Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework Planning Training Course
| Course code | SD-CC-023 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 5 days |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Category | Cloud Computing |
| Delivery | Classroom or live online |
| Language | English |
| Certificate | Certificate of completion |
Course overview
Cloud migration programmes often stall between an executive decision to move to Azure and a defensible plan for sequencing workloads, funding work, managing risk and assigning ownership. This course addresses that gap using the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure (CAF). Participants learn to turn business drivers, estate data and technical constraints into a practical cloud adoption plan that can be approved by architecture, finance, security and delivery stakeholders.
The course examines the CAF Strategy, Plan, Ready, Adopt, Govern and Manage methodologies, with concentrated work on the planning decisions that shape delivery. Participants assess digital estate rationalisation options, classify workloads using the five Rs, define migration waves, establish skills-readiness requirements, calculate initial business cases and identify dependencies. They also connect cloud adoption planning to Azure landing zones, governance guardrails, operating-model choices, backlog management and measurable business outcomes.
Instruction combines short expert-led briefings with guided analysis of a realistic multi-application estate. Working individually and in groups, participants use CAF templates and Azure-oriented planning artefacts to create a cloud adoption plan. They leave with a completed, reusable planning pack containing stakeholder objectives, workload disposition decisions, wave plans, risks, dependencies, governance assumptions and an initial adoption backlog, plus a certificate on completion.
This intermediate course suits professionals responsible for shaping, coordinating or assuring an Azure adoption programme. It is equally valuable for managers who need their teams to make cloud investment decisions on evidence rather than generic migration assumptions.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Apply the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework methodologies to structure an Azure adoption programme
- Translate business motivations into measurable cloud adoption objectives and success metrics
- Assess a digital estate and classify workloads using the five Rs rationalisation model
- Build a prioritised migration wave plan using business value, complexity, risk and dependency criteria
- Create an initial cloud adoption business case covering cost, benefit, risk and investment assumptions
- Define Azure landing zone requirements for identity, networking, policy, management and security
- Produce a cloud adoption backlog with epics, owners, dependencies and delivery milestones
- Present a CAF-based cloud adoption plan to business, technical, finance and governance stakeholders
Benefits of attending
For you
- Gain a repeatable method for leading cloud adoption planning workshops with business and technical stakeholders
- Build credible migration roadmaps rather than relying on application-by-application intuition
- Strengthen your ability to challenge workload priorities using value, complexity, risk and dependency evidence
- Develop portfolio-level Azure planning artefacts that support architecture, programme and cloud leadership roles
- Leave with a CAF-based planning pack that can be adapted for your own organisation or client engagement
For your organisation
- Creates a consistent framework for deciding which workloads move, modernise, retain, retire or replace
- Reduces unplanned migration delays by exposing application, data, network and organisational dependencies early
- Improves investment decisions through documented assumptions about costs, benefits, risks and adoption sequencing
- Aligns cloud platform, security, finance and application teams around shared landing-zone and governance requirements
- Produces a prioritised adoption backlog and wave plan that can be transferred into programme delivery controls
Target competencies
Who should attend
- Cloud Architects — who must convert Azure target-state designs into an actionable adoption roadmap
- IT Programme Managers — who coordinate migration workstreams, dependencies, funding and delivery governance
- Enterprise Architects — who need to align application portfolios and business capabilities with cloud strategy
- Cloud Centre of Excellence Leads — who establish repeatable CAF practices across business units
- Infrastructure and Platform Managers — who prepare landing zones, operations and support teams for adoption
- Technology Portfolio Managers — who prioritise applications and investments across a cloud transformation portfolio
Requirements and prerequisites
Participants should have practical familiarity with core cloud concepts, including IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, shared responsibility, identity, networking and workload migration. Experience with Azure subscriptions, resource groups and common Azure services is useful, as is participation in an application, infrastructure or transformation project. Participants should be comfortable reading an application inventory and discussing cost, risk and business priorities with stakeholders. No advanced Azure administration, scripting, solution development or prior certification is required. The course teaches CAF planning methods rather than hands-on infrastructure deployment.
Training methodology
The five-day programme uses instructor-led CAF walkthroughs, facilitated decision exercises and a continuous Azure adoption case study. Participants analyse a representative application estate, identify business motivations, score workloads, map dependencies and develop migration waves using structured templates. Small-group workshops test competing prioritisation and governance choices, while instructor feedback connects each decision to CAF guidance and Azure landing-zone practice. On the final day, participants consolidate their work into a presentation-ready cloud adoption plan and receive peer and instructor review against realistic stakeholder questions.
Course outline
Day 1: Cloud strategy and CAF foundations
- Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework lifecycle and methodology relationships
- Business motivations, cloud adoption drivers and strategic alignment
- Cloud adoption maturity and organisational readiness assessment
- Stakeholder mapping across business, technology, finance and risk functions
- Cloud operating model roles and Cloud Centre of Excellence responsibilities
- Business outcome definition using measurable adoption metrics
- CAF strategy and plan template structure
Workshop: Participants create a stakeholder map, business-motivation statement and measurable outcome set for the case-study organisation.
Day 2: Digital estate assessment and workload rationalisation
- Application, infrastructure, data and dependency inventory requirements
- Azure Migrate discovery outputs and estate assessment interpretation
- The five Rs: rehost, refactor, rearchitect, rebuild and replace
- Retain and retire decisions within portfolio rationalisation
- Workload business value, technical complexity and risk scoring
- Data residency, regulatory and security constraints in disposition decisions
- Dependency mapping for applications, databases, integrations and networks
Workshop: Participants assess a supplied application portfolio, assign rationalisation dispositions and document the assumptions behind each decision.
Day 3: Adoption planning and migration wave design
- Prioritisation models for business value, urgency, effort and risk
- Migration wave planning and minimum viable product scope
- Sequencing shared services, platform capabilities and application workloads
- Critical-path analysis for technical and organisational dependencies
- Skills-readiness assessment and capability development planning
- Cloud adoption backlog design using epics, features and work items
- Milestone, ownership and decision-gate definition
Workshop: Participants build a sequenced migration wave plan and Azure DevOps-style adoption backlog for the case-study estate.
Day 4: Landing zones, governance and operational readiness
- Azure landing zone design principles and platform architecture
- Management group, subscription and resource organisation models
- Identity, privileged access and role-based access control requirements
- Network topology, connectivity and hybrid integration considerations
- Azure Policy, tagging and resource governance guardrails
- Cost management, FinOps accountability and budget controls
- Operational management requirements for monitoring, backup and incident response
Workshop: Participants define landing-zone, governance and operational-readiness requirements that support their planned migration waves.
Day 5: Business case, governance and plan presentation
- Cloud adoption business case assumptions and financial model inputs
- Total cost of ownership, migration cost and benefit estimation
- Risk register development with mitigation owners and escalation paths
- Programme governance forums, decision rights and reporting cadence
- CAF plan review checkpoints and continuous improvement measures
- Executive communication of adoption scope, trade-offs and investment asks
- Transition from planning artefacts to delivery execution
Workshop: Participants assemble and present their complete CAF-based cloud adoption plan, receiving instructor feedback on its readiness for governance approval.
Tools & standards covered
Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, Azure Landing Zones, Azure Migrate, Azure DevOps
A typical training day
| 08:30 – 10:30 | First session |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Refreshment break |
| 10:45 – 12:30 | Second session |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch and networking |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Third session |
| 15:00 – 15:15 | Refreshment break |
| 15:15 – 16:30 | Workshop and daily review |
Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.
What the fee includes
- Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
- Full course workbook and materials
- Exercise files, templates and case studies
- Certificate of completion
- Refreshments and lunch (classroom deliveries)
- Post-course application plan
- Facilitator follow-up on request
- Group rates from five participants
How you can take this course
Classroom
Scheduled sessions in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Dubai and Cape Town.
Live online
The same facilitator and materials, delivered live for distributed teams and individuals.
In-house
Delivered privately for your team, at your offices or a venue of your choice, tailored to your context. Request a proposal.
Certification
Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.
Frequently asked questions
Upcoming sessions
New dates are being scheduled. Ask us about the next session or an in-house delivery for your team.
Ask about datesGroup of 5+?
Request in-house delivery or group rates →Related courses in Cloud Computing
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