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Azure Migration & Application Modernization Services
Azure migration is the process of moving servers, databases and applications from an on-premises data centre or another cloud into Azure, using Azure Migrate for discovery, assessment and replication and Azure Database Migration Service for databases. NTSPL runs wave-based Azure migrations and .NET and SQL modernization for Indian enterprises exiting owned or co-located data centres.
Microsoft Azure services in scope
The Problem Azure Migrate (discovery and assessment) and Azure Migrate business case Solve
Migrations rarely fail on the copy. They fail on what was not discovered: a nightly batch job on a forgotten server that feeds the ERP, a hard-coded IP in a payroll interface, a Windows Server 2008 R2 box running a licence dongle, or SQL Server databases sized for peak in 2017 that are now 80 percent idle. A lift-and-shift built from a CMDB spreadsheet carries all of that into Azure at full price. The real work is dependency mapping, right-sizing from performance data rather than allocated capacity, and deciding per workload whether to rehost, replatform to PaaS, or retire.
NTSPL starts every migration with the Azure Migrate appliance collecting at least 30 days of performance and agentless dependency data, then produces an Azure Migrate business case comparing on-premises TCO with Azure including Azure Hybrid Benefit and reservations. Applications are grouped into move groups by dependency, not by department. Databases are assessed for Azure SQL Managed Instance or Azure SQL Database compatibility, and .NET web apps for App Service, before any VM is replicated.
When an Azure Migrate-Led Migration Makes Sense (and When to Stay, Retire or Choose AVS)
Signals that point to migration & modernization on Microsoft Azure
- A data centre lease, co-location contract or hardware support renewal falls due within 12 to 24 months.
- Average CPU utilization across your server estate is below 20 percent but you are still buying hardware for peak.
- Windows Server or SQL Server versions are approaching or past end of support and in-place upgrades are risky.
- Your .NET applications are deployed by copying files to IIS servers, with outages during every release.
- A Hyper-V or VMware estate needs a host refresh and storage array renewal in the same year.
- The board has asked for a TCO case for cloud with INR figures, not vendor slides.
When a different approach is better
- Mainframe or IBM i workloads cannot be moved with Azure Migrate; they need a specialist rehosting or refactoring tool chain, or a managed hosting partner, before Azure is relevant.
- If most of your estate is VMware and must move within 3 to 6 months, converting every VM to native Azure VMs is risky; use Azure VMware Solution as the first hop and modernize from there.
- Plant-floor SCADA and latency-sensitive OT systems that must run at the site should stay local; use Azure Arc to manage them and Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI) on-premises rather than migrating them.
Azure Migration Toolchain: Azure Migrate, Database Migration Service, App Service Tooling and Azure VMware Solution
| Service | Role in the architecture | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Migrate (discovery and assessment) | An on-premises appliance discovers VMware, Hyper-V and physical servers, SQL Server instances and web apps, collecting performance history and agentless dependency data for sizing and readiness assessments. | You have more than about 30 servers and no reliable, current inventory of utilization and server-to-server connections. |
| Azure Migrate business case | Builds a TCO and year-on-year cash-flow comparison between the current estate and Azure, factoring Azure Hybrid Benefit, reservations and on-premises cost assumptions you can tune. | Finance or the board needs an INR-denominated case for data centre exit before approving the programme. |
| Azure Migrate server migration | Replicates VMware and Hyper-V VMs agentlessly, or physical and other-cloud servers with an agent, into Azure Managed Disks and performs test and production cutovers. | Workloads will be rehosted onto Azure VMs, either as an end state or as a first step before modernization. |
| Azure Database Migration Service | Performs online or offline migrations of SQL Server to Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure SQL Database or SQL Server on Azure VMs, driven from the Azure portal, PowerShell or CLI. | You want to move databases to PaaS with a short cutover window, using log shipping for online mode. |
| App Service migration tooling | Azure Migrate web app assessment and the App Service migration assistant check ASP.NET and Java web apps for App Service compatibility and package them for migration. | IIS-hosted .NET Framework or .NET apps are candidates to leave VMs and run on App Service plans. |
| Azure VMware Solution | Runs a dedicated, Microsoft-managed VMware Cloud Foundation private cloud on Azure bare metal so vSphere VMs move with HCX without re-platforming. | You have hundreds of VMware VMs, a hard data centre exit date and no time to convert them, or appliances certified only on vSphere. |
Azure Migrate appliance-to-landing-zone migration pipeline
Azure Migrate appliance-to-landing-zone migration pipeline
The Azure Migrate appliance in the source data centre streams inventory, performance and dependency data to an Azure Migrate project, which feeds assessments and the business case used to form move groups. Replication then flows over ExpressRoute or site-to-site VPN into a prepared landing zone in Central India, where servers cut over to Azure VMs, databases move via Database Migration Service to Azure SQL Managed Instance, and web apps land on App Service.
Select any component
Azure Migrate appliance-to-landing-zone migration pipeline: click any of its 9 components to see its role and the design choice NTSPL makes for it, or trace the 7-step primary path.
Migration Engineering Decisions: 6R Disposition, Right-Sizing, Move Groups and Database Targets
6R disposition per workload
Do not rehost everything. In a typical Indian enterprise estate of 200 to 400 servers we see 10 to 15 percent retire (no traffic in 30 days, duplicated reporting servers), 50 to 60 percent rehost, 20 to 30 percent replatform (SQL to Managed Instance, IIS to App Service) and under 10 percent refactor. Replatforming databases first usually saves more than any VM right-sizing, because SQL Server licences dominate the bill.
Right-sizing from performance data
Use performance-based assessments with at least 30 days of data that include a month-end or quarter-end close. Size to the 95th percentile with a 1.2 to 1.3 comfort factor. Allocated-capacity sizing routinely overprovisions by 40 to 60 percent. Watch memory more than CPU, as many Indian ERP servers were sized for RAM. Validate disk IOPS and throughput separately; Premium SSD v2 lets you pay for IOPS independently of capacity.
Move groups and wave sequencing
Build move groups from dependency analysis so tightly coupled servers move in the same weekend; splitting a chatty app tier from its database across a VPN adds 20 to 40 ms per call and can break batch windows. Start with a low-risk wave of 10 to 20 servers to prove the runbook, then increase wave sizes. Leave core ERP and identity infrastructure until the network and operating model are proven.
SQL Server target choice
Azure SQL Managed Instance is the default for line-of-business databases using SQL Agent, cross-database queries or CLR. Azure SQL Database suits single-database, modern apps. Stay on SQL Server on Azure VMs when the vendor certifies only that, when you need SSRS or SSIS on the same server, or with instance-level features MI does not support. Run the SQL compatibility assessment in Azure Migrate before promising PaaS to application owners.
Azure VMware Solution as a bridge
AVS is priced per dedicated host node, so it pays off only at scale, typically when you would otherwise need to convert 150 or more VMware VMs inside a hard deadline. Use HCX for bulk or vMotion-based migration with no re-IP. Treat AVS as a stepping stone: plan a second phase moving stateless and Windows web tiers to native Azure services to reduce node count. Check AVS host SKU availability in your chosen Indian region early.
How NTSPL Runs a Wave-Based Azure Migrate Data Centre Exit
Appliance deployment and 30-day collection
Deploy the Azure Migrate appliance with vCenter or Hyper-V and guest credentials, then collect performance and dependency data across at least one month-end.
Business case and 6R disposition
Tune the Azure Migrate business case with real on-premises costs and agree retire, rehost, replatform or refactor per server with application owners.
Landing zone readiness
Build the Central India hub-spoke network, ExpressRoute or VPN, Azure Policy guardrails and backup policies before replication starts.
Pilot wave
Migrate 10 to 20 low-risk servers end to end, including test migration in an isolated VNet, to validate the runbook and bandwidth assumptions.
Production waves with DMS and App Service
Replicate VMs per move group, run online database migrations with Database Migration Service and repoint web apps to App Service, cutting over at weekends.
Optimize and decommission
After 30 days of Azure data, right-size VMs, purchase reservations for the steady baseline and decommission source hardware with a certified disposal record.
What you receive
Securing the Migration Path: Appliance Credentials, Replication Traffic and Landing-Zone Guardrails
Migration creates temporary attack surface: the appliance holds credentials to vCenter and guest operating systems, replication opens paths from the data centre into Azure, and servers often arrive carrying unpatched legacy software. Controls focus on scoping and vaulting appliance credentials, keeping replication on private connectivity, landing every VM into a subscription where Azure Policy and Defender for Cloud are already enforced, and patching or isolating legacy operating systems at cutover.
- Least-privilege, read-only vCenter role and dedicated guest discovery accounts for the appliance, removed after the programme
- Replication over ExpressRoute private peering or site-to-site VPN with private endpoints for the Azure Migrate project
- Landing-zone Azure Policy denying public IPs and requiring disk encryption before any migrated VM is started
- Defender for Servers onboarding during cutover so vulnerability findings on migrated legacy servers surface on day one
- Isolated test-migration VNet with no route to production to prevent duplicate-identity or IP conflicts during UAT
Azure Migration Economics: Business Case, Hybrid Benefit, Reservations and Dual-Running Costs
Azure Migrate discovery, assessment and server migration carry no charge for the tool itself in most scenarios; the cost is in replication storage, the target resources and the dual-running period. The largest savings come from Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and SQL Server licences with Software Assurance, from right-sizing, and from reservations or savings plans on the steady baseline after migration.
- Apply Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and SQL Server cores already covered by Software Assurance
- Right-size from 95th percentile performance data instead of allocated vCPU and RAM
- Shorten dual running by retiring source servers within 2 weeks of a stable cutover
- Buy 1-year or 3-year reservations or an Azure savings plan for compute only after 30 days of post-migration data
- Replatform SQL to Managed Instance to drop OS management and consolidate licences across databases
Rehost to Azure VMs, replatform to PaaS, or move to Azure VMware Solution: which migration path fits?
Decide on four criteria. Deadline: if the data centre must be empty within 6 months and the estate is mostly VMware, AVS with HCX is the only low-risk path at scale. Licence position: if you hold SQL Server Software Assurance, replatforming to Azure SQL Managed Instance with Hybrid Benefit usually beats rehosting SQL VMs on total cost. Application ownership: in-house .NET apps with source code can move to App Service with modest change, while vendor packaged apps should be rehosted unless the vendor certifies PaaS. Operations model: if your team is VMware-skilled and stretched, AVS preserves tooling; native VMs and PaaS reduce run cost long term. Most programmes combine all three, with rehost as the default and PaaS where the economics are clear.
Key facts about migration & modernization on Microsoft Azure
Migration & Modernization on Microsoft Azure in Practice
3 migration & modernization scenarios from EPC and infrastructure, Aviation ground-handling services, FMCG manufacturing: the starting position, the services chosen, the architecture, the rollout and the measured outcome.
EPC company vacates its owned data centre in 7 months and halves run cost
Ground-handling firm moves 14 .NET apps from IIS servers to App Service
FMCG manufacturer moves 180 Hyper-V VMs to Azure ahead of a host refresh
Consumer-durables maker converts ECC to S/4HANA on Azure in one programme
Municipal corporation keeps property-tax collection online through a DR event
Migration & Modernization on Microsoft Azure: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Azure Migrate free to use?
Azure Migrate discovery, assessment, business case and server migration tooling are provided without a separate licence charge in most scenarios. You pay for the replication storage and snapshots used while servers replicate, the target Azure resources after cutover, and network connectivity. Agentless dependency analysis is also included. The appliance runs on your own hypervisor, so it consumes a modest amount of on-premises capacity.
How long does a data centre exit to Azure usually take?
For 150 to 400 servers, NTSPL programmes typically run 5 to 9 months: about 6 weeks for discovery and business case, 4 weeks for landing zone and pilot, then fortnightly waves of 20 to 50 servers. The critical path is usually application owner availability for UAT and vendor sign-off for packaged apps, not replication speed.
Can we migrate from Hyper-V without installing agents on every VM?
Yes. Azure Migrate supports agentless migration of Hyper-V VMs by installing a replication provider on the Hyper-V hosts or cluster nodes rather than inside each guest. Replication runs continuously, and you trigger test and production migrations from the portal. Physical servers and VMs on unsupported hypervisors still need the replication agent.
Which Azure region in India should we migrate to?
Central India (Pune) is the usual primary because it offers availability zones and a broad service catalogue, with South India (Chennai) as its paired region for DR. West India (Mumbai) is an option when latency to Mumbai users or exchanges matters, but check service availability there first. For DPDP Act and sector regulator expectations, all three keep data in India.
What happens to our SQL Server licences when we move?
With Software Assurance or subscription licences, Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you apply existing SQL Server core licences to Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure SQL Database (vCore) or SQL Server on Azure VMs, paying only the base compute rate. Without it, licence-included pricing applies. NTSPL reconciles your Microsoft licence statement against the target design in the business case.
How do you prevent downtime during database cutover?
Azure Database Migration Service in online mode restores a full backup and then continuously applies log backups to the target Azure SQL Managed Instance. On cutover night, applications are stopped, the final log backup is applied, and connection strings are switched, typically within 15 to 45 minutes. A rollback plan keeps the source database read-only but intact for 72 hours.