Seamless Transitions with Zero Downtime
Data center migrations are among the most complex and high-risk projects an organization can undertake. Whether relocating physical data centers, moving to co-location facilities, migrating to the cloud, or consolidating infrastructure, the stakes are incredibly high. Downtime means lost revenue, disrupted operations, and damaged reputation.
Reynar IT has proven expertise in executing seamless data center migrations for organizations of all sizes—from enterprise environments supporting 14,000+ users to mission-critical systems serving nearly a million citizens. Our methodical approach minimizes risk, ensures data integrity, and delivers on-time, on-budget results with minimal disruption to your operations.
Why Organizations Migrate Data Centers
- Capacity Constraints: Existing facilities can't support growing power/cooling demands for AI workloads
- Cost Optimization: Moving to co-location or cloud to reduce capital expenses and operational overhead
- End-of-Lease: Facility contracts expiring, requiring relocation to new sites
- Modernization: Legacy infrastructure can't meet current performance, efficiency, or compliance requirements
- Consolidation: Mergers, acquisitions, or rationalization driving multi-site consolidation
- Disaster Recovery: Geographic diversification or moving from high-risk locations
Our Migration Services
Physical Data Center Relocations
Complete relocation of data center operations from one physical facility to another, including all infrastructure, equipment, and connectivity.
- Full Facility Moves: On-premises to on-premises relocations
- Equipment Transport: Secure packing, transportation, and installation
- Infrastructure Re-establishment: Power, cooling, and network connectivity setup
- Timeline Management: Compressed schedules (e.g., 2 data centers in 18 months)
- Proven Track Record: Rogers, City of Edmonton, ATB Financial
Co-Location Facility Migrations
Strategic moves between co-location providers or from on-premises to co-location environments to optimize costs and capabilities.
- Provider Transitions: Moving between different co-location facilities
- Hybrid Deployments: Partial migrations maintaining some on-prem infrastructure
- Carrier Coordination: Network connectivity and cross-connect management
- Cost Optimization: Right-sizing space, power, and connectivity for actual needs
- SLA Management: Ensuring continuity of service level agreements
Cloud Migrations
Strategic migration of workloads from on-premises infrastructure to public cloud or between cloud providers, with architecture planning and workload assessment for improved agility and scalability.
- Strategic Workload Assessment: Analyze which workloads should migrate to cloud vs remain on-premises based on requirements
- Cost Modeling: TCO analysis comparing cloud vs on-premises vs hybrid approaches for informed decision-making
- Cloud Architecture Design: Design cloud-native architectures before migration (not just lift-and-shift)
- On-Premises to Cloud: Lift-and-shift or re-architecture for AWS/Azure/GCP
- Cloud-to-Cloud Migration: Moving workloads between cloud providers
- Hybrid Cloud Implementation: Strategic workload distribution across environments
- Application Modernization: Refactoring legacy apps for cloud-native architectures
- Data Transfer Optimization: Minimizing migration time and bandwidth costs
Data Center Consolidation
Strategic rationalization of multiple data centers into fewer, more efficient facilities to reduce costs and complexity while maintaining or improving service levels.
- Multi-Site Consolidation: Merging regional data centers into centralized facilities
- Server Virtualization: Reducing physical footprint through consolidation
- Infrastructure Rationalization: Eliminating redundant systems and optimizing resources
- Cost Reduction: Lowering operational expenses through efficiency gains
- Legacy Decommissioning: Safe disposal of retired equipment and data
Our Proven Migration Methodology
Successful migrations require meticulous planning, rigorous testing, and flawless execution. Our five-phase approach ensures nothing is left to chance:
Phase 1: Assessment & Planning
Comprehensive inventory of all systems, applications, and dependencies. Risk assessment, timeline development, and detailed migration plan creation. Stakeholder alignment and resource allocation.
Phase 2: Design & Preparation
Target environment design and infrastructure setup. Application dependency mapping. Network architecture and connectivity planning. Detailed runbooks and rollback procedures.
Phase 3: Testing & Validation
Pilot migrations of non-critical systems. Comprehensive testing of applications, connectivity, and performance. User acceptance testing (UAT). Refinement of procedures based on lessons learned.
Phase 4: Migration Execution
Phased or cutover migration based on business requirements. Real-time monitoring and issue resolution. Communication and status updates to stakeholders. Immediate post-migration validation and smoke testing.
Phase 5: Stabilization & Optimization
Post-migration support and monitoring. Performance tuning and optimization. Documentation updates and knowledge transfer. Old infrastructure decommissioning.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
Migrations are high-risk undertakings. We employ multiple strategies to ensure success:
Zero-Downtime Approaches
- Live replication and synchronization
- Phased cutover strategies
- Maintenance window scheduling
- Immediate rollback capabilities
Data Integrity Protection
- Multiple backup layers
- Checksum verification
- Post-migration validation
- Audit trails and documentation
Communication & Coordination
- Multi-stakeholder coordination
- 24/7 command center during cutover
- Escalation procedures
- User communication plans
Compliance & Security
- Regulatory requirement adherence
- Chain of custody for equipment
- Secure data handling protocols
- Post-migration security validation
"Clayton was brought in to provide Project Management services related to the relocation of 2 data centers in less than 18 months... for an enterprise organization with more than 14,000 users, supporting 930,000 citizens. The services included mission-critical business applications and applications required as part of coordinated emergency services delivery. Simply put, mistakes were not allowable in this project and the timelines given the scope of work were tremendously compressed."
Daryl Croft
Branch Manager - Open City & Technology Branch, City of EdmontonMigration Success Factors
- Proven Track Record: Multiple large-scale migrations delivered on-time and on-budget
- Mission-Critical Experience: Emergency services, financial systems, healthcare applications
- Compressed Timelines: Ability to execute under tight deadlines
- Multi-Vendor Coordination: Managing internal teams, vendors, carriers, and facility providers
- Results-Focused Methodology: Factual, organized, thoughtful approach
- 24/7 Support: Round-the-clock availability during critical migration phases