Cloud Migration & Consolidation

The Challenge: Moving to the Cloud Without a Plan

Most cloud migrations look successful on the surface — your systems are running on Azure, your data has been moved across. But underneath, the foundations weren't laid properly. The way your cloud is organised doesn't match how your business actually works. Your network setup and security weren't built in from the start. User access and login systems were bolted on as an afterthought. And nobody documented how the new environment should actually run day-to-day.

These aren't IT failures — they're planning failures. And they get worse over time, making your cloud systems rigid, expensive, and harder to change when the business needs to move quickly.

How We Approach Migration

We design your move to Azure from the ground up, starting with the cloud foundation — the base that everything else in your cloud sits on. Get this right, and everything built on top works better. Get it wrong, and you'll be paying to fix it for years.

Cloud Foundation Design: We don't just switch things on. We design how your cloud is organised so it mirrors your business — your departments, product lines, or compliance boundaries. We set up how your systems connect to each other so they don't need constant rework, and we build in user access and login systems that work with your existing company directory while supporting modern cloud applications.

Multi-Business Strategy: If you're bringing together multiple business units or companies you've acquired, we design the separation so each part of the business can operate independently where it needs to, while sharing security, cost controls, and compliance rules across the group.

Data Strategy: Moving data is the most sensitive part of any migration. We plan different approaches for different types of data: your live business systems might move with minimal downtime, your reporting and analytics platforms might run in parallel for a period, and older databases might be retired or modernised. Each type carries different risks and needs its own plan.

Built-In Decision-Making: A successful migration requires hundreds of consistent decisions — how data is stored, what computing power to use, how systems connect, how backups work, what security controls are in place. We put a clear decision-making process in place so all those choices line up with each other, instead of different teams making contradictory decisions that cause problems later.

How the Work is Delivered

We work in clear phases, so you always know where things stand:

Phase 1 — Understand and Design (2–4 weeks): We map out what you have today, understand your applications and data, assess what's ready to move and what needs preparation, and design where everything should land. This is where the most important thinking happens — getting the blueprint right before any building starts.

Phase 2 — Plan the Move (1–2 weeks): We create a detailed migration plan — what moves first, how each system cuts over, what depends on what, and what quality checkpoints must be passed before moving to the next stage.

Phase 3 — Execute the Migration (4–12 weeks depending on size): We lead or support your team through the actual migration, maintaining quality checkpoints throughout and catching problems before they snowball.

Phase 4 — Handover (1–2 weeks): We document how everything works, support your team through the first weeks of running the new environment, and resolve any issues that come up after the move.

Why Quality Checkpoints Matter

The difference between a migration that serves the business well and one that creates ongoing headaches usually comes down to discipline at each stage. Before anything moves to the next phase, we check that security is verified, performance meets expectations, operating procedures are in place, and everything aligns with the overall plan. This stops the most common outcome — systems that technically work but are poorly built underneath.

Realistic Timelines

A well-planned cloud migration takes time. A straightforward migration for a smaller organisation might take 8–12 weeks. Bringing together multiple businesses across different locations with large amounts of data might take 6–9 months. We will be upfront about realistic timelines from the very first conversation.

The time savings don't come from rushing — they come from clear planning, independent quality assurance (not relying on your vendors to check their own work), and making the right decisions early rather than paying to fix the wrong ones later.