Cloud-native Data Platform Transformation | Accenture

Migrating Accenture’s application databases
running in virtual machines in IaaS on cloud
and on-premises to a PaaS model in a multi-
cloud environment
For Accenture to “live in the cloud,” one focus is to start using Platform-
as-a-Service offerings from various cloud vendors. This approach will
help our IT organization to shift from managing machines to serving the
business by enabling faster time to market. A database platform services
migration program involves moving most of Accenture’s virtual machine
(VM)-hosted servers to either Microsoft Azure SQL managed instance
(PaaS) or to Amazon Aurora. The goal is to eliminate 95% of
our virtual machines in the next three years and to realize efficiencies by
shifting maintenance responsibility to service providers. Application
developers will also be able to take advantage of cloud-native services.
CLOUD-NATIVE
DATA PLATFORM
TRANSFORMATION
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Challenge What Accenture Did People and Culture Value Delivered
Accenture migrated our IT
infrastructure from on-premise to
having 95% of our IT infrastructure
operating in the public cloud
today. We are now “living in the
cloud” by executing various
strategies. To live in the cloud at
scale and at pace, one focus area
is to start using Platform-as-a-
Service (PaaS) offerings from
various cloud vendors. This
approach will help our IT
organization to shift our energy
from managing machines to
serving the business by enabling
faster time to market.
Our database platform services
migration program involves moving
most of Accenture’s VM-hosted
servers to Microsoft Azure SQL
managed instance (PaaS) or Amazon
Aurora. We are teaming with Microsoft
to be an early adopter of Azure SQL
managed instance and Azure SQL
PaaS and collaborating to help make
Azure SQL enterprise ready. For our
application teams, we developed and
industrialized a new migration service
to migrate their databases. We also
performed a PaaS migration program
with AWS, moving VM-hosted SQL
servers to AWS Aurora.
Accenture is applying the New now
by teaming with Microsoft to be an
early adopter of Microsoft Azure
SQL and Azure SQL PaaS and
helping to make Azure SQL
enterprise ready. Similarly, a global
IT team performed a PaaS
migration program with AWS,
moving VM-hosted SQL servers to
AWS Aurora. Our IT team
brainstormed with AWS, executing
a plan to understand the effort
required to migrate a set of
applications from either VM-hosted
SQL Server or AWS RDS-hosted
SQL Server to AWS Aurora.
Our goal is to eliminate 95% of our
virtual machines in the next three
years, to realize efficiencies
by shifting maintenance responsibility
to service providers, and take
advantage of cloud-native services.
The migration of databases has
started and will increase as services
are solidified.
Anticipated outcomes include:
• Eliminate server management tasks
of monitoring and OS/SQL
upgrades
• Enhanced security and compliance
• Hosting cost savings expected in
year 2 and onwards
CLOUD-NATIVE DATA PLATFORM TRANSFORMATION
Migrating Accenture’s application databases running in virtual machines in IaaS on cloud and on-premises to a
PaaS model in a multi-cloud environment

CLOUD-NATIVE DATA
PLATFORM
TRANSFORMATION
Migrating Accenture’s application
databases running in virtual machines
in IaaS on cloud and on-premises to a
PaaS model in a multi-cloud
environment, including Azure and AWS

Moving IT infrastructure to
the cloud is essential to being
successfully positioned to use
today’s new technologies.
Accenture identified this opportunity several years ago when we
undertook a migration of our IT infrastructure from on-premise to today
having 95% of our IT infrastructure operating in the public cloud. We
are now “living in the cloud” by executing various strategies.
Our global IT organization recognizes further opportunities and
business value stand to be gained through continued transformation.
To live in the cloud at scale and at pace, one focus area is to start
using Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offerings from various cloud
vendors. This approach will help our IT organization to shift our energy
from managing machines to serving the business by enabling faster
time to market.
CHALLENGE

WHAT ACCENTURE DID
Accenture takes a multi-provider approach in
choice of cloud services providers.
Accenture takes a multi-provider approach in choice of cloud services providers. This
approach not only spreads risk concentration, but also gives us flexibility to use the
best-fit cloud services. A database platform services migration program involves moving
the majority of the company’s virtual machine (VM)-hosted servers to either Microsoft
Azure SQL managed instance (PaaS) or to Amazon Aurora.

WHAT ACCENTURE DID
Migration to Azure SQL managed instance
We are teaming with Microsoft to be an early adopter of Microsoft Azure SQL managed instance and
Azure SQL PaaS. Managed instance is a new deployment option of Azure SQL Database, providing
nearly 100% compatibility with the latest SQL Server on-premises (Enterprise Edition) Database
Engine.
The managed instance deployment model allows existing SQL Server IaaS customers to lift and shift
their applications to PaaS with minimal application and database changes. The managed instance
deployment option preserves all PaaS that greatly reduces management overhead and total cost of
ownership. Azure SQL Database is a fully managed PaaS database engine that is being used for
those applications built with a SQL engine running a single database per instance.
A central team within our global IT’s Operations team is collaborating with a Microsoft team to help
make Azure SQL managed instance enterprise ready—including hardening security, creating assets,
industrializing a mass-migration process, and bringing automation to run at scale in an environment
like Accenture’s.
Our IT team developed and industrialized a new migration service to enable Accenture’s internal
application teams
to migrate their application databases with as little effort as possible. The steps, methods, and assets
we developed include automated scripts to fast-track the migration assessment effort and published
data migration utilities.
The result is a set of assets and self-help documents that enable application teams to migrate on their
own at their own schedule. Also important to a successful migration effort is staffing sufficient in-house
experts as well as vendor partners to support migrations with additional support.

WHAT ACCENTURE DID
AWS Aurora proof of concept
Accenture takes a multi-provider approach in choice of cloud services providers. This
approach not only spreads risk concentration, but also gives us flexibility to use the best-fit
cloud services. A database platform services migration program involves moving many of
the company’s virtual machine (VM)-hosted servers to Amazon Aurora.
Balancing workload across cloud service providers demands a viable PaaS service in
AWS for Accenture. A global IT team performed a PaaS migration program with AWS,
moving VM-hosted SQL servers to AWS Aurora.
Our IT team brainstormed with AWS, executing a plan to understand the effort required to
migrate a set of applications from either VM-hosted SQL Server or AWS RDS-hosted SQL
Server to AWS Aurora. The Aurora platform is promoted as a database freedom offering.
Aurora is an alternative to the costlier AWS RDS (SQL Server) with added advantage of
being a non-licensed, open-source database engine, freeing Accenture from licensed
SQL. The hosting costs are expected to decrease with serverless options.
After successfully migrating these applications within four months’ time, our IT team not
only avoided expensive BYOL licensing costs, but also resumed our greater PaaS
migration program of migrating 300 AWS RDS and EC2 instances to Aurora. The
experience generated a new artifact detailing the process for large-scale SQL Server to
Aurora migrations.
“To use true cloud-native services and
transform Accenture to be living in the
cloud, we are adapting database
platform-as-a-service offerings. This
enables our IT organization to move
away from the business of managing
infrastructure and get into delivering
value-added business outcomes.
SUHAS VINOD SANE
Managing Director – Global IT
Enterprise Architecture, Accenture

PEOPLE AND
CULTURE
Accenture is applying the New now by teaming with Microsoft to be an
early adopter of Microsoft Azure SQL managed instance and Azure SQL
PaaS. A central team within our global IT’s Operations team is
collaborating with a Microsoft team to help make Azure SQL managed
instance enterprise ready. Our IT team developed and industrialized a
new migration service to enable Accenture’s internal application teams
to migrate their application databases with as little effort as possible.
The result is a set of assets and self-help documents that enable
application teams to migrate on their own at their own schedule.
Similarly, balancing workload across cloud service providers demands a
viable PaaS service in AWS for Accenture. A global IT team performed a
PaaS migration program with AWS, moving VM-hosted SQL servers to
AWS Aurora. Our IT team brainstormed with AWS, executing a plan to
understand the effort required to migrate a set of applications from
either VM-hosted SQL Server or AWS RDS-hosted SQL Server to AWS
Aurora. The experience generated a new artifact detailing the process
for large-scale SQL Server to Aurora migrations.

VALUE
DELIVERED
Key anticipated outcomes include:
• As-a-service model eliminates server management tasks
of monitoring and OS/SQL upgrades
• Enhanced security and compliance as service provider
experts manage security
• Hosting cost savings expected in year 2 and onwards
Collaborating with Microsoft and Amazon on migrating to state-of-the-art
database platform services is a demonstration of Accenture’s strategy to apply
the New now. In teaming with Microsoft, Accenture is helping to make Azure
SQL managed instance enterprise ready. With AWS, Accenture completed a
successful proof of concept and can continue migrating databases from IaaS to
PaaS Aurora.
For Accenture, the end goal is to eliminate 95% of our virtual machines in the
next three years and to realize efficiencies by shifting maintenance
responsibility to service providers. Application developers will also be able to
take advantage of cloud-native services. The migration of databases has
started and will progressively increase as services are solidified.

Merim Becirovic
Global Director – Global IT, Cloud Computing
LinkedIn
Suhas Vinod Sane
Managing Director – Global IT, Enterprise Architecture
LinkedIn
Arun Kumar T
Senior Manager – Global IT, Enterprise Architecture
LinkedIn
Jnanesh Thontadarya
Manager – Global IT, Enterprise Architecture
LinkedIn
Bhushan Khadkikar
Manager – Global IT, Database Architect
LinkedIn
Gaurav Dave
Manager – Global IT, Technical Architect
LinkedIn
MEET
THE TEAM
RELATED CAPABILITIES
How Accenture does IT
Our global IT organization is driving technology-powered business
transformation across Accenture.
Accenture’s Journey to Cloud
A three-year migration of our IT infrastructure to the public cloud
enables Accenture to operate with agility, efficiency and cost-
effectiveness.

ABOUT
ACCENTURE
Accenture is a global professional services company with
leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining
unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than
40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive,
Technology and Operations services—all powered by the
world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent
Operations centers. Our 506,000 people deliver on the promise
of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in
more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to
create value and shared success for our clients, people,
shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.

Cloud-native Data Platform Transformation | Accenture

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