Outdoor Advertising

Overview

A major Outdoor Advertising enterprise relied entirely on aging On-Premise datacenters spanning multiple physical locations. Their infrastructure consisted of Windows Servers, SQL Server instances, massive file repositories, and legacy Active Directory domain controllers. The goal was to modernize on Azure cloud, eliminate physical hardware maintenance overhead, enable dynamic scaling for seasonal traffic spikes, and establish disaster recovery without disrupting their 24/7 advertising pipelines and real-time bidding systems.

Migration Strategy & Approach

The migration employed a phased "Assess → Migrate → Optimize" strategy leveraging Azure Migrate for comprehensive discovery and dependency mapping of 100+ physical and virtual machines across multiple datacenters. The assessment phase identified right-sizing opportunities and inter-server dependencies. The migration phase utilized Azure Site Recovery for zero-downtime replication and cutover, with private ExpressRoute connectivity ensuring secure, high-bandwidth tunnel for multi-TB data transfers. The optimization phase included Azure cost management, storage tier optimization, and database performance tuning post-migration.

Key Responsibilities & Impact

• Orchestrated comprehensive Azure Migrate discovery and assessment scanning 100+ on-premise servers, analyzing application dependencies, sizing requirements, and compatibility constraints.
• Planned and executed a methodical "lift-and-shift" migration strategy with detailed cutover schedules and rollback procedures for business continuity.
• Transferred several Terabytes of enterprise data securely across dedicated Azure ExpressRoute private connectivity with encryption in-transit using IPSec tunneling.
• Migrated Windows Server workloads (file servers, print servers, legacy applications) selecting optimal Azure VM families (Dv3, Ev3 series) and storage tiers (Premium SSD, Standard HDD) for workload-specific IOPS and throughput requirements.
• Executed SQL Server migrations with minimal downtime leveraging Azure Database Migration Service, ensuring compatibility with Azure SQL VMs or Azure Database for SQL Server while optimizing licensing strategies.
• Facilitated seamless Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) migration, syncing domain controllers from on-premise infrastructure into Azure VMs with proper DNS configuration and trust relationship establishment.
• Implemented Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for disaster recovery, enabling RPO/RTO targets and testing failover scenarios without impacting production workloads.
• Established post-migration cost optimization and right-sizing using Azure Cost Management and Azure Advisor recommendations, reducing cloud expenditure by 25% through reserved instances and spot pricing.