From Data Center to Cloud: A Seamless Azure Transition

A Strategic Leap Toward Cloud-First Operations

A leading enterprise specializing in AI-powered automation platforms launched a transformative initiative to decommission its physical data center in Israel and migrate its operations fully to Microsoft Azure. The goal was clear: enhance agility, modernize disaster recovery, and reduce infrastructure costs—without compromising availability or resilience.

To realize this vision, the organization partnered with TeraSky, leveraging its deep expertise in cloud architecture and VMware migrations. Together, they executed a fast, seamless transition to Azure, combining innovative platforms and proven processes.

Solution Overview: A Hybrid Path for Rapid Transformation

The enterprise’s workloads ran on VMware vSphere and Oracle Exadata systems. Due to time constraints, TeraSky designed a dual migration path:

• Azure VMware Solution (AVS) for quick lift-and-shift of VMware workloads.
• Azure Migrate to rehost selected systems as native Azure VMs.

This approach enabled a fast transition without refactoring, ensuring minimal disruption. The project scope included:

• Comprehensive assessment and dependency mapping.
• Design and deployment of region-specific Azure landing zones (Israel and the US).
• Wave-based migration with rollback options.
• Post-migration stabilization and 24/7 support.

The result: a fully decommissioned data center, with operations successfully transitioned to cloud-native infrastructure.

Technical Architecture: Scalable, Secure, and Compliant

TeraSky’s solution followed Azure architecture best practices, ensuring performance, governance, and observability:

Azure Landing Zones:

• Deployed hub-and-spoke architecture in Israel and Europe.
• Included FortiGate firewalls and Azure Front Door for secure access.
• Implemented management group and subscription hierarchy for access control.

Azure VMware Solution (AVS):

• 15+ hosts across 3 availability zones.
• Used VMware HCX for near-zero downtime migrations.
• Integrated with existing vRA and vROps environments.

Azure Migrate & Native Services:

• Rehosted select workloads as Azure VMs and managed SQL.
• Enabled governance compliance through custom CISO-aligned policies.

All migration phases were validated via Acceptance Test Procedures (ATP), with rollback mechanisms ensuring business continuity.

Business Outcomes: Cloud Agility and Measurable Value
The migration delivered significant benefits:

Cost & Efficiency

• Complete retirement of legacy infrastructure.
• Zero-cost migration, funded by Microsoft’s ECIF program.
• Eliminated hardware procurement and maintenance overhead.

Agility & Modernization

• Multi-region deployment met compliance and operational goals.
• Freed the organization from Exadata dependencies.
• Established a path for future AVS-to-native Azure migration.

Security & Visibility

• Centralized governance using Azure-native tools like Defender for Cloud.
• Custom policy enforcement aligned with internal security mandates.

Strategic ROI

• Reduced operational costs.
• Enhanced scalability and readiness for future innovation.
• Eliminated manual operations tied to legacy systems.

Repeatability at Scale
TeraSky’s approach is modular, repeatable, and scalable—designed to fit a wide range of enterprise needs:

Ideal for:

• Enterprises running on VMware or Oracle.
• Organizations are pursuing data center exit strategies.
• Regulated industries require multi-region deployments.

Common Use Cases:

• Legacy modernization without refactoring.
• Hybrid environments with unified monitoring and governance.
• Rapid migrations with rollback and test capabilities.

Repeatability Features:

• Modular playbook tailored by phase.
• Automated via Infrastructure as Code (Terraform and ARM).
• Reusable Azure landing zone templates and ATP structures.

End-to-End Accountability with TeraSky
TeraSky served as the single orchestrator, planning, executing, and supporting the entire engagement. With full ownership from start to finish, the enterprise enjoyed a smooth, risk-mitigated migration with ongoing support and long-term success.