At the heart of every digital transformation is data. This year’s Migrate and Modernize Summit was more than a showcase of new features—it was a demonstration of how Microsoft Azure is reimagining the migration and modernization journey for organizations of every size, including for their databases. The Summit showcased how Azure is making it easier and faster to move, manage, and modernize your data estate, whether you’re running PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, or Sybase.
Azure is the best place for SQL Server
Azure is the best place to run SQL workloads in the cloud. The next-gen Azure SQL Managed Instance (public preview) further elevates modernization, delivering 5x database capacity, 2x storage, and improved performance vs. prior generations. This fully managed platform makes it easier to scale and migrate SQL workloads with confidence.
The SQL Server journey in Azure is defined by seamless modernization and operational excellence. The simplified SQL Server Migration Experience in Azure Arc delivers an end-to-end migration process, including continuous assessments, streamlined provisioning, and real-time database replication—all assisted by Copilot in Azure. This is both replication and fallback as well, enabling you to cutover when you are ready or fallback when needed. This is an online, no downtime migration experience. What once took months can now be accomplished in days, with confidence, continuity, and control.
A major highlight is the new Azure Databases Migrate Service (DMS) Hub—a central command center for estate-level SQL migration tracking. The DMS Hub guides you through the migration process, provides at-scale dashboards for tracking progress across all SQL Server databases, and offers a new navigation experience. Benefit from online/no-downtime migrations, with the ability to cut over or fall back when ready, and real-time visibility into every step of their journey.
Schema migration for Azure SQL Database is now generally available, enabling seamless migration of missing schema objects along with data—reducing manual effort and maintaining consistency.
Modernizing legacy systems to Azure SQL
We have tooling to help with your heterogenous migrations from DB2, Sybase, and Oracle to Azure SQL.
When migrating Sybase databases to SQL Server or Azure SQL, the SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for Sybase streamlines the process with automated schema and data conversion, assessment tools, and step-by-step guidance. SSMA helps reduce manual effort and ensures a smooth transition to modern SQL platforms.
Azure continues to unify the migration experience across database platforms. The new SKU recommender for DB2 to SQL migrations in SSMA helps users select the right Azure SQL SKU based on performance metrics and resource consumption, ensuring optimal landing for migrated workloads.
For those migrating from Oracle, Azure’s SSMA (SQL Server Migration Assistant) for Oracle Migrations now includes enhanced monitoring, ensuring smoother migrations and better visibility throughout the process.
Copilot-assisted DB code conversion experiences for Oracle and DB2 in SSMA, currently in public preview reduce manual effort and improves migration speed and quality.
Move to the fully-managed, open source Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Azure’s commitment to open source shines through in our latest PostgreSQL innovations. The journey begins with the recently-announced public preview of Azure Migrate Discovery and Assessment for PostgreSQL, a new capability that streamlines planning and accelerates migrations to Azure Database for PostgreSQL. This tool provides comprehensive discovery and assessment, helping organizations confidently map their migration path.
The built-in migration service in Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server makes it easy to migrate Postgres workloads from a variety of sources. It supports migration from on-premises servers, as well as virtual machines or managed Postgres services in AWS and GCP.
Once in Azure, developers can use dedicated features in the new PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code. This extension simplifies database management and development workflows, offering intelligent assistance through context-aware IntelliSense and the ‘@pgsql’ GitHub Copilot agent—all within your favorite code editor. These enhancements empower teams to build, optimize, and innovate faster.
Why This Matters
These innovations are not just features—they are part of a unified approach to data modernization that reduces migration complexity and ultimately empower you to create the next generation of AI apps. Whether you’re migrating SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, or Sybase workloads, Azure’s latest tooling and services provide a streamlined, intelligent path to the cloud.
Ready to Learn More or Get Started?
Watch the Migrate and Modernize Summit 2025 event on-demand, including Tejas Shah’s databases section of the event’s follow-on session.
Microsoft