Vendor migrations in Belfast —
VMware, Cisco, on-prem to cloud, done safely.
Servnet runs parallel-run vendor migrations for Belfast businesses facing Broadcom-era VMware pricing, Cisco end-of-life, on-prem to cloud consolidation. Discovery → pilot → migration waves → decommission. Belfast cutovers happen Friday-evening to Sunday so Monday open is clean across HSC NI, NI Executive, and Titanic Quarter tech estates.
Why Belfast is in the middle of every current migration cycle
Belfast concentrates firms feeling current migration triggers — VMware Broadcom on HSC NI Trusts and Titanic Quarter tech estates, Cisco EOL across multi-site NI council networks, HSC NI cloud-shift programmes, cross-border (UK/RoI) data-residency strategy shifts.
VMware → Nutanix for HSC NI regulated estates
Broadcom's pricing is forcing the question on HSC NI Trusts. VMware → Nutanix AHV is the most common destination for regulated estates.
Cisco → Fortinet for 11 NI councils + multi-site
Belfast multi-site customers (11 NI councils, multi-branch retail, multi-site HSC NI) consolidating ageing Cisco onto Fortinet single-pane.
On-prem → AWS / Azure EU regions
Titanic Quarter tech businesses with cross-border operations lift-and-shifting to AWS / Azure with careful EU-region-vs-UK-region data-residency decisions.
Cross-border data-residency reorganisation
Post-Brexit, many Belfast businesses serving both UK and EU customers are restructuring data residency — separating UK and EU data flows with appropriate technical controls.
What a Servnet Belfast migration delivers
Discovery + bill-of-quantities
Complete picture of the current estate turned into a migration BoQ.
Target architecture design
Reference architecture for the destination platform — including cross-border data-residency considerations.
Pilot environment in week 3-4
Non-production pilot built on the new platform.
Wave-based migration with parallel-run
Production workloads migrated in waves.
Weekend cutover windows
For Belfast customers, cutover Friday-evening onwards with engineers on-site.
Old-platform decommission + ITAD
Once the new platform has run clean, decommission begins.
Belfast migration engagements we run
- ▸HSC NI Trusts VMware → NutanixBelfast Trust, Northern Trust + 3 others moving from vSphere to Nutanix AHV — HSC NI IG retained throughout.
- ▸Titanic Quarter tech cross-border restructuringAllstate NI, Citi Belfast, Liberty IT restructuring data-residency post-Brexit — UK vs EU data flows separated with technical controls.
- ▸NI Exec departments to AzureNI Exec departments migrating off ageing on-prem to Azure UK-South — Cabinet Office MCSS retained.
- ▸11 NI councils Cisco → FortinetNI council estates consolidating Cisco ASA + Meraki onto FortiGate + FortiSwitch.
- ▸Belfast finance on-prem → cloudBelfast finance customers moving to AWS eu-west-2 or Azure UK-South — with regulator-aware documentation.
- ▸NI universities to M365 + AzureQUB + Ulster migrating Exchange-on-prem + on-prem file servers to M365.
How a Belfast migration runs week-by-week
Weeks 1–2 — discovery + estate map
Automated discovery + interviews with application owners.
Weeks 3–4 — target design + pilot build
Target architecture signed off. Pilot environment built.
Weeks 5–8 — wave migrations
Production workloads migrated in 4–6 waves.
Weeks 9–10 — soak + decom
New platform runs clean for soak.
Belfast vendor migrations — common questions
We're a Belfast firm with 150 VMs on vSphere — Broadcom has tripled. What's right?
For most Belfast firms with that footprint, Nutanix AHV or vSAN ESA. Model 3-year TCO including migration cost.
Can you migrate an HSC NI Trust to Azure without HSC NI IG breakage?
Yes — frequent HSC NI engagement. We retain HSC NI Information Governance throughout the migration.
How do you handle cross-border data-residency for Titanic Quarter tech?
For UK + EU operations we design migration target with UK and EU data flows separated — typically using regional cloud accounts/subscriptions, data-residency controls, transfer impact assessments.
Can you do Cisco → Fortinet across 11 NI councils with no downtime?
In most cases yes — install Fortinet in parallel, migrate sites one at a time.
How long does 150-VM VMware → Nutanix take in Belfast?
Discovery → final-VM-on-new-platform is typically 10–14 weeks. Allow extra time for NI travel during cutover phases.
We're a Belfast tech business wanting to consolidate cross-border operations onto one cloud strategy?
Yes — frequent engagement for cross-border Belfast tech. Cloud strategy design covering UK + EU regions, data-residency controls, transfer impact assessments.
Other services we deliver in Belfast
Facing a VMware bill, Cisco EOL or cloud migration in Belfast?
Send us the platform, the trigger and the timeline.