MIGRATION AND OPERATIONAL CONTINUITY
Moving to cloud while protecting live operation
Led migration of data, calculation logic and validation processes while retaining dedicated support for the live platform.
Context and responsibility
The technology strategy required the reporting and operational platform to move from Oracle to GCP as the legacy environment approached the end of support. Reporting, commissions and operational processes remained dependent on the existing service.
As platform owner and migration project manager, I proposed using the existing development team. They already understood the business logic and data dependencies, avoiding the effort of transferring that knowledge to a separate team.
Capacity and preparation
I split eight developers into two workstreams: four maintained the live platform while four built the replacement data structures and logic. Senior leadership agreed to restrict BAU work to maintenance and defer non-essential enhancements.
Existing BAU arrangements already provided GCP space. I arranged automated copies of the source files into GCP so the build could begin while live operations continued. Using the same feeds enabled comparison of the new data and calculations against the existing platform.
I incorporated the redesigned transaction-validation process rather than rebuilding the legacy appeals workflow. With the Retail Leadership Team, I agreed a reduced set of replacement reports.
Funding and delivery controls
By year seven, annual development funding was £230,000. Responsibility for a further £70,000 SAP BAU fund had transferred to me because my platform was its primary user. I redirected capacity within that £300,000 annual fund. A separate £50,000 covered light-touch PMO oversight of delivery processes and GDPR requirements.
Delivery reviews and stakeholder updates covered dependencies, risks and decisions. Transition planning addressed support responsibilities, incidents, cutover and legacy decommissioning. The existing support-services contract would transfer as operations moved to GCP.
Completed work and handover
Before leaving, I had led delivery of the GCP data tables, calculation logic and redesigned validation process. Replacement report requirements were agreed. I handed over that foundation and a plan for report building, cutover and Oracle decommissioning.
My successor completed the remaining work successfully. I delivered the data, logic, validation process and structured handover; my successor owned the final transition.