Migrating and Modernizing 150+ Enterprise Applications to Microsoft Azure

Situation

OM Group moved 150+ IL2/4/5 enterprise applications out of an aging on-premises data center and into Microsoft Azure Gov Cloud, nearly doubling the planned scope on a shorter timeline, while raising availability to 99.99%.

The customer needed to move its enterprise applications from an on-premises data center with availability and reliability problems into a DoD-authorized cloud, without disrupting the users who depended on them.

Scope: Migration, modernization, and cloud managed services for 150+ enterprise applications serving 20+ organizations and millions of users worldwide.

The Challenge

• Scope nearly doubled, time shrank. The portfolio grew from 80 to 150+ applications, with less time to migrate them.
• Mixed technology. Applications ranged from legacy ColdFusion and Lotus Domino to modern Java and .NET, backed by Oracle and SQL Server databases.
• Many owners, real concerns. More than 20 organizations owned applications, serving millions of users in the U.S. and overseas. Many worried about losing control of their systems in the cloud.
• A first-of-its-kind effort. This was the first task order on a new enterprise cloud contract vehicle, and operational leadership changed mid-effort.

Our Approach

• A migration factory. We migrated applications at scale through a repeatable factory model, managed with Agile Scrum and Kanban.
• Modernized, not just moved. Where it made sense, we re-platformed applications from infrastructure-as-a-service to platform-as-a-service, reducing the infrastructure to be managed.
• Automated the heavy lifting. We used Infrastructure-as-Code and automation for infrastructure provisioning, user onboarding, and routine cloud management, so the team could absorb the surge in workload.
• Put users at the center. Hands-on stakeholder management, high-touch training, and progress dashboards kept 20+ organizations informed and confident throughout.

Results