Stage-0 VMware Migration Readiness (Google Sheets Tool)

A fast, local Stage 0 readiness baseline using only vCenter inventory + backup CSVs to produce per-VM readiness with reasons and exec rollups. No agents, no SaaS ingest.

Version 1.0.0 · Last updated September 15, 2025

Free, runs locally in your Google Drive. No data leaves. No login.

Free, offline version for Excel users. No data leaves. No login.

Where this fits

Stage Scope Who Runs It Key Output
Stage-0 vCenter + backup baseline Internal team (agentless, <1hr) data-preserve-html-node="true" R/Y/G per VM + exec snapshot
Stage-1 Dependencies, perf, DR mapping Vendor assessment Validated migration plan
Stage-2 Pricing, wave design, SOW Vendor + procurement Costed scenarios + contract

At a glance

  • Built for: companies ~200–1000 employees preparing for VMware renewal

  • Runs locally: Google Drive; no data leaves

  • Inputs: vCenter inventory CSV + backup job CSV

  • Outputs: per-VM readiness with reasons + exec-ready dashboard

“Stage-0 VMware Migration Assessment is an agentless, first-hour baseline using vCenter + backup CSVs to produce per-VM readiness (R/Y/G). It prepares, not replaces, the vendor deep dive (dependencies/perf/DR) and the final pricing/SOW.”

When to use this tool

  • A VMware migration assessment is a structured evaluation of your current vSphere environment to plan and de-risk a move to another platform. The first step is a Stage-0 baseline—an agentless export from vCenter and your backup system that produces per-VM readiness bands (red/yellow/green) with reasons. This quick baseline prepares you for a deeper vendor-led assessment (dependencies, performance, DR) and the final pricing/SOW phase.

  • Use the VMware Migration Readiness (Google Sheets Tool) as a first-pass triage: paste vCenter + backup CSVs and get per-VM Readiness with Reasons (e.g., stale/missing backups, no offsite, uptime >180d, prod/critical/compliance tags). That highlights “migrate soon” candidates vs “stabilize/leave for now”—you can take economics/dependencies further later as needed.

  • Export your vCenter inventory (and your backup job inventory) as CSV files, then drop them into the this tool for a local, exec-friendly readiness baseline—no external services.

  • VMware’s native tools surface telemetry and let you export CSVs; this Sheet turns those exports into a concise readiness baseline (per-VM reasons, cluster/OS rollups). Deeper dependency/performance/cost work can come later if needed.

  • Yes. This Sheet runs in your Google Drive; paste vCenter + backup CSVs and get per-VM readiness with reasons.

  • Yes. The Sheet pre-builds the joins/pivots across inventory and backups for an exec-friendly baseline.

  • This flags missing jobs, stale last_backup_time, short retention, irregular frequency, and no offsite.

  • This normalizes tags from vCenter and backup jobs and applies “any-tag” logic.

  • This tool rolls up readiness by cluster and OS family with clear percentages.

  • This tool classifies uptime (e.g., >180 days—tunable in Settings) and surfaces it on the dashboard.

  • Yes. All logic is visible in cells; the dashboard is exec-friendly and stays in your environment.

  • Yes. Download the offline .xlsx version; logic and thresholds remain visible.

This tool is a Stage 0 readiness baseline. Deeper dependency, performance, and cost modeling can follow if you need it.

How this is different

Not another telemetry stream. It joins vCenter inventory + backup job inventory (e.g., Veeam/Rubrik/Commvault CSVs) for a single readiness view.

Time to result. Answers in minutes, not days/weeks, with no agent install, no SaaS ingestion, no approvals.

Per-VM readiness with reasons. Flags only what applies (e.g., stale/missing backup, no offsite, short retention, irregular frequency, uptime >180d, production/critical/compliance tags).

Vendor-neutral & free. Works with standard exports; no signup.

Transparent logic. Formulas live in cells; thresholds are editable.

Exec-level rollups out of the box. Risk by Cluster / OS family / Uptime / Backup frequency with clear percentages and KPI tiles.

Runs locally in Google Sheets; no agents or uploads. Paste two CSVs—everything stays in your environment.

Just what you need. Brings together easy-to-get data sets to give you the high-level analysis you need, without spending weeks on later-stage details.

Normalized & deduped. Lowercased/trimmed tags with “any-tag” logic, OS family classification, uptime class, and dedupe by normalized VM name—so rollups are clean.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • Yes. It’s a Google Sheets workbook that runs entirely in your Google Drive. No data leaves your environment.

  • Two CSVs: vCenter inventory and backup inventory. Paste them into the provided tabs (headers must match).

  • Per-VM Readiness with Reasons, plus an exec-friendly dashboard (risk by cluster/OS/uptime/backup).

  • No—this is a readiness baseline. It highlights backup gaps, long-uptime change risk, and critical/production tags. (Deeper analysis is available later if you need it.)

  • Transparency and trust. All logic is visible in cells; you can audit or adapt thresholds.

  • Yes. It’s designed for fast baselining across that range.

  • Native tools surface telemetry and config health. This Sheet pre-builds a readiness baseline across vCenter + backup CSVs with per-VM reasons and exec-friendly rollups, without agents or uploads.

  • Those require agents or SaaS ingestion and often return opaque scores. This Sheet is free, local, transparent, and purpose-built for a pre-renewal readiness baseline you can audit in cells. Time to result is faster without a sales cycle, budget approvals, and implementation process.

  • This Sheet is a Stage 0 readiness baseline from vCenter + backup CSVs; it does not map live app flows. Agentless mapping tools are great in Stage 1 to discover dependencies and group move sets. Use Stage 0 to shortlist candidates and scope what needs deeper mapping.


  • Cloud assessments estimate target sizing/costs and often require connectors or agents. This Sheet is vendor-neutral Stage 0—a fast, local baseline to prep those conversations. Use Stage 0 to bring deduped counts, OS mix, backup posture, and top reasons to your assessment.

What this baseline doesn’t replace


  • No. It’s a Stage 0 readiness baseline. It surfaces signals (shared backup jobs, uptime class, role tags) to target dependency mapping in Stage 1 Deep Assessment.


  • No. Stage 0 highlights cost drivers (deduped counts, OS/role mix, backup posture). Detailed cost/TCO scenarios happen in Stage 1.


  • No. Stage 0 provides risk and inventory signals; performance/capacity modeling is part of Stage 1.

  • Not directly. Use readiness + reasons to shortlist low-risk candidates; wave sequencing requires dependencies/capacity from Stage 1.

  • No. It’s vendor-neutral. Use the baseline to shortlist approaches for vendor discussions.

How Stage-0 prepares the next steps

Stage-0 isn’t throwaway. Its deduped inventory, any-tag prod/critical/compliance, backup posture flags, uptime class, and cohorts become inputs to deeper work:

  • Dependency mapping: focus live-flow tools on shortlisted cohorts.

  • Cost/TCO: feed clean counts, OS/role mix, and overlap assumptions.

  • Performance & capacity: identify which tiers need profiling.

  • Wave planning: seed move-sooner vs stabilize/leave-for-now sets.

  • Platform evaluations: start vendor talks with facts, not guesses.

Alternatives & complements

How it works (steps take 2 minutes)

  1. Open template → Make a copy (Google account required).

  2. Paste your vCenter CSV into VMware_Inventory and your backup CSV into Backup_Inventory (keep header order).

  3. Review Dashboard for KPIs and visuals; see Merged for per-VM Readiness and Reasons.

Required columns (copy/paste friendly)

VMware Inventory (row 1 headers, exact order):
Name, Guest OS, IP, Power State, Host, Cluster, Resource Pool, Tags, Instance UUID, uptime_seconds

Backup Inventory (row 1 headers, exact order):
vm_name, job_name, last_backup_time, retention_days, frequency, backup_size_gb, job_tags

Works with RVTools exports (optional)

Already using RVTools? You can populate the Sheet’s VMware_Inventory from RVTools with minimal mapping. (You’ll still paste a backup inventory CSV for last_backup_time, retention_days, frequency, offsite posture.)

RVTools → VMware_Inventory mapping

  • Name ← vInfo.Name

  • Guest OS ← vInfo.OS

  • IP ← vInfo.IP Address (pick first non-blank if multiple)

  • Power State ← vInfo.Powerstate

  • Host ← vInfo.ESX hostname

  • Cluster ← vInfo.Cluster

  • Resource Pool ← vInfo.Resource pool

  • Instance UUID ← vInfo.Instance UUID

  • uptime_seconds ← vInfo.Uptime (in days) × 86400

    • Sheets example: =INT(value_in_days*86400)

Tags (optional but useful)

  • Tags ← aggregate from vTag (all tag names for that VM):
    =IFERROR(TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, FILTER(vTag!B:B, vTag!A:A = A2)), "")

Notes

  • Headers in VMware_Inventory must match exactly; if a source field is missing, leave it blank.

  • You still paste your backup job CSV (e.g., Veeam/Rubrik/Commvault) into Backup_Inventory so the tool can flag missing/stale/short retention/no offsite.

  • This RVTools path keeps everything local and preserves the Stage-0 flow (per-VM readiness with reasons + exec rollups).

Learn more: RVTools vs Stage-0 (how they fit together).

What you’ll get

  1. Readiness bands per VM with a concise Reasons field (only the causes that apply).

  2. Risk slices by Cluster, OS family, Uptime, and Backup frequency/age.

  3. KPI tiles for quick executive review (e.g., % with stale/no-offsite backups, long-uptime).

  4. Transparent logic in helper columns (normalization, tag checks, recency/retention).

Privacy & security

  1. Runs entirely in your Google Workspace; no external services.

  2. You paste CSVs; the workbook calculates locally.

  3. All formulas are in-sheet for auditability. No hidden data flows.

Troubleshooting

  1. Blank dashboard? Verify header order matches the lists above.

  2. Dates not recognized? Convert last_backup_time to ISO (e.g., 2025-08-25 13:45).

  3. Duplicates? We dedupe by normalized VM name; check Merged for notes.

  4. Tags missing? Ensure Tags / job_tags are populated; we normalize but can’t infer absent tags.

“What if we want to take it further?”

Your readiness results give you clarity fast. And you can re-run them at any time.

When you need a more detailed assessment, we can build on your VMware Migration Readiness results with a tailored, done-for-you analysis. This could draw from multiple data sources and contain dependency/blast-radius checks, DR gating, performance simulation, and portfolio economics, for example, depending on your priorities.

Samples

We’ve published a few small sample files to illustrate how the Stage-0 VMware Migration Assessment works. These are synthetic examples (5–10 VMs), while real environments may contain thousands.

The results file shows values only (no formulas); executive dashboard charts are not included. Run the tool locally to generate complete outputs.

Download sample vCenter inventory (CSV)

Synthetic vCenter export with VM names, OS type, power state, host, cluster, uptime, and tags. Shows the input structure expected in the VMware_Inventory tab.

Download sample backup inventory (CSV)

Synthetic backup job export with VM name, job name, last backup time, retention days, frequency, size, and tags. Matches the Backup_Inventory tab headers.

Download sample readiness results (CSV)

Merged output with per-VM readiness bands (red/yellow/green) and reasons (e.g., missing backup, short retention, uptime >180 days). Includes values only; charts are generated when running the tool.

Changelog

  • Published synthetic vCenter, backup, and readiness results examples (5–10 rows) for illustration.

  • Revised structured data to explicitly link Stage-0 with VMware migration assessment for clarity and retrievability.

  • Moved explainer page to /vmware-migration-readiness/stage-0 and set this as the primary reference.

  • Added compact table to explain the differences between readiness baseline, vendor assessment, and pricing/SOW.

  • Launched the free Stage-0 VMware Migration Readiness (Google Sheets) tool.