Migration is the beginning of your GCP journey, not the end. This guide covers what ongoing GCP maintenance actually involves — cost optimization, performance monitoring, security, backups, patching, access management, and governance — along with what happens when it's neglected, and how to decide who should own it.

GCP migration costs aren't a single number — they depend on migration type, data volume, and complexity. This guide walks through real cost ranges by business size, how Google Cloud pricing actually works, hidden costs businesses often miss, and a practical framework for budgeting your migration realistically, with sourced figures throughout.