Azure Cloud Modernization Toronto — On-Premises to Azure Case Study
Azure Cloud Modernization Toronto — On-Premises to Azure Case Study. Group 4 Networks provides managed IT and cybersecurity support for Toronto and GTA businesses. Call (416) 623-9677.
Azure costs depend on the VM size, storage, and services required for the specific environment. For most GTA small businesses, the monthly Azure infrastructure cost is comparable to the annualized equivalent of on-premises hardware (purchase price divided by useful life, plus power, cooling, and maintenance). The difference is that Azure eliminates capital expenditure, removes hardware failure risk, and scales immediately without procurement lead time. G4NS provides a cost comparison during the assessment phase before any migration commitment.
The business was running a file server and an application server, both on hardware that their previous IT provider had flagged as approaching end-of-life. The file server was running Windows Server 2016; the application server was running a line-of-business application on Windows Server 2012 R2, which had reached end-of-extended-support. The previous IT provider had quoted a physical server replacement — the business owner wanted to understand the cloud alternative before committing to a capital expenditure.
A lift-and-shift migration moves a server from on-premises to the cloud without modifying the application or configuration — the server is replicated as-is to an Azure Virtual Machine. This approach is fastest and lowest-risk when the applications running on the server are not cloud-native and do not require redesign for cloud deployment. It is appropriate for most line-of-business applications, practice management systems, and custom applications that would be disruptive to modify.
Conducted a full M365 licensing audit — documenting actual users, assigned licenses, and license utilization. Identified orphaned licenses assigned to former employees and unused premium features. Reconfigured the tenant with the appropriate license mix, enabling security features (Defender for Business, Intune) that had been available but unconfigured. The licensing optimization reduced the monthly M365 spend while expanding security coverage.
Migrated both servers to Azure Canada Central using Azure Migrate — a lift-and-shift approach that preserved the existing server configurations without requiring application reconfiguration. The file server was replicated to Azure and cut over during a scheduled weekend maintenance window. The application server was migrated and validated against all application workflows before the on-premises server was decommissioned.