Migration and modernisation
Move workloads on a schedule you control, with a way back if a wave misbehaves.
- Practice area
- Transformation and workplace
- Primary platform
- Azure
- Usually sponsored by
- IT managers
- Delivered from
- Accra, Ghana
Workloads moved in controlled waves, with tested cutovers and a documented route back for each one.
On-premises to cloud, cloud to cloud, and application modernisation delivered in controlled, reversible waves.
Why organisations ask for this work
These are the situations that lead to this conversation. If more than one is familiar, there is usually a case worth examining before anything is bought.
Dependencies found during cutover
Systems that had to move together were discovered at the worst possible moment.
No agreed way back
Rollback existed as an assumption rather than a written, rehearsed procedure.
Old infrastructure never retired
The organisation pays twice because decommissioning was left as an open action.
What this service covers
Migrations rarely fail on the technology. They fail on sequencing — a dependency nobody mapped, a cutover scheduled during month-end close, an identity change that locked out a department, a rollback plan that existed only as an assumption.
We plan migrations around business risk first and technical elegance second. That means discovery deep enough to know what moves together, pilot groups chosen because they will surface real problems, cutover windows agreed with the people whose work is affected, and a documented route back for every wave.
Modernisation is treated as a separate decision from relocation. Lifting a workload as-is and improving it later is often the right call: it shortens the risk window and gets you off ageing hardware sooner. Where re-platforming genuinely pays for itself — licensing savings, resilience, or maintainability — we make that case with numbers rather than fashion.
Discovery and dependency mapping
We establish what talks to what before scheduling anything, so move groups reflect reality rather than the org chart.
Wave planning and pilots
A representative pilot first, then business-aligned waves with defined entry and exit criteria for each.
Identity and hybrid directory
Active Directory and Entra ID designs that keep authentication working throughout the transition.
Email and collaboration migration
Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, and file server moves with data validation at each step.
Application and database migration
Rehost, re-platform, or refactor decisions taken workload by workload, with rollback defined up front.
Hypercare and stabilisation
Heightened support immediately after each cutover, when the issues that matter actually appear.
What you receive, and what changes
Every engagement produces written artefacts. They are listed here so the scope is agreed before work starts rather than interpreted afterwards.
Artefacts you receive
- Dependency map and agreed move groups
- Wave plan with cutover windows and rollback procedures
- Pilot outcome report and go/no-go recommendation
- Data validation evidence per wave
- Post-migration operations handover pack
Outcomes to expect
- Cutovers that land inside their agreed windows
- Dependencies discovered in discovery, not during a cutover
- Old infrastructure actually decommissioned so you stop paying twice
- Operational documentation your team can run from on day one
How delivery runs
Each phase has a defined entry and exit point, so you always know what is being decided, by whom, and what happens next.
Assess
Inventory, dependency discovery, and migration-readiness scoring per workload.
Pilot
A representative group migrated end-to-end to prove the runbook and expose surprises early.
Migrate in waves
Sequenced cutovers with communications, validation, and rollback ready for each wave.
Stabilise and optimise
Hypercare, decommissioning of old infrastructure, and tuning once real load arrives.
The technology this service touches
Platform choice follows the workload. These are the products most often involved in this practice area, and the vendor relationships behind them.
- Azure
- Microsoft 365
- AWS
- VMware
- Entra ID
Accredited means AAG Cloud Connect holds that vendor’s partner mark. Capability means we design, deliver, and support the platform without holding a formal partner designation for it. Both are stated plainly so nothing is implied by a logo.
Microsoft
Accredited partnerCloud platforms
The centre of our practice. We hold the Cloud Solution Provider relationship, so subscriptions, licensing advice, and first-line escalation sit with us.
Amazon Web Services
Accredited partnerCloud platforms
Where a workload is better served by AWS, we design and operate it properly rather than leaving it unsupported at the edge of the estate.
VMware
Accredited partnerInfrastructure
Virtualisation for hybrid estates, including consolidation of ageing physical infrastructure onto supportable platforms.
Who this service is for
Work of this kind is normally sponsored by one of a small number of roles, each of whom is measured on something different.
- IT managers
- Application owners
- Operations leaders
CIOs and IT managers
You need architecture that your team can actually run, vendors consolidated, and a partner who escalates instead of deflecting.
COOs and operations leaders
You need uptime, continuity that has been tested, and fewer working days lost to technology friction.
Pilot first
then waves
Why the pilot group matters most
A representative pilot is chosen because it will surface real problems — mixed device types, shared mailboxes, an application with an undocumented integration. Each subsequent wave carries defined entry and exit criteria and a rollback procedure agreed before it runs, so a wave that fails its criteria is reversed rather than pushed through.
This describes an engagement pattern typical of this service. It is not an account of a named client, and no figures here are drawn from a specific organisation.
Frequently asked
The questions organisations genuinely ask before committing budget to this work.
Some cutovers need a short window, typically outside business hours. We identify which ones, agree the windows with you in advance, and design the rest to run without interruption.
Yes. Migrations from Google Workspace, hosted Exchange, IMAP mail systems, and on-premises file servers into Microsoft 365 are common engagements.
Every wave has documented exit criteria and a rollback procedure agreed before it runs. If criteria are not met, we roll back, diagnose, and re-run rather than pressing on and accumulating risk.
We measure real throughput before planning, size transfer windows against it, and use staged seeding or offline transfer methods where bandwidth genuinely will not carry the data volume in time.
Yes, and we treat it as part of the project. Decommissioning is where the savings actually land, so it is scheduled and tracked rather than left as an open item.
Related services
These practice areas are commonly delivered alongside this one, because the gaps between them are where problems tend to appear.
Cloud consulting and architecture
A target architecture and cost model your engineers agree is buildable and your board can approve.
View serviceModern workplace
Microsoft 365 as a governed platform people actually use, with permissions you can explain and audit.
View serviceData protection and disaster recovery
Recovery objectives agreed per system, engineered, and then proven by scheduled restore tests.
View service
Talk to us about Migration
Send a short brief on where you are now with Migration. You will get a considered response setting out what we would need to establish next, rather than a generic brochure.
Your enquiry will be tagged Migration so it reaches the right specialist first time.