Cloud migration: an illustrative scenario
Illustrative scenario. The company, people and figures here are fictional and were invented to show what an assessment produces. They are not a real client and are not a promise of results.
Cost by layer: today and after the move (a year)
- LayerTodayAfter the moveWhat we would do
- Software (SaaS)Today: £96,000After the move: £88,000Keep, right-size licences
- Platform (PaaS)Today: £38,000After the move: £34,000Move in wave 2
- Infrastructure (IaaS)Today: £142,000After the move: £92,000Move in waves 1 and 3
- Total£276,000£214,000
Three-year view: stay or move
- Stay: £276,000 a year x 3 years = £828,000
- Move: £70,000 one-off + (£214,000 a year x 3 years = £642,000) = £712,000
- Difference to test: £828,000 - £712,000 = £116,000 over three years
- £214,000 = £88,000 + £34,000 + £92,000, the invented running cost of each layer after the move. Every assumption is listed in the report.
Sequenced roadmap
Wave 1, months 1 to 3
File servers and test systems. Low risk, quick learning.
Wave 2, months 4 to 8
Line-of-business applications and databases.
Wave 3, months 9 to 12
The core system, with a rehearsed cutover.
The situation
A fictional 120-person firm runs some systems on its own servers, some in the cloud and most of its email and documents in Microsoft 365. A supplier has proposed moving everything to Azure. The finance director wants to know what the move would really cost and whether it pays back.
What the assessment looks at
It maps what the firm runs across software, platform and infrastructure, works out what each layer costs today, and builds a costed view of moving and of staying. It sequences any move into stages so risk stays low.
What it might find
In this scenario, the firm spends about £276,000 a year across the three layers. The software layer is best kept and right-sized. The platform and infrastructure layers are worth moving, in three waves. Over three years, moving comes out about £116,000 below staying as is, once a one-off migration cost is included. The report lists every assumption so the figures can be challenged.
The decision it enables
The firm can approve wave 1 with confidence, see the risks in the later waves, and decide about the core system once it has learned from the first two. It is not committing to the whole programme on a supplier’s say-so.
What could follow
The firm might ask for the migration to be run as a governed programme, which is what cloud and VMware migration covers. Or it might take the roadmap to another supplier.