Move to the cloud with confidence
A practical, purpose-built migration plan, assessed, designed and delivered by consultants who will still be around to run it afterwards.
A migration plan built around your workloads, not a template
Moving to the cloud is a sequence of decisions, and the expensive mistakes are made early: choosing a platform on a partner's recommendation rather than your workloads, lifting-and-shifting systems that should have been redesigned, or redesigning systems that should have been left alone.
Orbit3's cloud adoption service starts with an honest assessment of what you run today and what it needs to do tomorrow. From that we design a target architecture you can question, and a phased migration with a way back at every step. Because we also provide managed cloud services, we design environments we would be happy to operate.
- Workload assessmentWhat you run, what it depends on, and what it costs today.
- Target architectureA design built for your team's skills and your commercial position.
- Phased migrationPilot first, then waves, with rollback planned for each.
- Landing zoneAccounts, identity, networking and guardrails set up properly from day one.
For teams making the move for the first time, or the second
Some clients are leaving a data centre or a hosting contract. Others moved years ago and inherited an environment that has never been tidied. Both are migrations.
Leaving on-premises or a hosting provider
Hardware is ageing, a contract is ending, or the office server room is the last thing between you and remote working. You need a plan with dates.
Re-platforming an early cloud estate
The first migration was a lift-and-shift and the bill and the fragility show it. This time you want it designed.
Consolidating after growth or acquisition
Several environments, several ways of doing things. You want one landing zone, one identity model and one set of standards.
A migration you can plan around
Every migration we run is built around a written assessment, a target architecture you can question, and a cut-over plan with a way back.
- Discovery and dependency mappingAn inventory of applications, data, integrations and the dependencies between them, so nothing is discovered on cut-over day.
- Platform recommendationAWS, Azure or Google Cloud, chosen on your workloads, licensing, existing skills and commercial terms, with the reasoning written down.
- Target architecture and landing zoneAccount structure, identity, networking, security guardrails and cost allocation designed before the first workload moves.
- Migration strategy per workloadRehost, replatform, refactor, replace or retire, decided per system rather than for the whole estate at once.
- Cost modelA forecast of run costs on the target platform, compared with what you pay today, before you commit.
- Pilot migrationOne representative workload moved end to end to prove the approach and the runbooks.
- Wave planning and executionRemaining workloads grouped into waves with cut-over windows, testing plans and rollback steps for each.
- Data migrationDatabases and file stores moved with integrity checks and minimal downtime, using native replication services where they fit.
- Handover or managed runDocumentation and training for your team, or a seamless transition to our managed service.
Discover, design, migrate
Three phases, each with a deliverable you can review before we move to the next. No big-bang cut-overs.
Discovery
A comprehensive assessment of your workloads and technology stack, including the dependencies and the costs. The output is a written report you own, with a recommended platform and approach.
Architecture
A purpose-built target design and landing zone, reviewed with your team, with a cost forecast and a migration plan broken into waves.
Adoption
A pilot workload first, then waves, each with its own testing and rollback plan. We finish with handover to your team or a transition into managed operations.
AWS, Azure and Google Cloud
We are not tied to one vendor. The target platform is a decision we make with you, based on your workloads, your team's skills and your commercial position.
Amazon Web Services
Well-Architected reviews, AWS Organizations and Control Tower landing zones, Application Migration Service for rehosting and Database Migration Service for data.
Microsoft Azure
Cloud Adoption Framework landing zones, Azure Migrate for assessment and rehosting, and hybrid identity with Entra ID for organisations that live in Microsoft 365.
Google Cloud
Organisation and folder design, Migrate to Virtual Machines for rehosting, Database Migration Service, and GKE for teams heading towards containers.
Frequently asked questions
Which cloud should we choose?
It depends on your workloads, your existing licensing, your team's skills and your commercial position. Microsoft-centric organisations often land well on Azure; product companies often favour AWS or Google Cloud. We give you a recommendation with the reasoning written down, and we are not paid by any vendor to steer you.
How long does a migration take?
A small estate can move in weeks; a large one with legacy dependencies takes months. The discovery phase gives you a realistic plan with dates for each wave, and the pilot migration confirms it before you commit the rest.
Will there be downtime?
Each workload gets its own cut-over plan with a defined window and a rollback. Many systems can move with minutes of downtime using replication; some need a maintenance window. We tell you which is which before the wave is scheduled.
Should we lift-and-shift or redesign?
Usually both, decided per system. Rehosting gets you off ageing hardware quickly; redesigning pays off for the systems that cost the most to run or change. Doing either for everything is how migrations overrun.
What happens after the migration?
Either we hand over with documentation and training, or the environment moves into our managed service. Because we designed it, there is no learning curve.
Can you help with cloud spend once we have moved?
Yes. The cost model in the plan is the starting point, and our cloud optimisation service keeps the bill in line with the forecast.
Often combined with this
A migration is the moment to get the fundamentals right. These are the services most clients bundle with it.
CloudOps Managed Services
24/7 monitoring, patching, security and cost control for your AWS, Azure or Google Cloud environment, run by us.
Learn moreCloud DevOps
CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code and observability so your team ships daily with confidence.
Learn moreCloud Security
Security reviews, risk assessments and hardened target-state controls mapped to the standards you need to meet.
Learn moreReady to move to the cloud?
Book a free 30-minute call and we'll outline a practical, low-risk path to the cloud tailored to your business.