There is no definitive answer to your question, since it will totally depend on the complexity of SSIS packages, SSRS reports and SSAS Cubes. Doing [in-place upgrade][1] is always risky, since if something goes wrong, it would be difficult to rollback. A side-by-side migration is always a good and reliable method, since if something goes wrong, you already have a system up and running that you can point to. Always, test, test and test your migration and have a fully tested rollback plan. Use [**upgrade advisor**][2] *(this touches DB Engine, SSIS, SSRS and SSAS)* and fully address all the issues raised by it. - I have written a thorough answer for [database migration and post restore steps][3] - For SSRS migration, I have [written it here][4]. - Devin Knight talks about [Upgrading Packages to SSIS 2012][5] and msdn has a whitepaper on [5 Tips for a Smooth SSIS Upgrade to SQL Server 2012][6] - For SSAS, [this method][7] should work in your case as well. [1]: https://dba.stackexchange.com/a/29330/8783 [2]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144256(v=sql.120).aspx [3]: https://dba.stackexchange.com/a/50315/8783 [4]: https://dba.stackexchange.com/a/68161/8783 [5]: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/dknight/2012/05/16/upgrading-packages-to-ssis-2012/ [6]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh667275.aspx [7]: http://blogs.technet.com/b/mdegre/archive/2010/03/31/migrating-a-cube-in-sql-server-analysis-services-2005-to-sql-server-analysis-services-2008.aspx