The cloud migration that was really a business decision.
A commercial bank's software division treated a cloud migration as infrastructure work, when the real question was whether three businesses were becoming one.
The Situation
The division ran three separate B2B software businesses, one for utilities, one for cellular, one for waste expense management. Each had grown up on its own, with separate codebases, separate databases, different tech stacks, and different teams. Leadership wanted to move all three to the cloud. The goals were sensible. Cut infrastructure cost, improve the customer experience, simplify support, and open the door to cross-selling across the three. Going in, it looked like an infrastructure job. Move the servers, cut the cost, modernize.
What We Found
We'd already worked closely with one of the three units, so we knew the ground. As we dug in, the questions that actually mattered turned out to have very little to do with servers. How does a customer move between the three systems? How are people signed in today? What information should be shared across them, and what should stay separate? The answers made something clear. The real work was deciding whether three independently built businesses were becoming one platform, and what that meant for customers, long before anyone touched infrastructure.
What Changed
We helped leadership build a shared understanding of what they were actually trying to become, so the migration could serve a decision instead of quietly making one for them.
What Followed
They sorted out the questions that had to come first, and avoided pouring cloud work on top of three businesses that hadn't yet agreed on a shared future.
Share this case study
Facing a similar situation?
Start with a conversation. We help organizations understand what is actually happening before committing to a path.
Start a Conversation