The Challenge
An Estate Where 85% of the Apps Were Not Microsoft
The client needed to keep up with changing customer needs and take cost out at the same time. That meant more than lifting applications into the cloud. The applications had to be optimized and modernized once they got there, or the cost benefit would not arrive.
The obstacles were real ones:
Legacy applications that were extremely complicated
A variety of open-source technologies underneath them
More than 85% of consumer applications running on something other than Microsoft, with Azure as the destination
The client also set a condition on how the work was done. Evaluation, migration, and testing all had to be automated, so the move would be fast and business functions would barely feel it.
The Solution
Sort the Estate First, Then Run It Through a Factory
NorthStar Group evaluated the applications and put every one into one of five categories: optimize, modernize, replace, migrate to strategic DC, or retire. That produced the plan: 4,000 plus in-scope applications over four years, at 1,000 to 1,500 applications per year.
Migration then ran in four stages: intake, scheduling, factory orchestration, and operationalization.
Immutable infrastructure, built on a replace and not repair strategy
Infrastructure as code with a fully automated CI/CD deployment pipeline
Homegrown applications optimized after landing in the cloud, to cut resource consumption and give the client dynamic elasticity
150 plus reusable components, including identity management, PaaS, and security management
The Results
Where the 80% Came From
Applications migrated in two years
Cut in operational costs
Azure consumption commitment fulfilled
Reusable components built once
An 80% cut in operational costs is a large number, and it did not come from the move alone. Retiring and replacing applications took work off the books entirely. Optimizing the homegrown applications after migration reduced what the survivors consumed. The 150 plus reusable components meant identity, PaaS, and security were built once instead of per application. The physical data center footprint came down with them.
The volume held up across two years: more than 3,500 applications migrated to Azure, including the ticketing system, the financial system, and media communication systems.
The program also cleared a commercial bar that gets set at the top of the house. It helped the client fulfill a commitment of $2 billion in Azure consumption over seven years.