Infrastructure Modernization Without the Hardware Headache: How Sky Data Vault Solved a 100+ Year-Old Company’s Cloud Migration Challenge
The Customer
A 100+ year old family-owned business operating multiple world-famous motorcycle franchise locations across the UnitedStates. With over 300 endpoints supporting 400+ users in a shared computer environment, the company needed a reliable IT infrastructure to keep its retail operations running smoothly.
The Challenge
The company faced a perfect storm of infrastructure challenges: aging domain controllers on end-of-life platforms with severe performance issues (Active Directory searches taking over a minute), Windows security updates that couldn’t be deployed without breaking systems, and endpoint protection that couldn’t be implemented. They were facing significant capital expenditure for hardware replacement while managing a five figure annual data center costs. The IT Director initially considered AWS, but the projected costs exceeded budgets and would require the small two-person IT team to manage everything themselves. With 24/7 retail operations, Windows 10 end-of-life deadlines, and executive concerns about ransomware threats, they needed a solution that delivered cloud benefits without DIY complexity or unpredictable costs.
The Solution
Sky Data Vault delivered a comprehensive managed cloud solution that addressed not only the infrastructure needs but also the underlying Active Directory issues that competitors ignored. While other vendors offered only infrastructure hosting, SDV recognized that migrating a broken Active Directory configuration dating back to 2005 would simply move problems to a new environment. Sky Data Vault’s ability to deliver both infrastructure AND professional services (Active Directory cleanup, DNS repair, and expert consultation on ADmodernization) was the decisive factor. The white-glove infrastructure migration included site-to-site IPsec VPN tunnels connecting all locations via existing infrastructure to a single
VPC environment, a lift-and-shift migration designed for minimal downtime.
Enterprise-grade backup replaced the vulnerable existing system with a Veeam backup solution that features air-gapped storage, a 90-day retention policy, and VM-level backup and restore capabilities. The predictable cost structure eliminated variable billing, ingress/egress fees, and burstable charges, with flat monthly costs that included Windows licensing, a managed high-availability firewall, backup services, and US-based support engineers providing direct access without overseas call center routing.
The Outcomes
Immediate Performance Improvements
- 95% latency reduction with search times dropping from over 1 minute to nearly instantaneous as CPU frequency issues were eliminated.
- SDV hardware delivering immediate performance gains for CPU-intensive Active Directory operations
Avoided Capital Expenditure
- Mitigated significant hardware costs with money that could be invested in business operations instead of depreciating equipment
- Eliminated annual data center rental, representing pure cost savings
- Predictable monthly costs instead of large upfront capital outlays and unpredictable cloud bills
Enhanced Security Posture
- Ability to deploy endpoint protection now that infrastructure supports modern security updates
- Windows security updates no longer break critical systems
- Air gapped backup protection eliminates ransomware as a single point of failure
Why Sky Data Vault Won
The company evaluated multiple vendors during its selection process. What set Sky Data Vault apart was its ability to provide both professional services and infrastructure. While competitors could deliver hardware or cloud hosting, none addressed the underlying Active Directory and DNS issues that had plagued operations for years.