A global manufacturing leader in the elevator and escalator industry.
Industry
Manufacturing
Year
2024
Stack
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Azure Governance, Azure Monitor, Citrix Migration, Azure Enterprise-Scale Architecture, Cloud FinOps
⸻ Business Impact
Exiting Legacy Infrastructure: A Strategic Pivot to the Cloud
Our customer, a globally recognized manufacturer with operations spanning multiple continents, faced a critical challenge: their on-premises datacenter and associated licensing agreements with VMware and Citrix were set to expire. Renewing these licenses would have incurred significant costs and operational limitations. The company saw this as an opportunity to modernize its IT infrastructure and shift to a scalable, cost-efficient, cloud-based model.
MobiLab successfully delivered a project that involved building a robust Cloud foundation on Azure Germany West Central Region in Frankfurt, migrating 685 servers, including 230 Citrix servers and more. The task we faced wasn’t just the scale of the migration—it was ensuring continuity, scalability, and an excellent user experience for thousands of employees worldwide during and after the migration.
Key Results
A Future-Proof Cloud Foundation
Built a secure, scalable Cloud environment empowering our customer to scale its operations independently while maintaining governance.
Cost and Operational Transparency
Introduced a FinOps dashboard with advanced tagging capabilities, providing visibility into IT costs by department and application, enabling better optimization and strategic budget planning.
Enhanced User Experience and Support Framework
Leveraged a structured support framework and agile processes to ensure smooth operation and user satisfaction during and after the migration.
Seamless Integration with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)
Migrated 230 Citrix servers to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), ensuring compatibility, improving performance, and reducing operational costs.
⸻ STARTING POINT
Navigating a Complex Data Center Exit
Background
Our customer’s on-premises datacenter supported thousands of global users across critical applications. With licensing agreements for VMware and Citrix expiring, the transition was non-negotiable. The migration also presented an opportunity to modernize infrastructure and reduce operational costs.
Market Context
The industrial sector increasingly leverages Cloud solutions to modernize legacy systems, optimize costs, and improve operational efficiency. However, large-scale migrations require experience, technical expertise, and detailed planning to avoid disruption and ensure future scalability.
Project Scope and Methodology
Facing licensing expirations, our customer worked with MobiLab to transition to Azure Cloud. MobiLab delivered a comprehensive solution, including:
- A robust Cloud Foundation built on Azure.
- A risk-based Cloud Governance Framework to ensure a scalable environment
- Modernized application environments and an optimized Citrix infrastructure.
- Advanced tagging and FinOps dashboards for financial clarity and cost control.
- A structured roadmap and support framework for seamless operations post-migration.
Two key challenges emerged:
- Ensuring a smooth transition for thousands of users globally by improving user experiences.
- Establishing a solution framework to handle potential solution requests at scale.
Building on this, we developed a tailored Cloud Adoption Framework to outline the scope and roadmap.
⸻ MILESTONES
Building a Secure and Scalable Cloud Foundation
MobiLab developed a secure and scalable Cloud architecture tailored to meet the customer’s needs. This included running multiple workshops to align stakeholders and meticulous planning for app rearchitecting.
Modernizing Applications and Citrix Infrastructure
The migration included rearchitecting critical applications and consolidating 230 Citrix servers to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). This modernization effort enhanced performance while reducing the overall cost of operations.
Introducing Cloud FinOps for Cost Optimization
Cost transparency was critical for our customer’s Cloud Adoption. MobiLab implemented FinOps dashboards with advanced tagging, enabling real-time resource utilization and spending tracking by department and application. This would enable our customer to make more strategic decisions and better optimization.
Ensuring User Experience Through a Support Framework
With thousands of global users relying on the new infrastructure, MobiLab implemented a structured support framework. This included agile processes to address issues promptly and ensure business continuity during the migration.
⸻ Conclusion
A New Standard for Efficiency and Modernization
What our customer’s new Cloud environment now offers:
➞ Financial Clarity
A FinOps dashboard with tagging capabilities, providing granular visibility into IT costs by department and application.
➞ Future-Readiness
A scalable, flexible architecture designed to grow alongside our customer’s business needs.
➞ Operational Excellence
Streamlined processes and modernized applications that reduce costs while enhancing performance.