Is there a migration assistance program?
Here is what the program includes:
Unlike other providers that charge for professional services, Oracle provides dedicated cloud engineers to help you migrate at no additional cost if you have a paid OCI tenancy.
Planning & Architecture: Oracle engineers work with you to design your "Landing Zone" (security, networking, and identity) to ensure it meets best practices from day one.
Prototyping: They help you build a "Proof of Concept" (PoC) to prove that your application will perform as expected before you move your entire production environment.
Migration Execution: They provide hands-on help moving your virtual machines (VMs), databases, and even complex non-Oracle workloads (like VMware or Kubernetes).
Post-Migration Training: Once the "lift" is complete, the engineers stay to train your team on how to manage and optimize the new environment.
This is a unique "cash-back" style incentive for enterprise customers.
The Deal: For every $1 you spend on OCI infrastructure, you earn $0.25 in rewards.
The Benefit: These rewards can be used to pay off your on-premises Oracle software support bills. In effect, Oracle is paying you to migrate by reducing your legacy maintenance costs.
If you prefer a DIY approach or have a massive fleet of servers, OCI provides a suite of automated tools:
Oracle Cloud Migrations: A service that automatically discovers VMs in your on-premises environment (VMware or AWS EC2), replicates the data, and launches them as OCI instances.
Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM): The gold standard for databases. It automates the move of your Oracle Databases to OCI with near-zero downtime, handling all the complex "syncing" in the background.
| Program | Best For... | Cost |
| Cloud Lift Services | Complex apps & strategic migrations | $0 (Included with tenancy) |
| Cloud Migrations Service | Mass migration of VMs/AWS instances | $0 (Self-service tool) |
| Partner Incentives | Customers working with 3rd party SIs | Funded by Oracle |
| Support Rewards | Reducing total IT/Licensing spend | Earn $0.25 per $1 spent |
New for 2026, OCI has introduced AI-driven tools that don't just "lift and shift" your servers, but actually analyze your code.
Automatic Right-Sizing: The AI looks at your actual CPU usage on-premises and recommends the exact "Flexible Shape" in OCI to save you the most money.
Modernization Advice: For legacy applications, the tool can suggest how to wrap your old code into containers (OCI Kubernetes Engine) to make it more resilient.
If you are already working with a specialized migration partner (like Accenture, Deloitte, or a local MSP), Oracle's Cloud Lift engineers act as backup experts for that partner. They don't replace your partner; they provide the "deep-tier" Oracle engineering support to ensure your partner-led migration is successful.
While Cloud Lift is free, there is usually a "scope" limit (often around 10 databases or applications) for the initial free engagement. For massive, thousand-server migrations, Oracle uses a "Migration Factory" approach where they may bring in a certified partner, often partially funded by Oracle through the Adoption and Migration Program.