The constraint
- The lease end date set the deadline and there was no option to extend.
- Internal staff knew the applications but had not run a cutover of that scale.
- Steady-state operations still had to be covered during the project.
What we did
- Placed a cloud architect and two platform engineers alongside the internal team rather than in place of it.
- Backfilled infrastructure operations so internal staff could focus on the migration.
- Ran cutover rehearsals against a subset of workloads before the real window.
How it ended
- Migration completed inside the lease window with no unplanned extended outage.
- Internal team ran the final cutover with contract staff on support, not driving.
- Two operations roles converted to permanent after the project.
Client name withheld. This is a composite of engagement shapes we work on regularly, written so the constraints and sequencing are useful rather than as an attributed reference.