Innovation spotlight: How 3 customers are driving change with migration to Azure SQL

In today’s fast-paced business world, organizations are constantly urged to modernize their infrastructure. Outdated systems, manual processes, and growing amounts of siloed data make it increasingly difficult to achieve the level of performance, security, and agility needed to remain competitive.

Read on to discover how three organizations—Thomson Reuters, Hexure, and CallRevu—kicked off their transformation journeys by migrating their on-premises workloads to Microsoft Azure. This move enhanced their operational efficiency and accelerated innovation powered by AI. Their experiences demonstrate how fully managed platform-as-a-service solutions, such as Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance, enable organizations to transition from legacy limitations to a scalable, secure, and AI-ready infrastructure, paving the way for future opportunities.

Modernization at Scale: Thomson Reuters

For Thomson Reuters, a globally respected provider of tax and accounting solutions, modernization wasn’t merely a choice; it was essential. With over 7,000 firms and 70,000 users relying on their infrastructure during the busy tax season, the company needed a robust and scalable system. Previously, they managed over 18,000 databases and more than 500 terabytes of data on third-party servers, which led to high costs, operational complexity, and difficulties in scaling to meet seasonal demands.

By migrating to Azure SQL Managed Instance from another cloud hosting provider, Thomson Reuters achieved significant modernization. With tools like Microsoft Azure Migrate to assist through each stage of the migration, along with automation tools such as PowerShell and Azure Resource Manager templates, they streamlined deployments and preserved performance while reducing disruptions. This fully managed platform allowed them to minimize database administration tasks, automate backups, and handle updates efficiently, enabling their teams to focus on delivering value to customers rather than managing their infrastructure. Additionally, Azure Virtual Desktop combined with Windows 11 simplified access to tax preparation applications, lowering complexity and costs.

The results were immediate and impactful for Thomson Reuters:

• Consistent performance even during peak seasons.
• Enhanced resilience and reliability.
• Reduced support overhead.
• Optimized costs in licensing and infrastructure.

Now, Thomson Reuters has a solid foundation for ongoing growth and the adaptability to scale its services according to demand.

Operational Efficiency and Performance: Hexure

While Thomson Reuters’ journey emphasizes scale, Hexure’s migration highlights how moving to a fully managed platform like Azure SQL Managed Instance and Microsoft Azure App Service can drive operational efficiencies. Hexure offers digital solutions for insurance and financial services, managing sensitive customer data across numerous databases and applications.

The company grappled with outdated infrastructure that hindered critical processes and required substantial manual interventions. Tasks such as provisioning new customer instances, managing backups, and handling failovers were time-consuming, which slowed down their responsiveness to clients.

Switching to Azure SQL Managed Instance revolutionized their workflows. Hexure slashed processing times by up to 97%, transforming previously slow overnight batch jobs into nearly instantaneous operations. Migration times were also reduced by over 80% owing to built-in compatibility and automation. Moreover, with Microsoft Azure Key Vault, Hexure could effectively safeguard data and enhance cybersecurity. Features like point-in-time restore, automated backups, and geo-replication not only improved resilience but also ensured compliance with industry standards.

Significantly, the transition enabled Hexure to:

• Onboard new customers within minutes rather than hours.
• Accelerate feature shipping cycles and platform improvements.
• Minimise infrastructure management, including server maintenance.

With migration, Hexure redirected its focus toward innovation and customer service. In an industry where trust and responsiveness are crucial, this operational boost strengthens client relationships substantially.

Innovation with AI and Insights: CallRevu

The story of CallRevu showcases the next horizon: innovation. CallRevu assists automotive dealerships in enhancing lead conversion, follow-up, and overall customer experience by analysing phone calls from over 5,000 locations. Managing this volume of conversational data demands not only advanced analytics but also a scalable platform.

With a fully managed solution based on Azure SQL Managed Instance, along with Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service and Microsoft Azure AI services, CallRevu established a platform that goes beyond simple data storage. It guarantees reliable, scalable performance for call data and transcriptions, while services like Microsoft Azure OpenAI provide real-time summaries and insights. This integration allows CallRevu to deliver actionable insights instantly, helping dealerships bridge marketing efforts to results, improve agent performance, and ultimately boost sales.

Additionally, CallRevu appreciates the operational ease provided by Azure SQL Managed Instance. By migrating from their on-premises SQL Server setup, they benefitted from automated backups, scaling, and monitoring features that reduced administrative tasks, while enhanced security measures protect sensitive customer interactions. Data mirroring in Microsoft Fabric enables Power BI dashboards to generate real-time insights. With a robust and flexible data foundation, CallRevu can concentrate on rapid innovation—integrating AI capabilities into a crucial differentiator for customer engagement while also achieving:

• A 10% rise in customer satisfaction.
• Annual savings of USD 500,000 in labour costs.
• A 15% increase in lead conversion rates.

Take the Next Step in Your Transformation Journey

Modernisation isn’t a one-off project; it’s a continuous journey unique to each organization. For some, the first step may be migrating from legacy servers. For others, it might involve rethinking operational efficiency. Many organizations are leveraging cloud and AI technologies to create entirely new opportunities.

The experiences of Thomson Reuters, Hexure, and CallRevu illustrate how migrating to a platform-as-a-service supported by database solutions like Azure SQL Managed Instance enhances every phase of that journey. By offering a managed, secure, and scalable cloud platform along with essential tools and programmes, organizations can migrate confidently, operate more efficiently, and innovate at a rapid pace.

Ready to begin your transformation? Explore some free tools you can try today:

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