Migrating SQL Server to Azure SQL Database provides important benefits. Such advantages include:

- lower cost by shifting expenses from a capital expenditure model to an operational expenditure model
- improved security with encryption on by default plus access threat protection
- improved scalability and high availability
- ease of maintenance including automatic backup and recovery and cloud-based disaster recovery

A successful migration should include preparation, pre-migration, migration, and post-migration. There are other tools, some older and some newer from Microsoft and other third-party vendors.

Read this whitepaper to learn how to migrate SQL Server databases using the two most recommended Microsoft tools for both small to medium and large databases.