For organisations already running Windows Server, Active Directory, MSSQL, and Office 365, Azure is the natural cloud destination. The integration between Azure and Microsoft's enterprise tooling is tighter than any other cloud provider. Existing licensing agreements translate into meaningful cost savings on Azure that do not exist on AWS or GCP.
We migrate businesses to Azure: Azure Virtual Machines, Azure SQL Database, App Service, Azure Kubernetes Service, and the identity and networking infrastructure that ties the environment together. From assessment and planning through phased migration and post-migration cost optimisation.
Cloud readiness assessment scoped around your Microsoft ecosystem, Windows Server, Active Directory, MSSQL, and Office 365 integration requirements
Lift-and-shift and re-platforming options assessed for each workload so you move at the right speed without over-engineering the first migration
Azure Active Directory integration so your existing identity infrastructure extends cleanly into the cloud environment
Post-migration cost management using Azure Cost Management plus reserved instance and licensing optimisation specific to your Microsoft agreements
Recent outcomes
Voice AI · Research
6× deeper insights
Text-based interviews converted to automated phone calls
AI Automation · Ops
20k+ txns day one
Manual invoice OCR across 40+ gas stations
Loyalty · Retail
1,062 users in 4 weeks
SuperValu & Centra loyalty platform with receipt validation
SaaS · Logistics
2,000+ shipments yr 1
Multi-carrier shipping hub for Indonesian eCommerce
The problem
Running Windows Server workloads on ageing hardware with a licence renewal coming that costs more than migrating to Azure would?
Azure environment provisioned manually through the portal with no infrastructure-as-code, no version control, and no way to reproduce it if something goes wrong?
Short answer
RaftLabs migrates Microsoft-stack businesses to Azure: Windows Server to Azure VMs, SQL Server to Azure SQL Database, and Active Directory to Microsoft Entra ID. Azure Hybrid Benefit can cut compute costs up to 85% on existing licences (Microsoft). A focused first migration starts around $20,000-$45,000; full estate migrations grow to $80,000-$200,000+, fixed price after a paid assessment.
Key takeaways
Trusted by
The Microsoft ecosystem is not a vendor relationship that ends cleanly. Active Directory, Group Policy, MSSQL, and Windows Server authentication are woven through most enterprise IT environments that have been running for more than five years. Moving to a cloud that does not understand that dependency graph creates integration work that the migration cost estimate never accounts for.
Azure is built for this environment: hybrid identity with Azure AD Connect, Windows Admin Center for server management, Azure SQL Managed Instance for near-complete SQL Server compatibility, and Azure Virtual Desktop for remote access. It is the cloud where existing Microsoft tooling integrates without force-fitting it.
According to Gartner, worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services reached $595.7 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow 21.5% to $723.4 billion in 2025. For Microsoft-stack organisations, the pull toward Azure is compounded by licensing economics: Azure Hybrid Benefit lets existing Windows Server and SQL Server licences carry over, which Microsoft says can cut compute costs up to 85% versus pay-as-you-go pricing.
Capabilities
Before any workload moves, Azure Migrate discovers your server estate, maps dependencies, and right-sizes target VMs against real utilisation rather than guesswork. We stand up an Azure landing zone, the account structure, networking, identity, and policy guardrails, and review the target design against the Microsoft Well-Architected Framework so cost, security, and reliability are settled before migration, not after the first bill.
Lift-and-shift migration from on-premises Windows and Linux servers to Azure Virtual Machines. A full assessment of your server estate identifies VM sizing, compatibility issues, and dependencies, then replication-based migration cuts over with minimal downtime and validation runs against a defined test plan before on-premises servers are decommissioned.
Re-platforming IIS web applications and API services to Azure App Service for managed hosting without VM administration overhead. Compatibility issues surface before cutover rather than during it, deployment slots enable zero-downtime blue-green releases reversible within minutes, and auto-scaling, monitoring, and reproducible infrastructure are configured from day one.
SQL Server migration to Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance with a compatibility assessment that surfaces unsupported features and their fixes. Continuous replication gives near-zero downtime cutover, data validation compares row counts and checksums before switching production traffic, and the migrated database arrives with the same data and better availability than the instance it replaced.
Identity integration between on-premises Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID for single sign-on across on-premises and cloud resources without separate credential sets. We select the authentication method for your security posture, enforce MFA and device compliance, and grant admin roles just-in-time, extending your directory into Azure without a day-one cutover of every application.
Containerised application deployment to Azure Kubernetes Service for workloads that need orchestrated container management. We build container image pipelines, size and configure the cluster with autoscaling and availability zones, wire ingress and secrets management, and add cluster monitoring, so the environment is configured for your workload rather than left on defaults.
Post-migration cost analysis and optimisation to prevent the Azure bill from exceeding your on-premises equivalent. Budget alerts and anomaly detection, right-sizing validated against actual CPU and memory metrics, reserved instances for stable workloads, Hybrid Benefit applied to eligible Windows Server and SQL Server licences, and storage lifecycle tiering give you visibility and control from the first month.
Bring us your current server estate and licensing details. We will model the migration cost and the ongoing Azure spend with licensing savings applied.
Cloud Migration, full cloud migration capability overview
AWS Migration, migration to Amazon Web Services
Database Migration, focused database migration to managed cloud database services
Microservices Migration, breaking monolithic applications into microservices on Azure AKS
RaftLabs has not yet published a case study for a full on-premises-to-Azure migration. What we have proven is the discipline an Azure migration actually runs on: moving production data without losing it. We migrated 300,000+ live user records onto a new stack for Energia, an Irish energy provider, and replatformed our own programmatic web platform with zero downtime for its 12,000 monthly visitors. The same staged validation, record-level checks, and tested rollback plan carry straight into an Azure Database Migration Service cutover.
What clients say
Three-year average engagement. Founders and operators describing the work in their own words. No marketing varnish.
USAAll of the sprints were completed on schedule and on budget. We highly recommend RaftLabs!
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Read moreAzure is the strongest fit for organisations already in the Microsoft ecosystem. If you are running Windows Server, SQL Server, Active Directory, and Office 365, Azure gives you tighter integration and real licensing cost savings through Azure Hybrid Benefit, you can use existing Windows Server and SQL Server licences on Azure VMs at a significant discount compared to on-demand pricing on AWS or GCP. Azure is also the natural choice when your team has Microsoft expertise and Azure DevOps is your existing CI/CD platform. AWS is the better default for organisations without a strong Microsoft relationship, it has the broadest service selection and the largest third-party ecosystem. GCP is worth considering when data processing and managed AI services are the primary workloads. We assess your existing infrastructure, team expertise, and licensing agreements before recommending a platform. The recommendation is based on what fits your situation.
Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you use existing Windows Server and SQL Server licences on Azure VMs, which Microsoft says can cut compute costs up to 85% compared to standard on-demand Windows VM pricing. If you have active Software Assurance on Windows Server and SQL Server, those licences carry over to Azure at no additional licence cost, you pay only for the compute. For organisations with large Windows Server estates, this is often the single biggest cost factor in the AWS vs Azure comparison. We model the licensing savings as part of the cost assessment so the comparison between platforms includes the full picture rather than just compute list pricing.
Most Windows workloads, IIS web applications, Windows services, scheduled tasks, and SQL Server databases, migrate to Azure without any application changes. Azure VMs run Windows Server, IIS applications deploy to App Service without code changes for most standard configurations, and SQL Server databases migrate to Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance using Azure Database Migration Service with near-zero downtime replication. Active Directory extends to Azure AD Connect for hybrid identity, or migrates fully to Azure AD for cloud-only identity management. The typical Windows estate migration follows a lift-and-shift approach: move the workloads as they are, validate them running on Azure, then retire the on-premises servers. Re-platforming specific components to App Service, Azure Functions, or AKS is a separate decision made after the initial migration, not a prerequisite for it.
A focused first migration, a single application or a small cluster of related services, starts around $20,000-$45,000 and reaches production in roughly 6-10 weeks. This covers the Azure Migrate assessment, landing zone, migration execution, infrastructure-as-code delivery with Terraform or Bicep, and post-migration validation. A full estate migration, with multiple applications, large SQL Server databases, Active Directory integration, and hybrid networking between cloud and remaining on-premises systems, grows to $80,000-$200,000+ over 12-20 weeks. The paid assessment that precedes the migration quote is what makes a fixed price possible. Azure Hybrid Benefit savings are identified during assessment and factored into the total cost of ownership comparison.
Work with us
We scope Azure Migration Services in 30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and approach. No commitment required.