Success Story
SQL Server Migration to Azure - May 2025
Introduction
At Bravent, we help companies in the Media & Entertainment sector transform their IT infrastructure. Discover how a leader in film production and digital post-production migrated its Windows and SQL servers to Microsoft Azure, achieving greater efficiency, resilience, and scalability.
Project Objective
- Modernise IT infrastructure by migrating on-premises Windows and SQL servers to the Azure cloud.
- Overcome challenges related to capacity, costs, and availability.
- Ensure business continuity and enable secure, remote access for international teams.
Migration Scope
- Location: Madrid, Spain
- Systems migrated:
- 12 Windows Server 2016/2019 virtual machines (production management, intermediate storage, and rendering services)
- 3 SQL Server 2017 instances (production, development, and testing) with a total of 2.5 TB of data
Client Profile
- Industry: Media & Entertainment – Film and post-production
- Employees: 240
- Core business: Film production and digital post-production services
Business Challenge
- Processing capacity limitations during seasonal peaks
- Rising hardware maintenance costs
- The need for greater resilience for critical databases
- Secure and remote access requirements for international teams
Azure Migration Approach
Inventory and compatibility analysis with Azure Migrate
Identification of critical dependencies
Deployment on Azure Virtual Machines
Replication and cutover using Azure Site Recovery
Critical databases to Azure SQL Managed Instance
Specific environments to Azure SQL Virtual Machines
Use of Azure Database Migration Service (DMS)
Monitoring with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics
Backups configured with Azure Backup
Solution Architecture
- Compute: Azure Virtual Machines (Windows Server 2016/2019)
- Data: Azure SQL Managed Instance + Azure SQL VMs
- Migration: Azure Migrate, Azure Site Recovery, Azure DMS
- Management & Security: Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Azure Backup, Network Security Groups
- High availability: Azure Availability Zones
Results Achieved
- 35% reduction in annual operating costs
- On-demand scalability for international projects
- High availability with Azure Availability Zones
- 28% improvement in SQL performance
Next Steps / Roadmap
- Deployment automation with Azure DevOps
- Integration of object storage in Azure Blob Storage for raw audiovisual material
- Evaluation of AI services in Azure AI for optimising post-production processes
Want to know how your company can achieve similar results?
Contact Bravent and make your move to the cloud with confidence.
