Case study · Insurance
Out of the server room, without the drama
Many organisations still run core applications on servers they own, with hardware refreshes and support contracts looming. This is how we moved them to Azure in planned waves: a secure landing zone first, then each application migrated, tested and switched over, modernised only where it pays.
Project overview
A wave-based migration to Azure.
- Industry
- Insurance & financial services
- Client
- Confidential
- Solution
- Cloud migration
- Platform
- Microsoft Azure
- Timeline
- 4–9 months
- Team
- 4–5 people
- Approach
- Rehost, replatform, modernise
- Security
- Landing zone with policies
- Cut-over
- Per application, rehearsed
Expected business outcomes
What the client set out to achieve
Cost is only one reason to migrate; resilience and speed of change usually matter more.
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15–30%
Lower infrastructure run cost targeted
Right-sized resources and reserved capacity instead of peak-sized hardware.
Target range; depends on the estate and licensing
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Zero
Hardware refreshes ahead
Servers and storage become Microsoft's problem.
For migrated workloads
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Tested
Recovery for every application
Backup and disaster recovery tested per workload.
Recovery objectives agreed per application
Business challenges
Where the client started
It works, but it's ageing and expensive to keep running.
Hardware
Servers approaching end of support and a refresh budget nobody wants to spend.
Applications
A mix of vendor packages and in-house .NET and Java systems.
Backups
Backups taken, restores rarely tested.
Security
Patching and access control done by a small team as time allows.
Change
New environments take weeks because hardware has to be ordered.
Proposed solution
What the migration covers
A secure foundation first, then applications in waves.
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Assessment
Every workload inventoried with dependencies, sizing and a migration approach.
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Landing zone
Networking, identity, policies and monitoring set up before anything moves.
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Migration waves
Applications moved in groups, least critical first.
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Modernisation
Where it pays: databases to managed services, apps to App Service or containers.
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Backup and DR
Backup and disaster recovery configured and tested per application.
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Cost controls
Budgets, tagging and right-sizing from day one.
Project requirements
What the client asked us for
The request was to move to the cloud. The plan starts with dependencies, because moving one application without the database or file share it relies on is what causes outages.
We rehost where speed matters and modernise where it clearly saves money or effort, rather than rewriting everything.
What the project had to deliver
- 01A secure foundation first
- 02Dependencies understood before moving
- 03Rehearsed cut-overs
- 04Costs controlled from day one
Key challenges & considerations
What made it harder, and what we did
-
Undocumented dependencies between systems
What we did
Dependencies were mapped with discovery tooling before any workload moved.
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Vendor software with licensing restrictions
What we did
Licensing was reviewed for each vendor product before its migration was planned.
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Regulatory rules on data location
What we did
Data was kept in the required regions by policy.
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Limited maintenance windows
What we did
Cut-overs were rehearsed and scheduled inside the agreed maintenance windows.
What we watched for
- Map dependencies before moving anything
- Build the landing zone first
- Rehearse every cut-over
- Right-size after migration, not before
Development process
Assess, build the foundation, migrate in waves
Each wave uses what the previous one taught.
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Assessment
Workloads, dependencies and costs analysed; waves planned.
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Landing zone
Secure Azure foundation built and reviewed.
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Pilot wave
A few low-risk applications migrated and tested.
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Main waves
Remaining applications migrated with rehearsed cut-overs.
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Optimise and hand over
Right-sizing, runbooks and training for the IT team.
Technology stack
Microsoft Azure, set up properly
Microsoft's migration tooling and well-architected practices.
Foundation
- Azure landing zone
- Entra ID
- Azure Policy
Migration
- Azure Migrate
- Database Migration Service
Platform
- Virtual machines
- App Service
- Azure SQL
Operations
- Azure Monitor
- Azure Backup
- Site Recovery
Quality assurance & deployment
Rehearsed before production, monitored after
Infrastructure changes were proved before they touched production. Every change was made as code, tested in a copy of the environment and rehearsed with a rollback.
- Infrastructure defined as code and reviewed like application code
- Changes tested in a non-production copy first
- Load tests before any resize or cut-over
- Backup restores and failover rehearsed, not assumed
- Security baselines checked automatically
Deployment
- 01Main wavesRemaining applications migrated with rehearsed cut-overs.
- 02Optimise and hand overRight-sizing, runbooks and training for the IT team.
- 03Rehearsed cut-oversEach change window was planned, rehearsed and reversible.
- 04Monitoring and handoverDashboards, alerts and runbooks handed to the client's team, and six months of free bug fixing.
Final deliverables
Applications running in the cloud, calmly
Every application runs in Azure on a secure, monitored foundation, with backups and recovery tested rather than assumed.
New environments take minutes instead of weeks, and the IT team spends less time on hardware.
- Secure landing zone
- Migrated applications
- Tested recovery
- Cost controls in place
Handed over to the client
- 01Infrastructure as codeIn the client's repository
- 02PipelinesBuild, test and deploy
- 03Monitoring and alertsDashboards and on-call routing
- 04RunbooksFor releases, recovery and failover
- 05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery
Success metrics
How success is measured
| Measure | Outcome | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Lower infrastructure run cost targeted | 15–30% | Target range; depends on the estate and licensing |
| Hardware refreshes ahead | Zero | For migrated workloads |
| Recovery for every application | Tested | Recovery objectives agreed per application |
Verified reviews
What clients say about our custom software work
Verified reviews from our clients on the same kind of work, published on Clutch.
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Custom Software Development
Web-Based Coupon App Development
The work produced by the team was of exceptional quality.
Jon Thies
CTO, Model Rocket Feb 2022 – Mar 2023
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Custom Software Development
Mobile & Web Platform Development & Design
Silver Scintilla was responsive, respectful, and enjoyable to work with, quickly addressing any questions or requests.
DeShawn Brown
CEO & Founder, Lithios Jun 2021 – Nov 2022
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Custom Software Development
Web-Based HRM System Development
Silver Scintilla provided the best solution with scalable functionality, personalized features, and robust security.
Suheb Khan
Director, Collaborative Insight Technologies Jul 2020 – Jun 2022
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