Fast DC Exit for Education Regulator to Kick Start Azure-Powered Transformation
Ofsted is the UK’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. It regulates and inspects services across England that care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages.
Captured a clear understanding of existing IT estate to inform plans
Built business case for DC-exit into Azure, aligned with organisation strategy
Delivered full migration to exit DC on time and to budget
The Challenge
By 2020, Ofsted was facing a critical decision: extend and invest in its ageing data centre estate or embrace the opportunity to modernise via cloud. The UK Government’s ‘Cloud First’ policy, alongside HM Treasury’s guidance on public money management, served as a clear signal - cloud had become not just viable, but a necessity.
With legacy infrastructure pushing capacity limits, rising costs, and increasing risk from unsupported applications (including SharePoint 2007, Exchange 2010, and FIM 2010), Ofsted recognised that continuing with the status quo was no longer sustainable. They needed clarity, confidence, and a clear path forward.
The Solution
Shaping Cloud began by developing a high-level cloud strategy and business case to help Ofsted evaluate their options. Our SC: Consult framework identified the scale of legacy risk, potential cost savings, and the operational improvements and innovation opportunities a move to Azure could unlock.
Once approved, we moved quickly to design and deploy a secure, scalable Azure Landing Zone to host future workloads - using Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework and best practice enterprise-scale architecture.
The core focus then shifted to migration. Working closely with Ofsted’s internal team, we:
Broke down the on-premises estate into manageable migration “waves”
Applied a repeatable assess–deploy–release process for each application
Delivered a fast-paced, low-risk migration that met tight timeframes
Embedded Azure-native security and compliance controls
Provided hands-on upskilling for Ofsted’s team across Terraform and DevOps tooling
Maintained a collaborative delivery model with shared task boards and daily stand-ups
The migration completed successfully ahead of Ofsted’s data centre contract deadlines, with zero unplanned disruption and strong internal buy-in throughout.
Secured funding with an organisation-aligned business case
Delivered fast and smooth DC exit to avoid costly renewals and refresh
Upskilled client team and established foundations for Data modernisation
The Outcome
By the end of 2021, all in-scope services - including business-critical systems like BES and CODA - had been successfully migrated to Azure.
Key Benefits Delivered:
✅ Modern, secure cloud hosting with no capacity constraints
✅ Significant cost avoidance by exiting legacy infrastructure
✅ Improved data integration and analytics capability
✅ Streamlined operations and DevOps ways of working
✅ Upskilled internal team ready to manage and evolve the platform
Additional value was delivered through Azure Purview, Dynamics 365 integration, adoption of Azure data platform tooling, and legacy system remediation - helping Ofsted unlock more from their technology stack.
"Shaping Cloud felt like an extension of our own team – their technical leadership and collaborative approach ensured success at every stage."
The Results
Ofsted is now positioned to fully exploit cloud – transforming how services are delivered, data is used, and costs are managed. With data centre decommissioned and a modern platform in place, the organisation has the tools, talent and confidence to drive forward.