The answer is data sensitivity and compliance requirements, business continuity, and cost. These three factors are critical when evaluating migration strategy factors for legacy application to AWS because they directly impact the feasibility, security, and operational viability of the move. Data sensitivity dictates encryption and residency controls, business continuity ensures minimal downtime during transition, and cost analysis determines whether rehosting, replatforming, or refactoring is financially justified. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this question tests your ability to prioritize governance and operational constraints over technical details like physical location or programming language, which are common distractors. A frequent trap is assuming language or server location drives the strategy, but the exam emphasizes that compliance, uptime, and budget are the non-negotiable pillars. Remember the mnemonic “DBC” — Data, Business, Cost — to anchor your decision-making for any legacy migration scenario.
PAS-C01 Migration Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of migration. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which THREE factors should be considered when choosing a migration strategy for a legacy application to AWS? (Choose three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Total cost of ownership (TCO)
Correct options: A, C, D. Business continuity, data sensitivity, and cost are critical. Options B and E are incorrect: Physical location is less relevant; programming language alone does not determine strategy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Physical location of the source server
Why it's wrong here
Location is less important than network connectivity.
✗
Programming language used
Why it's wrong here
Language is usually not a primary migration factor.
✓
Total cost of ownership (TCO)
Why this is correct
TCO influences re-architecture vs. lift-and-shift.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Business continuity requirements (RTO/RPO)
Why this is correct
RTO/RPO define acceptable downtime and data loss.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Data sensitivity and compliance requirements
Why this is correct
Compliance affects encryption and region choices.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which PAS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Migration — This question tests Migration — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Total cost of ownership (TCO) — Correct options: A, C, D. Business continuity, data sensitivity, and cost are critical. Options B and E are incorrect: Physical location is less relevant; programming language alone does not determine strategy.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which PAS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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This PAS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PAS-C01 exam.
Question Discussion
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