AWS Transform migration: How Clearscale compresses enterprise modernization

Technical leaders live in the tension between the mandate to modernize and the gravity of a legacy estate. Whether it’s VMware, aging .NET frameworks, or highly customized mainframe environments, manual modernization requires an army of engineers and years of patience. In our experience, application complexity is a large contributor to missed timelines.

Between discovery, dependency mapping, and grueling network reconfigurations, the process is notoriously labor-intensive for both the partner and customer teams. Every day spent in the legacy landscape compounds your technical debt, increases licensing exposure, and delays your ability to layer in the AI capabilities your competitors are already using.

This is exactly the problem AWS Transform was built to solve, and what the Clearview Migration Methodology is now operationalizing for our clients.

Clearscale

What is AWS Transform, and why does it matter for migration

Traditional enterprise migrations often fail because the most difficult parts of modernization remain highly manual: dependency discovery, application analysis, migration sequencing, network reconfiguration, operational validation, and post-migration stabilization.

AWS Transform is the first agentic AI service purpose-built for large-scale modernization of legacy environments. For the CIO, that means compressing modernization timelines from years to months while slashing costs — with faster execution, improved consistency, and reduced engineering overhead across the entire program.

Where enterprises are seeing immediate value

VMware to AWS migration

AWS Transform orchestrates the entire VMware to AWS migration lifecycle — automating discovery, dependency mapping, wave planning, network configuration, and server migration in iterative waves while allowing your team to query the agent in real time. By automating repeatable transformations that once required niche expertise, AWS Transform can reduce execution time by up to 80%.

Full-stack Windows and .NET modernization

Legacy .NET modernization to cloud-native architectures is one of the most common journeys in the enterprise. AWS Transform accelerates full-stack Windows modernization, including .NET and SQL Server, by up to 5x and reduces operating costs by up to 70% by eliminating costly licenses.

Mainframe modernization

For organizations carrying mainframe workloads, AWS Transform provides AI-driven refactoring of monolithic codebases, enabling modernization on AWS without the long manual rewrite that has historically made these programs cost-prohibitive.

Custom code and framework transformations

Beyond standard workloads, AWS Transform Custom automates upgrades for APIs, frameworks, and bespoke code at scale. Teams can upgrade language versions, migrate frameworks, optimize performance, and analyze codebases using transformations that improve continuously with each engagement.

How Clearscale operationalizes AWS Transform through the Clearview Migration Methodology

Clearscale brings the deep AWS expertise needed to configure and scale custom Transform agents tailored to your application landscape. By integrating AWS Transform into an AI-native SDLC, we enable organizations to scale modernization across thousands of applications up to 5x faster than manual efforts — wrapped in a rigorous governance framework and outcome-based delivery model that de-risks every migration wave.

The Clearview Migration Methodology delivers AWS Transform within a structured enterprise framework, reducing migration risk while accelerating execution. Rather than simply executing infrastructure moves, we integrate AWS Transform into a broader modernization strategy that includes:

• Migration governance and operational oversight
• Dependency modeling and migration sequencing
• Landing zone and security architecture alignment
• Migration wave orchestration
• Deployment readiness validation
• Rollback and resiliency planning
• AI-native SDLC integration
• Post-migration optimization

This approach allows enterprises to modernize faster without sacrificing governance, stability, or resilience.

Case Study: 14-month VMware program delivered in under 6 months

Using the Clearview methodology and AWS Transform, Clearscale recently helped a global enterprise reduce a projected 14-month VMware migration program to under 6 months — saving millions in projected licensing overhead and freeing the client’s engineering team to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure management.

Accelerate your 2026 VMware or legacy modernization without sacrificing stability

The largest modernization failures typically occur because organizations underestimate legacy complexity, governance requirements, migration sequencing, and post-migration readiness. This is where Clearscale differentiates itself.

By combining AWS Transform automation with deep AWS modernization expertise, Clearscale enables organizations to scale modernization programs across large application portfolios while maintaining centralized direction and security throughout the migration lifecycle.

Let’s build your migration roadmap. Contact Clearscale to schedule a complimentary AWS Transform Assessment and see how the Clearview methodology can compress your timeline without adding risk.

To learn more, visit us here.

About the Authors

Bethany Cook is Chief Delivery Officer at Clearscale, where she leads enterprise cloud migration, modernization, and managed services programs. With more than 20 years of experience in technology consulting and professional services leadership, Bethany specializes in scaling global delivery organizations, operational excellence, and enterprise cloud transformation initiatives. She brings deep expertise in AWS-focused modernization, delivery governance, and AI-enabled transformation programs, helping organizations modernize with confidence while aligning technology strategy to business outcomes.

David Ernst is Director of Migrations at Clearscale, where he leads enterprise cloud migration programs across VMware, mainframe, and legacy application modernization initiatives. With more than 20 years of IT experience and a background in DevOps, Generative AI, and cloud transformation, David specializes in AWS Transform and the Clearview Migration Methodology, helping organizations accelerate modernization timelines, reduce operational risk, and build resilient, AI-ready platforms on AWS. He brings deep expertise in automation, infrastructure as code, and enterprise-scale migration strategy.