Sales Snapshot
~1,850
Combined VMs
DC1 (On-Property): ~610 VMs · DC2 (colocation provider): ~1,240 VMs · Both inventoried via RVTools
300
Applications
App inventory built from server + SCCM data · 6Rs disposition analysis · All COTS, primarily Windows + SQL
$85K–$100K
Proposed CRA Fee
Option 1: cloud-agnostic multi-cloud assessment · 3–4 weeks · Basis for Phase 2 migration program
2025
Target: 100% Cloud
Client goal: exit both on-prem DCs (on-property DC + colocation provider) entirely by 2025
AS/400
Critical Legacy Platform
2 AS/400 systems (one per DC) run hotel, gaming, and guest experience — critical path for migration planning
The Unique Angle — Why This Engagement Matters as a Reference
A $5B+ luxury resort property with 300 applications, 1,850 VMs, and two datacenters — one on-property, one at colocation provider colocation — needed a cloud strategy before they could move a single workload. The IT team had already made a commitment to leadership: 100% cloud by 2025. They didn't know which cloud. They had an existing Azure footprint (O365, Power BI, Azure Functions for integrations) and a GCP analytics presence, but no application workloads in either cloud. And they had a critical constraint that ruled the whole engagement: AS/400 systems running the hotel, gaming, and guest experience stack — everything else depended on them.
The engagement was a dual-platform cloud-agnostic CRA: Azure and GCP evaluated head-to-head, TCO modeled over 3–5 years, 300 applications rationalized using the 6Rs framework, RVTools exports from both VMware environments processed, right-sizing analysis run on oversized VMs, and an executive readout deck produced for senior leadership. The CRA was Phase 1 — the follow-on is the migration program itself, a multi-year program to decommission both DCs and migrate all workloads to cloud.
Use this engagement when selling to: Hospitality, gaming, entertainment, or resort companies with large VMware estates, legacy AS/400 or iSeries platforms, and a DC exit mandate. Also strong as a CRA / cloud strategy entry-point reference for any enterprise with 200+ applications that needs to evaluate Azure vs. GCP vs. multi-cloud before committing to a migration program.
Client Environment — What We Were Working With
On-Property DC (DC1) On-Property
- ~610 VMs · 1,143 vInfo records · 777 vDisk records
- VMware stretch cluster — Active/Active with colocation provider DC, no true DR
- Palo Alto primary firewall; NSX-V for micro-segmentation; legacy Checkpoint for older environments
- iSeries AS/400 instance — runs primary hotel, gaming, and customer experience systems
- SQL Server Always On clusters (2-node); primarily SQL 2016+
- 60% of in-scope workloads per proposal; PROD and Non-PROD environments
- Running out of storage — forcing near-term cloud decision even before migration plan complete
colocation provider Colocation DC (DC2) Colocation
- ~1,240 VMs · 2,132 vInfo records · 2,335 vDisk records — larger VMware estate
- Production gaming, guest-facing, and data warehouse workloads concentrated here
- Active/Active configuration with the on-property DC via low-latency metro connectivity (EMC Metro sync)
- iSeries AS/400 instance — second unit mirrored from DC1; both critical path for any migration
- colocation provider DC invoice confirms colocation lease cost is a commercial driver for exit timeline
- 40% of in-scope workloads per proposal; DR and secondary PROD
Existing Cloud Footprint Azure + GCP
- Azure: large presence but all SaaS/PaaS — O365 full suite (Exchange, Teams, Intune), Power BI, Azure Functions (API integrations for analytics and 3rd-party systems), no IaaS app workloads
- GCP: Google Analytics programs in use; evaluated as primary cloud for workload migration given existing relationship
- No application workloads in either public cloud — everything on-prem in VMware
- Customer wanted cloud-agnostic assessment: AWS, GCP, and Advisory Private VMware Cloud all in scope; Azure as the SaaS baseline
Application Stack 300 Apps
- 300 applications — all COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf), no custom dev
- "2 flavors": AS/400-dependent apps (critical hotel/gaming stack) + VMware-resident apps (everything else)
- No true software release environment; DEV used mainly for API development (Azure Functions)
- All Windows (primarily 2016+); some legacy 2012 EOL systems present
- PCI-compliant environments within scope — payment processing and gaming systems
- No existing app-to-server mapping tool output; relied on SCCM reports and manual inventory
The Business Problem — Why the CRA Was the Right Entry Point
What Was Driving the Cloud Decision
- Storage crisis: VLV was actively running out of on-premises storage — the cloud decision was forced by a capacity constraint, not just strategic vision. Moving Non-PROD to cloud was the immediate relief valve
- Cost pressure: "COST COST COST seems to rule a lot of what they do" — no true DR in place because of cost; Active/Active was the cost-effective compliance answer
- Leadership mandate: Commitment to 100% cloud by 2025 already made to senior leadership — needed a credible plan and business case to back it
- colocation provider DC lease: Colocation invoice from colocation provider is a hard commercial trigger — lease expiry creates a deadline
- No migration tooling: No Veeam, Zerto, or automated replication tools in use — migration approach required careful planning to avoid disruption to Active/Active
What Made This Engagement Complex
- AS/400 critical path: 2 iSeries AS/400 systems (one per DC) run the hotel, gaming, and guest experience systems — the entire app portfolio has dependencies running through these; no migration plan is viable without addressing AS/400 first
- Active/Active complexity: No true stacks — app, web, and DB tiers split Active/Active across both DCs; unraveling dependencies required careful wave planning
- PROD resistance: Client believed only Non-PROD could move to cloud initially — overcoming this required a staged approach with a convincing PROD migration case
- PCI compliance: Payment and gaming system compliance requirements constrained cloud platform selection and architecture design
- No app-to-server mapping: No discovery tool output available; mapping relied on RVTools VM data + SCCM + manual interviews with app owners
Proposal Options — How We Structured the Engagement
Option 1 · Recommended
Multi-Cloud Agnostic Assessment (CRA)
$85K–$100K
3–4 week cloud-agnostic CRA covering all platforms. Deliverables: Cloud Strategy Report (adoption strategy, TCO analysis, application rationalization, target cloud foundation architecture, org readiness, migration plan, BCP/DR approach). Infrastructure assessment (RVTools-based VM inventory, rightsizing, as-is architecture). Application Portfolio Rationalization (6Rs disposition per app). Cloud Selection Matrix (per-app/app-group platform recommendation). Security, Risk & Compliance Assessment (including PCI scope). Target Platform Assessment (GCP, Azure, Advisory Private VMware). TCO analysis (current vs. cloud over 3–5 years). Migration Design and Plan. Executive presentation. Team: Principal Consultant, Advisory Consultant, Solution Architect, Engagement Manager, Financial Analyst.
Option 2 · Alternative
Platform-Specific Assessment (GCP or AWS)
TBD
Non-agnostic assessment scoped to a specific platform (GCP or AWS) as part of an overall migration plan. Run separately or as Phase 1 of a migration program. Scope: assess what can move to the chosen platform vs. what stays at Advisory Private VMware. Narrows the cloud selection question to one platform but delivers a more prescriptive migration plan. VLV favored the agnostic approach given the Azure + GCP dual footprint and desire to evaluate all options before committing. This option was positioned as viable if VLV had already selected a platform.
What We Delivered — CRA Scope
Infrastructure & Discovery Work
- RVTools exports processed from both VMware DCs — May 2022 baseline + August 2022 re-export for both environments
- Combined CI/software lists from RVTools vInfo data merged with application inventory
- Oversized VM analysis produced for both DCs — rightsizing candidates flagged with recommended cloud instance mappings
- Custom VLV pricing model workbook — per-VM Azure and GCP instance mapping with 3–5 year TCO output
- Microsoft Azure TCO Calculator run alongside custom model for cross-validation
- Google vs. Azure spend analysis (May–July 2022) — actual cloud trial costs tracked during assessment period
- Software hosting and maintenance cost baseline — existing on-prem licensing and support costs inventoried for full TCO
Strategy & Assessment Deliverables
- 315-record application inventory built from server data, SCCM report, and application datapoints questionnaire
- Best-fit cloud decision matrix — per-application platform recommendation (GCP, Azure, Advisory Private VMware, or retain on-prem)
- Cloud effort questionnaire with client answers — migration wave complexity scoring and sequencing
- iSeries AS/400 upgrade notes — legacy platform migration considerations documented separately
- Cloud Strategy Workshop with senior leadership — on-site whiteboard session, "Why Cloud? Yes/No" framing
- CRA deliverable — Draft v2.2 and RC 1.0 (PPTX + PDF): full cloud readiness analysis, migration strategy, executive readout
- Preliminary migration estimate — PS labor, tooling, and wave-level cost breakdown for both-DC estate
- GCP Solution Review session notes — platform capability review with GCP SA (Matt Richins)
Forward Opportunity — Phase 2 Migration Program
Migration Execution
Phase 2 PS Program
CRA is Phase 1. The natural follow-on is a multi-year DC exit and cloud migration program for both the on-property DC and colocation provider. ~1,850 VMs, 300 applications, AS/400 modernization, Active/Active unwind. The preliminary migration estimate produced in Phase 1 is the commercial foundation for this scope.
AS/400 Modernization
iSeries Advisory
2 AS/400 iSeries systems are the critical path for the entire migration — hotel, gaming, and guest experience depend on them. AS/400 upgrade notes produced as a Phase 1 deliverable. Phase 2 needs AS/400 modernization strategy: cloud-hosted AS/400 (AWS, Azure, GCP IaaS), re-platform to modern stack, or hybrid. This is a distinct high-value advisory track.
Managed Cloud Services
Post-Migration MS
VLV has no dedicated cloud operations team — all IT runs the on-prem VMware estate today. Post-migration, the resort will need managed cloud operations for the gaming, hospitality, and guest-experience workloads. Advisory Managed Azure or GCP is the natural landing. PCI compliance monitoring adds scope and TCV.
Talk Track — Using This as a Reference
Hospitality, Gaming, and Large VMware Estate Conversations
"We have hundreds of VMs across two datacenters and leadership wants us out of both by [date]. Where do we start?"
We did this exact engagement for one of the most recognizable resort and gaming properties in Las Vegas — 1,850 VMs across two datacenters, 300 applications, and a hard mandate from leadership to be 100% cloud by 2025. The team didn't know which cloud, didn't have app-to-server mapping, and had a critical legacy system (AS/400) running the hotel, gaming, and guest experience stack that everything else depended on. We started with a cloud-agnostic CRA: processed RVTools exports from both VMware environments, built a custom TCO model comparing Azure and GCP head-to-head, rationalized all 300 applications using the 6Rs framework, and produced a cloud selection matrix that gave them a per-app platform recommendation. The CRA is the foundation — without it, you're making a multi-million-dollar platform commitment based on gut instinct. With it, you have a scored, evidence-based migration plan your leadership can actually approve.
"We have an AS/400 — every vendor tells us to just 'move to the cloud' but no one addresses the iSeries dependency."
The AS/400 was the first thing we scoped when we walked into this engagement. Two iSeries units — one in each datacenter — running the hotel management system, the gaming floor systems, and the core guest experience platform. Every other application in the estate had dependencies running through those boxes. You can't wave-sequence a migration without solving the AS/400 question first. We produced dedicated AS/400 upgrade notes as part of the Phase 1 CRA — evaluated cloud-hosted iSeries, re-platform paths, and hybrid approaches — and built the migration wave plan around the AS/400 critical path. If your AS/400 isn't accounted for in a migration plan, the plan is wrong.
"We're running out of storage on-prem and we need short-term relief, not a 12-month strategy engagement."
We heard exactly that from the client team. They were running out of storage in-flight and couldn't wait for the full migration strategy to be completed before taking action. The answer was to structure Phase 1 to deliver quick wins alongside the longer strategic work: Non-PROD workloads to cloud first — immediately frees up on-prem capacity, gives the ops team cloud experience before touching PROD, and gives leadership a visible proof point. The CRA identified which Non-PROD workloads were the easiest lift, estimated the storage savings, and scoped the Phase 2 migration to start with those wins. Short-term relief and long-term strategy in the same engagement.
My Role on This Engagement
Infrastructure Discovery
Processed RVTools exports from both VMware DCs (4 files: May + Aug baseline for each); consolidated VM inventory and oversized VM analysis
TCO Financial Modeling
Built custom VLV pricing model and Cloud Cost Summary workbooks — VM-level Azure + GCP mapping, 3–5 year TCO, alongside Azure TCO Calculator
Application Inventory
Developed 315-record application inventory from server data, application datapoints questionnaire, and SCCM report — categorized for 6Rs disposition
CRA Deliverable
Contributed to CRA Draft v2.2 and RC 1.0 — cloud readiness analysis, best-fit decision matrix, migration strategy, and executive readout deck
Cloud Strategy Proposal
Produced the Cloud Strategy Proposal document and executive presentation — structured $85K–$100K dual-option engagement scope
Workshop Facilitation
Participated in on-site leadership whiteboard session (July 2022); contributed to GCP Solution Review session with Matt Richins (June 2022)
Context & Reference Notes
Client: Luxury Hospitality & Gaming Resort Resort Las Vegas — one of the largest luxury hotel, convention, and gaming properties in the world, located on the Las Vegas Strip. Operated independently following the separation from parent company Corporation. Engagement: Cloud Strategy and Cloud Readiness Assessment delivered 2022. Phase 2 (migration execution) scoped but not confirmed from available source files. Pricing: Proposal presented two options — $85K–$100K for cloud-agnostic assessment (Option 1) or a platform-specific assessment (Option 2, fee TBD). Cloud context: Azure and GCP evaluated; AWS also in scope per proposal. Existing Azure footprint is all SaaS/PaaS (O365, Power BI, Azure Functions) — no IaaS workloads in cloud at time of engagement. colocation provider DC: colocation provider is a major Las Vegas colocation provider (now colocation provider, Inc.); VLV's colocation lease at colocation provider is a commercial trigger for the DC exit timeline. Use this reference for hospitality, gaming, or enterprise multi-DC CRA conversations. Client name (Luxury Hospitality & Gaming Resort) may be disclosed in general references — confirm with account team before use in proposals.