Database Migration Service

by
Andrew Snodgrass

by
Andrew Snodgrass

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Azure Database Migration Service (DMS) offers computing resources, orchestration features, assessment and testing tools, and documentation to guide customers through the process of migrating databases to Azure services. Destinations primarily include Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server in Azure VMs, and in some cases to Azure Database for PostgreSQL or Database for MySQL.

Product: Database Migration Service

Licensing: Database Migration Service

Near-Term Updates and Roadmap (2026–2027)

There were minimal advancements to the DMS service in 2026; instead, Microsoft focused on retooling to include SQL Server migration into two front ends that call DMS underneath—the Azure portal via Azure Arc and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)—while retiring the stand-alone tools (Azure Data Studio) that previously performed that work.

Updates

The 2026 updates center on moving SQL Server migration workflows into supported Microsoft front ends while preserving DMS as the underlying migration service.