How we help

Technical consultancy

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Innovation

Getting AI Ready

Adopting AI can seem complex, but it doesn’t have to be. The secret to successfully implementing AI is putting the right foundations in place.

Find out how

What we do

Getting AI Ready

Adopting AI can seem complex, but it doesn’t have to be. The secret to successfully implementing AI is putting the right foundations in place.

Find out how

Explore

What we do

Azure migration

Your journey to the cloud

Looking for an Azure partner to help you migrate?

You’re in the right place. We drive business transformation through best practice cloud migrations and operations that perfectly align with Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework.

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Assess

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Plan

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Implement

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Operate

We set you up for success by considering security and ongoing operations at each stage of your migration, creating an environment that supports you in outpacing your competitors – not only in the sprint to the cloud, but in the marathon of operating there.

Assess and plan

Whether you are building a business case or you’re ready to migrate, our assessments and planning services will help you create a detailed Azure migration strategy that ensures the success of your project.

Review where you are, and what you need:

We review requirements from your stakeholders, alongside performing a workload analysis to gather all the necessary information from a data and requirement perspective.

Identify where you want to go:

You need a realistic view of operating in Azure. As such, we bake in considerations for security, AI readiness, estimated costs, and ongoing operations into our analysis. This helps you build a business case that reflects what is achievable within the constraints of your requirements.

Create your transformation plan:

Your workloads have different functions and requirements. Therefore, we can individually design the target state of each workload using the 5 pillars of Microsoft’s Well Architected Framework (WAF). Each workload is considered based on what you need it to do, which means you get the most ROI from your move to cloud.

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If you want to learn more about how to create an Azure migration strategy, our step-by-step guide tells you everything you need to know. Read the whitepaper

Implement

With your route mapped out, it’s time for your journey to the cloud to begin.

Our migration services, designed and deployed in-line with the Microsoft Well-Architected Framework, will get your business in the cloud as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

We do this by breaking your migration down into two phases.

Phase One

Identify and migrate the quick wins, to deliver fast returns on investment with minimal impact on your delivery.

Phase Two

Strategically plan and implement the re-architecting and migration of more sophisticated workloads, where return on investment is realised over a longer period of time.

By prioritising migrations in this way, we help ensure that your new environment is providing value as soon as possible. 

As an Azure Expert MSP, we know a thing or two about getting the most out of Microsoft Azure. We understand that it is successful operations in the cloud, not just the cloud migration, that counts.

That’s why we build it right

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Our Factory approach leverages proven design patterns to build your new environment in a sequential and repeatable manner, getting you operating in the cloud sooner.

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We build automation into our processes to accelerate tasks and ensure accuracy at scale, providing you with a more fit-for-purpose environment that performs as you need it to.

security

We follow Microsoft and industry best practices, considering security, governance and compliance every step of the way to give you peace of mind that your systems and data are secure.

Landing Zone

Building solid foundations in the cloud is critical. Realising the full value of Azure relies on these fundamental structures that put security and performance at the core of your cloud environment.

With Azure Landing Zones in place, you’ll benefit from…

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Increased speed

Access the tools and capabilities you need to migrate to the cloud and deploy new workloads quickly

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Enhanced scalability

Build consistent environments with the same configuration and controls, enabling you to scale with ease

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Improved security and performance

Leverage secure, scalable, and compliant architectures that incorporate Microsoft best practices and industry standards

Operate

Once you’ve reached your destination, your journey continues.

We make it easier for you operate effectively in Azure by planning for the target operational state from the outset, designing and building your environment with security in mind, and embedding your ongoing operations at the core of the project.

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Find out more about how we improve your operations Azure managed services

Take control of your Azure management

We won’t drop you off and leave you at the door. As a Cloud Direct customer, you’ll receive continued support with exclusive access to Provide™ – our cloud management platform for Azure subscription management, analytics, security advice, billing, licencing, and knowledge articles.

We stay by your side every step of the way.

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Why Cloud Direct?

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We’re Azure Experts

As one of the first Azure Expert MSPs, we’ve got a long track record of meeting Microsoft’s highest standards and delivering our services to the correct quality and scale.

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Microsoft recognises us as an expert partner for Infrastructure

We’ve been thoroughly vetted by Microsoft. They say we’re experts in Infrastructure and we’ve got the solution designation assessment to prove it.

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We maximise funding opportunities 

We’ve secured more funding for our customers than any other Microsoft partner in the UK. We accelerate project timelines while reducing your financial risk.

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We're a Microsoft Partner of the Year for Solution Assessments 

We know a thing or two about Microsoft’s Solution Assessments. Working alongside Microsoft, we show you the art of the possible and provide a detailed roadmap to achieving it.

Don’t just take our word for it

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XN Leisure

Migrating XN Leisure safely and securely into Azure has driven business growth through a significantly improved customer experience. This is because their customers now enjoy the benefits of their hosting software being hosted in Azure.

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Mid & South Essex NHS FoundationTrust

Cloud Direct understood the key priorities of Mid & South Essex NHS Trust, and by optimising & integrating their Azure operations, helped them to drastically improve the experience of their patients.

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“Cloud Direct has been great. They sat down with us, asked what we were trying to achieve, then worked with us from planning through to implementation. I really value the personal level of service. Being able to pick up the phone and to speak to someone who knows what we’re trying to do from a business perspective makes a big difference”

Tom Bradley

Director of Operations, The Care Database

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“Cloud Direct offered the online real-time portal, which is fantastic because it empowers us to see what the consumption is, how that relates to budget and what ongoing costs are.”

Avril Chester

Interim IT Director, Scope