A company wants to calculate the projected costs of migrating to AWS based on actual on-premises usage data, and create a migration business case (investment justification document). Which service is MOST suitable for this requirement?
Choosing the service that creates a migration business case from on-premises actual usage data.
Migration Evaluator
Correct. Migration Evaluator is a service that collects and analyzes actual measurement data such as on-premises configuration and utilization rates, and creates a business case comparing projected costs after migrating to AWS. It produces evidence-based documentation that can support migration investment decisions.
AWS Pricing Calculator
AWS Pricing Calculator is a tool that estimates monthly costs by manually entering an AWS configuration that is being planned.
The starting point is a configuration entered by the user, so it does not ingest actual on-premises data to create a migration business case. Migration Evaluator is the appropriate service for this requirement, so this option is incorrect.
AWS Cost Explorer
AWS Cost Explorer is a tool that visualizes and analyzes the history of AWS usage costs that have already been incurred.
Its scope is actual AWS usage, and it is not designed to analyze on-premises costs before migration or produce migration decision documents, so this option is incorrect.
AWS Budgets
AWS Budgets is a tool that sets budget amounts and thresholds and sends alerts when costs exceed (or are projected to exceed) them.
Its role is budget monitoring, and it does not have the capability to calculate projected migration costs or create a business case, so this option is incorrect.
Cost tool differentiation: Migration Evaluator = on-premises actual data → migration business case / Pricing Calculator = enter a configuration for an upfront estimate / Cost Explorer = analyze AWS usage history / Budgets = budget alerts. When you see 'before migration' or 'comparison with on-premises,' choose Migration Evaluator.