50%
Faster environment provisioning for new plants, pilot lines, and training setups after rehosting Linux workloads to Azure.
Manufacturing Firm Rehosts Linux Application Servers on Azure For Faster Provisioning
Migrated on-premises Linux application servers to Azure Virtual Machines to improve availability, reduce infrastructure overhead, and establish a scalable cloud foundation.
12
Linux application servers rehosted to Azure Virtual Machines supporting production planning and shop-floor reporting.
<4 hours
Planned production cutover window completed using phased migration waves without disrupting manufacturing shifts.
A mid-sized manufacturing company operates internal business applications supporting production planning, inventory management, and operational reporting. These systems were hosted on Linux-based application servers running in an on-premises data center.
As infrastructure demands increased, the customer sought to migrate these workloads to Microsoft Azure while preserving existing application behavior and minimizing risk during transition.
Simform partnered with the customer to rehost Linux application servers to Azure, following a lift-and-shift migration approach aligned with Azure best practices.
Challenges
As manufacturing operations scaled across plants, the limitations of the on-premises Linux infrastructure began to affect system reliability, performance, and operational agility.
Capacity constraints affecting production systems
Linux servers supporting production planning and shop-floor reporting regularly hit capacity limits as plants and SKUs scaled. Performance degraded during shift changes and end-of-day processing, disrupting operational workflows.
Downtime risk from single-site infrastructure
Critical manufacturing applications ran on aging, on-prem hardware with limited redundancy. Maintenance windows and hardware issues frequently caused outages, forcing teams to work around system availability.
Slow provisioning for new plants and lines
Bringing new plants, pilot lines, or training environments online required manual server provisioning. Long lead times delayed rollouts and increased dependency on infrastructure teams.
Solution
We migrated the client’s on-premises Linux application servers that supported production planning and shop-floor reporting to Azure using an assessment-led approach, then stabilized operations under a standardized Azure operating model.
Discovery and migration planning
Simform assessed the Linux servers supporting production planning and plant reporting using Azure Migrate, mapped dependencies across manufacturing sites, and grouped workloads into controlled migration waves. Cutovers were scheduled between production shifts to avoid disrupting live operations.
Azure foundation for Linux production workloads
A dedicated Azure environment was prepared to host Linux workloads, following a standardized subscription, networking, and access-control design. Secure connectivity was maintained with existing ERP and MES systems, enabling a like-for-like hosting model.
Phased rehosting on Azure Virtual Machines
The Linux application servers were rehosted to Azure Virtual Machines using a lift-and-shift approach. Existing operating system configurations and integrations were preserved, allowing planners and supervisors to continue using the same applications after migration.
Post-migration stabilization and operations
After cutover, application performance and integrations were validated using real prod workloads. Monitoring and operational baselines were established using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics, enabling proactive visibility into resource utilization and system health.
Business impact
The migration removed infrastructure constraints and stabilized manufacturing systems without disrupting production.
Faster environment provisioning
Rehosting Linux workloads to Azure reduced environment provisioning time by ~50%, enabling faster rollout of plants, pilot lines, and training environments without waiting on physical infrastructure.
Stabilized production workloads
12 Linux application servers were rehosted to Azure Virtual Machines, bringing production planning and shop-floor reporting under a standardized operating model.
Controlled production cutovers
Phased migration waves enabled production systems to transition to Azure within a <4-hour cutover window, allowing infrastructure changes between shifts instead of during production hours.
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