Case Study

Azure-Based SAP Modernisation for a UK Defence Organisation

Azure-Based SAP Modernisation for a UK Defence Organisation

Sunfish modernised a UK defence organisation’s SAP landscape by migrating it to Microsoft Azure, reducing risk, improving resilience, and delivering a future-ready, sustainable platform with no business disruption.

Overview

Sunfish was engaged by a UK defence organisation to lead the modernisation of its SAP landscape, migrating a critical, end-of-life on-premise environment to Microsoft Azure. The programme required end-to-end project management, complex supplier coordination, and absolute assurance around security, resilience, and business continuity.

The Challenge

The client’s UK-hosted SAP platform was running on ageing, data centre–based infrastructure approaching end of life. Compute and storage capacity were close to their limits, support costs were increasing, and a traditional hardware refresh would only delay the problem rather than solve it.

Compounding the risk, architectural documentation for the existing SAP estate was incomplete, making a like-for-like replacement both risky and potentially expensive. The organisation faced a strategic decision: reinvest in on-premise infrastructure or design a future-ready SAP platform in Microsoft Azure that could deliver scalability, resilience, sustainability, and compliance.

Given the organisation’s regulatory environment and critical operations, any migration needed to be delivered with clearly defined success criteria, rigorous governance, and minimal disruption to the business.

The Approach

Sunfish provided full lifecycle project management, acting as the Systems Integrator across a complex multi-supplier delivery landscape. From inception through to cutover and early life support, Sunfish established governance, scope, and integrated planning to align all parties around shared outcomes.

A structured Stage-Gate delivery approach was adopted to manage risk and ensure design and delivery decisions were validated at every phase. During testing, Sunfish delivered comprehensive Test Management, designing and executing a rigorous, risk-based test strategy using industry-standard models and tools.

Performance, security, and functional testing were completed end to end to ensure the platform met or exceeded acceptance criteria prior to go-live. Sunfish also led cutover planning, command centre execution, and early life support to ensure a controlled and stable transition into live service.

The Outcome

The programme successfully delivered the migration of the client’s UK-hosted SAP systems to Microsoft Azure with minimal business disruption at cutover. The final design was ratified by Microsoft and implemented under Sunfish’s systems integration governance, ensuring end-to-end integrity across infrastructure, networking, and SAP application layers.

Clear operational run-books, monitoring, and support models were established, providing long-term stability and a strong foundation for future optimisation.

Impact

  • Industry first
    The client confirmed it is the first UK defence organisation to migrate SAP to the public cloud and achieve public cloud accreditation, reinforcing sector leadership and digital innovation.
  • Risk reduction
    Infrastructure obsolescence and service risk were materially reduced, with elastic capacity removing the need for costly hardware refresh cycles.
  • Operational efficiency
    The deployment of the latest SAP BusinessObjects improved analytics capability and decision-making speed.
  • Sustainability gains
    Migrating to Azure’s energy-efficient data centres reduced carbon emissions by approximately 40 percent, supporting corporate sustainability goals.
  • Business continuity
    A carefully managed migration, rehearsals, and early life support ensured uninterrupted operations throughout and after cutover.
  • Repeatable blueprint
    The governance, test strategy, and systems integration model now serve as a template for future cloud migrations across the wider application estate.

Client Testimonial

“Their ability to operate credibly at executive level while maintaining detailed control of delivery artefacts was instrumental. One of the most material risks we faced was incomplete architectural documentation within our legacy estate. Sunfish approached this methodically, applying forensic analysis and structured discovery to de-risk the target design before migration.”

Written by Ambar Chipalkatty

Ambar is a driven and experienced leader passionate about understanding business & employee needs and leveraging technology to deliver value to the organisation.

Written by Ambar Chipalkatty

Ambar is a driven and experienced leader passionate about understanding business & employee needs and leveraging technology to deliver value to the organisation.

At a glance

Sector:
Defence and National Security (UK)

Project Type:
Azure-Based SAP Modernisation & Cloud Migration

Services Supplied:
End-to-End Programme Management, Systems Integration, Cloud Architecture Governance, Test Management, Cutover Planning, Early Life Support

Impact:
Public cloud–accredited SAP platform delivered, material reduction in infrastructure risk, ~40% carbon emissions reduction, improved resilience, scalability, and uninterrupted business operations at cutover.

Contact Sunfish