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Cloud Services

Cloud migration

Cloud migration for businesses leaving on-site servers: what goes to Microsoft 365, what suits Azure or hosting, what stays local. Assess, pilot, migrate.

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In short

Cloud migration moves the workloads on your on-site server to the right place: email and files to Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, applications and databases to Azure or a hosted platform, and anything that genuinely needs to stay local kept on-site. Dig IT Solutions assesses, pilots, migrates and decommissions in that order, with honest cost comparisons before you commit.

When you need this

Signs this is the right conversation

  • Our server is due for replacement and we don't want to buy another one.
  • Everyone tells us to move to the cloud but nobody says what that means for our systems.
  • Our accounts package only runs on a Windows server.
  • We're worried the cloud will cost more every month than a server did once.
  • We've moved some things and now our setup is half and half with no plan.

Scope

What we deliver

  • 01

    Workload assessment

    Every application, share, database and service on your servers listed with owners, dependencies, data size and cloud options.

  • 02

    Cost comparison

    Three to five year total cost for stay, cloud and hybrid options, including licences, bandwidth, backup and support, so the decision is financial as well as technical.

  • 03

    Target design

    Microsoft 365 and SharePoint for email and documents, Azure or hosting for servers that must remain, and a plan for anything left on-site.

  • 04

    Pilot

    One department or application moved first to prove the approach and surface issues before the full migration.

  • 05

    Migration

    Data and applications moved in agreed windows, with connectivity, identity, backups and security configured in the cloud environment.

  • 06

    Decommissioning

    Old servers wiped, licences retired, backups retained for the agreed period and the comms room simplified.

Outcomes

What you get out of it

  • A cloud setup designed around what your business actually runs.
  • Known monthly costs compared honestly with the server alternative.
  • Fewer physical dependencies on your office.
  • A clear end state instead of a permanent half-migration.

FAQ

Questions we are asked

Straight answers. If yours is not here, call 020 8482 4020 or 01992 939 365 and ask an engineer.
Should we move our server to the cloud?
Often, but not always. Email and files almost always belong in Microsoft 365. Line-of-business applications depend on the vendor: many now have cloud versions, some run well on Azure virtual machines, and a few still perform best on a small local server. Businesses with poor internet or very large local files may keep a hybrid setup. An assessment tells you which category you're in.
What is the difference between cloud and on-premise servers?
An on-premise server is hardware you own, sitting in your office, that you power, cool, patch, back up and replace every five to seven years. Cloud servers are virtual machines or services rented from a provider such as Microsoft Azure, paid monthly, patched at the platform level and scaled up or down as needed. The trade-off is capital cost and control against operating cost and flexibility.
Is the cloud cheaper than a server?
Not automatically. Moving email and files to Microsoft 365 usually is, because the licences replace server hardware, Windows licensing and backup. Running a Windows server in Azure that sits at low usage all day can cost more per year than the hardware it replaced. The honest answer comes from a total cost comparison over three to five years, which we produce before recommending anything.
How long does a cloud migration take?
A simple email and file migration takes a few weeks. Moving applications and databases to Azure or a hosted platform takes longer, often two to four months including assessment and pilot, because vendor involvement, testing and staff training all need scheduling. We work back from your server's end-of-life or lease date and give you a dated plan after the assessment.
What happens to our old server after migration?
Once everything is verified in the cloud and a settling period has passed, we take a final backup, retain it for an agreed period, securely wipe the drives to a documented standard, and either dispose of the hardware through a certified recycler or return it to you. Licences tied to the server are retired and your asset register is updated.

Insights

Further reading

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Next step

Talk to an engineer, not a sales script

Tell us what is not working, or what you are planning, and we will give you a straight view on what it would take to fix.

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