
• Carbonite
• PlateSpin
• CloudEndure
• RiverMeadow

• Cloudamize

• Zerto
• StratoZone

23
4.4 Automated Deployment and Provisioning Tools
The partner must demonstrate specific products, tools, or scripts that they used for automated
provisioning and deprovisioning of infrastructure and database migrations, including tools for
continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).

Required Evidence:
Include Demonstrations of Products, Tools, or Scripts used for:
• Automated deployment, including creation of workload deployment templates.
• Cloud service provisioning and deprovisioning, including viewing of service template,
packages, or runbooks that were used in the deployment of customers’ Azure
environments.
• Automation of routine operations, or automated scale-out.

The partner must provide evidence for all four (4) of the Infra and Database Migration
deployment and provisioning scenarios across a minimum of two (2) unique customer
projects completed within the past twelve (12) months. Each customer case does not have to
include all four (4) scenarios, a single project may satisfy multiple scenarios.

24
5.0 Review and Release for Operations

The partner has robust methodologies for transitioning the workload.

Requirement

5.1 Service Validation and Testing

The partner must validate the deployment, including:

• Their documented process and approach to testing and evaluating the performance
of all applications against customers’ expectations and Azure best practices.
• Their documented process and approach to evaluating and improving architectural
best practices to remediate issues with migrated platforms or workloads that do not
meet performance or cost expectations.

Evidence can be the same as the projects presented in earlier controls as long as they
demonstrate the required control definition.

Required Evidence: The partner must provide evidence for all four (4) of the following service
validation and testing scenarios, including validation and performance evaluation across a
minimum of two (2) unique customer projects completed within the past twelve (12) months.
Each customer case does not have to include all four (4) scenarios, a single project may satisfy
multiple scenarios. The documentation must indicate that the implemented service validation
solution meets customer expectations, and it must include a sign-off from each customer.

1. Migration of Infra (Windows Server) to Azure

2. Migration of Linux-based applications to Azure
3. Migration of Microsoft SQL to Azure (including Arc-enabled SQL MI) *
4. Migration of MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB or MongoDB database to Azure*

Oracle migration to PostgreSQL, Cosmo DB or Azure SQL will qualify in scenarios three (3) & four
(4).
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud.

25
 5.2 Post-deployment Documentation
The partner must provide post-deployment operational documentation to show that their
customers are successfully using the new service on Azure. It must:

• Demonstrate how the partner’s documents, decisions, architectural designs,

and procedures were implemented.
• Demonstrate standard operating procedures for the business-as-
usual operations team that describe “how to” scenarios.

Required Evidence:
The partner must provide evidence for all four (4) of the following service validation and
testing scenarios, including validation and performance evaluation across a minimum of two
(2) unique customer projects completed within the past twelve (12) months. Each customer
case does not have to include all four (4) scenarios, a single project may satisfy multiple
scenarios. The documentation must indicate that the implemented service validation solution
meets customer expectations, and it must include a sign-off from each customer.

1. Migration of Infra (Windows Server) to Azure

2. Migration of Linux-based applications to Azure
3. Migration of Microsoft SQL to Azure (including Arc-enabled SQL MI) *
4. Migration of MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB or MongoDB database to Azure*

Oracle migration to PostgreSQL, Cosmo DB or Azure SQL will qualify in scenarios three (3) & four
(4).
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud.

For qualified partners only - Module B:

Alternate audit using Windows and SQL for evidence. Microsoft will approve
you for this checklist, using telemetry. Reach out to Azure Partner
Specializations [email protected] if in doubt.

Alternate: Infrastructure and Database Migration to Azure audit checklist

1.0 Assess

The partner must have a consistent approach for assessing customer requirements for the workload.
Requirement

26
1.1 Workload Assessment
The partner must demonstrate how they assess each workload prior to migration to
ensure that adequate pre-migration or pre-deployment planning and sizing were
performed.

The assessment must include mapping that shows the dependencies upstream from the resources
that will be migrated. It must also show:
• The infrastructure, data volumes and database sizes to be migrated.
• The migration timeline and approach.
• The migration risk assessment.
• Backup and disaster recovery for existing workloads.
• Licensing and cost management requirements.
• Documentation of the customer’s existing identity implementation on Azure, gaps
identification, and best practices recommendations.

The partner must provide evidence for both of the scenarios below, across a minimum of two (2) unique
customer migration projects, completed within the last twelve (12) months.

1. Migration of Windows Server-based applications to Azure

2. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance
(MI) *
Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Required Evidence: The partner should provide relevant design documents showing that the preceding
items were reviewed for at least two (2) unique customers with Windows Server Applications and
Microsoft SQL Server migration projects, completed within the past twelve (12) months. The partner
must show that all assessment details were considered for these customers.

Assessments may be done manually or through an industry-accepted assessment tool.

Accepted Documentation: Output from Assessment Tools such as: Azure Migrate, Movere, or other
similar Third-party Tooling Reports, Assessment Checklists, Templates, Questionnaires and Project
Plans.

2.0 Design

The partner has robust methodologies for designing the workload.

Requirement

2.1 Solution Design including Azure Landing Zone

The partner must provide solution designs that show a consistent approach to addressing customer
requirements that were captured from the Assessment phase.
The partner must provide evidence for both of the following scenarios across a minimum of two
(2) unique customer projects completed within the last twelve (12) months:

• Migration of Windows Server-based applications to Azure

• Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed
Instance (MI) *
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud.

27
The partner must provide relevant solution design documents that show a consistent approach to
addressing customer requirements that were captured in the Assessment phase.

The solution design must show all of the following:

• A migration design or strategy that outlines which applications, databases, or

database auxiliary components (reporting service, integration service) are in scope
for the migration.

• An outline of the migration method (rehost, refactor, or replatform) to be used for the
application, database, database auxiliary components, and so on. It should show how the
design addresses the workload dependencies that were demonstrated in the assessment, with
appropriate mitigations.

• The migration risk assessment and risk mitigation. The high-level migration sequence and
estimated time to finish the migration. The validation of the successful migration completion.

Azure landing zone (ALZ): The environment that supports the referenced customer
deployments should address each of the design areas below required below. If an item is not
relevant, the partner must document the customer’s decision to deviate from applying
best practices.
Present evidence of:

o Implementation of Identity & Access Management (IAM) and role-based access control
(RBAC), data sovereignty and encryption, application security, and auditing.
o Establishing a hub and spoke architecture or retrofitting the existing deployment to
separate out the network components of a hub for optimal performance and security.
o Showing resource and perimeter security, such as bastion hosts, network
security groups and/or Azure Firewall, and/or virtual security and routing
appliances with appropriate monitoring.
o Using security products, such as Azure security services, Microsoft 365 security, Microsoft
Defender for Cloud, or other security solutions, to secure access to the data.
o Using governance tooling to support cost optimization across the environment.
After estimating the initial cost, setting budgets and alerts at different scopes to
proactively monitor the cost.
o Using backup and recovery solutions to ensure data retention.
o Meeting requirements for government regulatory compliance in the new environment,
such as GDPR and HIPAA, and implementing them through multiple datacenter regions, as
needed.
o Implementing a monitoring solution to provide proactive remediation for the Azure
environment, to integrate with the customer's existing monitoring tooling, if appropriate.
o Showing that visualization and alerting considerations for solutions are in place, where
appropriate.

Acceptable Documentation: Project Plan, Functional Specifications, Solution Design Document,

Architectural Diagram, Automated Tooling Reports, and Physical and Logical diagrams.

28
2.2 Azure Well-Architected Review of Workloads
The partner must demonstrate usage of the Azure Well-Architected Review on migrated
applications. The Azure Well-Architected Review is designed to help partners evaluate your
customers' workloads against the latest set of industry best practices. It provides actionable
guidance to design and improve your customers' workloads.

The Review can be used to evaluate each workload against the pillars of the Azure Well-
Architected Framework that matter to that workload.

Unless otherwise specified, Reviews may be conducted before, during, or after deployment.

Required Evidence:
The partner must provide exported results from the completed Well-Architected Review.
Evidence for both of the two (2) following migration scenarios across a minimum of two (2)
unique customer projects completed within the last twelve (12) months. Please indicate the
customer’s name in evidence.

1. Migration of Windows Server-based applications to Azure

2. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed
Instance (MI) *
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud.

3.0 Deployment

The partner has robust methodologies for deploying the workload.

Requirement

3.1 Infrastructure Migration Deployment

The partner must provide evidence of their ability to implement an infrastructure migration of
Windows Server to a production environment based on customer approved designs, from one
(1) of the following Azure scenarios below:

1. Move the application from an on-premises Windows Server to Azure infrastructure as

a service (IaaS). *
2. Move the application that is running on Windows Server from another public cloud
platform to Azure IaaS. *
* Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Required Evidence: The projects shown for this control must be the same as in Control 2.1. The
partner must provide evidence of their ability to implement a Windows server migration to a
production environment from either of the above scenarios, based on customer approved designs,
for a minimum of two (2) unique customers, completed within the past twelve (12) months. The
documentation must cover the entire sequence of the project, including design and production
deployment, and must include at least two (2) of the following evidence items for each customer
project, totaling four (4) evidence artifacts:
• Signed Statements of Work (SOWs) for all projects
• Solution Design Documents for all projects
• The Project Plan and Migration and Deployment sequence

29
 • Architecture Diagrams
• High-level Designs (HLDs) and Low-level Designs (LLDs)
• As-built Documentation
For more information see Azure Arc as a landing zone accelerator.

3.2 Database Migrations

The partner must provide evidence of their ability to implement an SQL Server Database migration
to a production environment, based on customer-approved designs from at least two (2) unique
customers, providing evidence for both of the following migration scenarios:
Scenario 1
1. Rehosting from SQL Server on-premises or from another public cloud to SQL IaaS on Azure.
Scenario 2
2. Replatforming from SQL Server on-premises or from another public cloud to SQL platform as
a service (PaaS) on Azure (SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance). *
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud

Required Evidence:
The projects shown for this control must be the same as in Control 2.1. The partner must provide
evidence of their ability to implement an SQL Server Database migration to a production
environment, based on customer-approved designs for two (2) unique customers using both
of the above migration scenarios. The documentation must align with the previous solution
design requirements. Each of the database migration projects must have been implemented
within the past twelve (12) months. To cover the entire sequence, including design and
production deployment, the documentation must include at least two (2) of the following
items for each customer project, totaling four (4) evidence artifacts required:
o Signed Statements of Work (SOWs) for the projects
o Solution Design Documents for all projects
o The Project Plan with Migration and Deployment sequence
o Architecture Diagrams
o High-level Designs (HLDs) and Low-level Designs (LLDs)
o As-built Documentation

3.3 Migration Tools

The partner must demonstrate the specific products, tools, or scripts that were used for the
assessment and migration of customer workloads. The partner must demonstrate the customer
accepted the migration approach by showing confirmation from the customer.

Required Evidence:
Partners must provide documentation and prove customer migration tool experience with at
least one (1) of the following options through a demonstration of tools using (A, B, or C):

A. Show experience with using native Azure migration tools by providing a step-by-
step demonstration that they can effectively use at least four (4) of the following
tools:

30
 • Azure Migrate Server Assessment for VMware and Hyper-V
• Data Migration Assistant (DMA)
• SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA)
• Azure Migrate Server Migration VMware and Hyper-V (use of Azure Site Recovery is also
accepted)
• Azure Database Migration Service
• Storage Migration Service

B. Show experience with third-party tools that integrate with Azure Migrate by demonstrating a
customer project where assessment data is available from Azure Migrate or available to them
offline and they perform the migration by using third-party tooling.

C. Show experience with all other third-party tools by referencing the tools used in a project plan
for successfully migrating a customer to Azure, or by providing a spreadsheet with output from
and snapshots of results in an output file from the tools that they used.

Tools may include but are not limited to:

• CloudSphere
• Carbonite
• PlateSpin
• CloudEndure
• RiverMeadow

• Cloudamize

• Zerto
• StratoZone
3.4 Automated Deployment and Provisioning Tools
The partner must demonstrate specific products, tools, or scripts that they used for automated
provisioning and deprovisioning of infrastructure and database migrations, including tools for
continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).

Required Evidence:
Include Demonstrations of Products, Tools, or Scripts used for:
• Automated deployment, including creation of workload deployment templates.
• Cloud service provisioning and deprovisioning, including viewing of service template,
packages, or runbooks that were used in the deployment of customers’ Azure
environments.
• Automation of routine operations, or automated scale-out.

Pathway 1: The partner must provide evidence of tools, products, or scripts for either a
completed Windows Server or SQL Server migration project for two (2) unique customer
projects completed within the last twelve (12) months.

31
4.0Review and Release for Operations

The partner has robust methodologies for transitioning the workload.

Requirement

4.1 Service Validation and Testing

The partner must validate the deployment, including:

• Their documented process and approach to testing and evaluating the performance
of all applications against customers’ expectations and Azure best practices.
• Their documented process and approach to evaluating and improving architectural best
practices to remediate issues with migrated platforms or workloads that do not meet
performance or cost expectations.

Required Evidence: The partner must provide evidence of both of the following service
validation and testing scenarios including validation and performance evaluation across a
minimum of two (2) unique customer projects completed within the past twelve (12) months.
The documentation must indicate that the implemented service validation solution meets
customer expectations, and it must include a sign-off from each customer.
1. Migration of Windows Server-based applications to Azure
2. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (including Arc-enabled SQL MI) *
*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud.

Evidence can be the same as the projects presented in earlier controls as long as they
demonstrate the required control definition.

32
4.2 Post-deployment Documentation
The partner must provide post-deployment operational documentation to show that their
customers are successfully using the new service on Azure. It must:

• Demonstrate how the partner’s documents, decisions, architectural designs, and

procedures were implemented.
• Demonstrate standard operating procedures for the business-as-usual
operations team that describe “how to” scenarios.

Required Evidence:
The partner must provide evidence for two (2) completed Windows Server and SQL Server
migration demonstrating both scenarios below across two (2) unique customers completed within
the past twelve (12) months.
1. Migration of Windows Server-based applications to Azure
2. Migration of Microsoft SQL databases to Azure (can include Arc-enabled SQL Managed
Instance (MI) *

*Note: Azure includes Microsoft datacenters, Arc enabled Azure on-prem or Arc enabled multi-cloud.

33
Azure Specializations Partner FAQ

Questions regarding the Azure Partner program specializations, the current checklists and pre-
qualifications for partners can usually be answered by visiting Microsoft Azure Partner Specializations

Questions on the audit checklists and program can be sent to the Azure Partner Specializations help alias.
<mailto:[email protected]>

If you have questions that have not been answered, please go to Partner Center support to create a ticket
with our Frontline team.

34