A Global 500 Conglomerate company faced a critical decision as their current data centre contract was nearing expiration. With their legacy customer-facing application portfolio expected to be rebuilt in a parallel track initiative within three years, they sought to evaluate the potential cost savings and strategy for cloud migration consulting. While the organization recognized the cloud as the future, their teams had yet to build strong experience in cloud solutions, having only taken a small step towards cloud adoption in the parallel modernization track. The company was at a crossroads, needing to determine the most advantageous path: data centre contract renewal or migration to the cloud with expert our cloud migration consulting services.

Our Cloud Migration blueprint engagement commenced with a strategic purpose alignment workshop, where we aligned ourselves to our client's business and operational objectives. Understanding their core goals set the stage for a well-informed migration strategy and technical design.

To gain a comprehensive view of their technology portfolio, we conducted a thorough assessment of the legacy applications. The aim was to rationalize the portfolio, and identify viable migration options that aligned with the client's aspirations. This assessment provided crucial insights into the best path forward. We conducted an in-depth analysis of their current infrastructure and application readiness. By leveraging cutting-edge tooling, we collected valuable data, enabling us to approximate the effort required for updating or modernizing all applications. We weighed this effort against their operational needs, capabilities, and future goals to arrive at an optimal approach for Migration.

Based on our meticulous analysis, we assembled a compelling business case that compared various migration approaches. Each option was evaluated, forecasting the Return on Investment (ROI) for the client. This comprehensive comparison allowed us to recommend the most advantageous solution that aligned with their objectives.

Our proposed solution was to adopt a phased approach, migrating applications in waves. This allowed the senior management team, despite being new to the migration process, to acclimate gradually with minimal risk before fully embracing the change. Considering the applications' 3-year life expectancy and low cloud readiness, we concluded that migrating with a hybrid of right-sized IaaS and PaaS resources was the most prudent decision. Extensive analysis revealed that attempting to modernize the applications with full PaaS benefits would yield a negative return when amortized over three years.

During the design phase of the engagement, we focused on designing the Cloud architecture to ensure its effectiveness and alignment with the client's goals. Key design decisions and migration considerations were thoroughly discussed and agreed upon.

In line with Microsoft's Enterprise Scale Landing Zone architecture, we meticulously designed the Cloud foundation to facilitate seamless migration and future scalability for additional workloads. This forward-looking approach ensured that the client's Cloud infrastructure could evolve and grow in tandem with their business requirements.

To accommodate the legacy applications slated for migration, we designed application landing zones tailored to each set of applications. These zones were thoughtfully crafted to provide a smooth transition and optimal performance for the migrated applications.

In order to empower the client and facilitate informed decision-making, we conducted comprehensive workshops across various core focus areas. These workshops covered critical aspects such as Governance, Security, Network Topology, Identity and Access Control, and Platform Operations. Through these sessions, we educated the client on each aspect, presenting various design options, and encouraging active participation in shaping the chosen approach that best suited their needs.

By collaboratively aligning on the Cloud architecture and thoroughly exploring migration considerations, we laid a robust foundation for a successful Cloud migration initiative. This design phase was instrumental in ensuring that the client's Cloud environment was well-prepared to meet current and future challenges while adhering to industry best practices and standards.