Plan

A successful migration from Azure DevOps to GitHub Enterprise Cloud requires teamwork, clear goals, and a thoughtful approach. This guide helps you build a structured plan so your migration is smooth, secure, and sets your team up for long-term success.

In this guide

Progress tracker

Use this checklist to help guide your planning:

• Project charter completed
• Stakeholders identified
• Integration strategy determined
• Migration timeline established
• Risk management plan created
• Communication plan developed
• Training strategy defined
• Developer readiness criteria established
• Resource planning completed

Learning resources

Before you begin, review these resources to support your planning:

• Planning your migration

Project charter

Define objectives and scope

• Document migration goals:

  Goal	Purpose
  Repository consolidation	Streamline source control
  Collaboration improvements	Enhance team efficiency
  Integration requirements	Maintain business continuity
  Security and compliance	Ensure governance

• Define project boundaries:

  • Repositories: Which code and artifact repositories are making the move?
  • Teams: Who will be impacted: development teams, users, and stakeholders?
  • Timeline: What is the project duration and what are the key dates?
  • Features: What needs to come over: history, pull requests, work items, boards, pipelines?

• Establish success metrics:

  • Data integrity (100% code preservation)
  • Performance (speed, system response)
  • Integration availability
  • User adoption

• Define developer readiness criteria:

  • Productivity metrics: Developer workflow completion times, successful repository operations
  • Competency checkpoints: Training completion rates, hands-on assessment scores
  • Adoption indicators: Active users on GitHub, pull request workflows
  • Support metrics: Help desk ticket volume, resolution times for GitHub-related issues
  • Integration proficiency: Successful use of Azure DevOps integrations, CI/CD pipeline operations

• Document out-of-scope items:

  • Legacy system maintenance
  • Optional feature migrations
  • Non-critical integrations

Integration strategy

Decide which Azure DevOps services to keep using after migrating repositories to GitHub:

• Azure Boards decision:

  • Continue using Azure Boards for work item tracking
  • Migrate to GitHub Issues and Projects
  • Use hybrid approach (Azure Boards + GitHub Issues)
  • Consider: Teams requiring continued access, work item linking requirements, process template dependencies, cross-repository relationships

• Azure Pipelines decision:

  • Continue using Azure Pipelines for CI/CD
  • Migrate to GitHub Actions
  • Use hybrid approach (Azure Pipelines + GitHub Actions)
  • Consider: Release pipeline handling, service connection management, secrets and variables strategy

• Other services:

  • Azure Artifacts (package management)
  • Azure Test Plans (testing)
  • Azure DevOps Extensions and integrations

Stakeholder management

• Identify key stakeholders:

  • Executive sponsor
  • Project manager
  • Technical leads
  • Team representatives
  • Security and compliance teams
  • Application owners
  • Change managers

• Create a RACI matrix for clear roles

• Schedule regular stakeholder meetings

• Document individuals who need to be involved at different stages

Migration timeline

Project phases

• Source Environment Assessment

  • Azure DevOps services analysis
  • Repository inventory and analysis
  • Integration dependencies mapping
  • Access patterns documentation
  • Performance and compliance considerations

• Target Environment Setup

  • GitHub Enterprise Cloud configuration
  • Organization and team structure
  • Security and compliance settings
  • Integration setup and testing

• Migration Testing

  • Test environment preparation
  • Pilot migration execution
  • Integration validation
  • Team workflow testing
  • Issue identification and resolution

• Repository Migration

  • Pre-migration preparations
  • Repository migration execution
  • Integration updates
  • Team communication and coordination

• Post-Migration Activities

  • Repository governance implementation
  • Performance optimization
  • Team support and training
  • Cleanup and validation

Key milestones

• Source environment assessment complete
• Target environment configured and ready
• Migration testing successful
• Team training and readiness validated
• Repository migrations completed
• Integrations updated and verified
• Post-migration governance implemented
• Team fully operational on GitHub

Risk management

• Identify common risks:

  • Data loss during migration (data which is not planned to be migrated)
  • Integration failures
  • Developer change management
  • Timeline delays
  • Resource constraints
  • Compliance issues

• Develop mitigation strategies:

  • Detailed backup plans
  • Rollback procedures
  • Contingency plans
  • Monitoring and alerting
  • Resource allocation buffers

Communication plan

Clear, proactive communication keeps everyone aligned and reduces surprises:

• Establish communication infrastructure:

  • Dedicated migration support channel
  • Migration status dashboard
  • Regular update meetings
  • Escalation paths

• Define communication schedule:

  • Initial announcement
  • Training notifications
  • Migration timeline updates
  • Go-live communications
  • Post-migration support
  • Freeze period reminders

• Create communication templates for:

  • Expected timing
  • Expected downtime
  • Emergency contacts

Training strategy

Help your administrators and developers feel confident in the new environment and ensure comprehensive readiness:

• Administrator training plan:

  • GitHub Administration Fundamentals
  • GitHub Enterprise Cloud administration
  • Security best practices
  • Audit logging and compliance monitoring

• Developer training plan:

  • Git fundamentals review
  • GitHub workflow training
  • GitHub Actions for Azure DevOps users
    • Introduction to Actions
    • Building Continuous Integration with Actions
  • Azure DevOps Board → GitHub integration workflows
  • Integration tools training (third-party CI/CD, monitoring, code quality tools)
  • Security awareness

• Azure DevOps integration-specific training:

  • Azure Boards integration: Training on linking GitHub commits and pull requests to Azure Boards work items
    • Documentation
  • Azure Pipelines integration: Training on GitHub repository authentication and build triggers
    • Documentation
  • Workflow transitions: Training on moving between Azure DevOps and GitHub interfaces
  • Cross-platform processes: Training on managing work across both platforms during integration periods

• Developer readiness validation:

  • Hands-on workshops with test repositories
  • Integration workflow demonstrations
  • Q&A sessions and troubleshooting guides
  • Certification or assessment of core competencies
  • Post-training support and follow-up sessions

Resource planning

• Allocate team resources:

  • Migration team members
  • Technical support staff
  • Training resources
  • Documentation writers

• Develop migration runbook:

  • Step-by-step procedures
  • Troubleshooting guides
  • Contact information
  • Rollback procedures
  • Validation checklists
  • Emergency response protocols
  • Communication templates

Next steps

1. Proceed to Environment assessment
2. Consider engaging GitHub Expert Services for additional support