From VMware to AWS-Native: How Service Stream Cut Cloud Costs by 15% in Four Months
A strategic AWS-native migration enabled Service Stream to lower cloud spend, minimise migration risk, and create a future-ready platform for innovation.
Overview
Service Stream, a leading provider of essential infrastructure services across Australia, was operating critical workloads on VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC-A). While reliable, the environment had become increasingly expensive and restrictive, limiting access to AWS-native innovation and creating uncertainty around future licensing costs.
With VMware licensing changes approaching and operational costs continuing to rise, Service Stream partnered with SourceFuse to migrate its workloads from VMC-A to a fully AWS-native environment. Through a structured, automated migration approach, SourceFuse successfully transitioned critical systems to Amazon EC2 with near-zero downtime, reduced annual AWS spend by approximately 15%, and accelerated migration execution by 20%.
The result was a modern, scalable, and cost-optimised AWS foundation that positions Service Stream for future cloud-native innovation.
The Challenge
Service Stream faced growing challenges with its VMware Cloud on AWS environment that were impacting both operational efficiency and long-term cloud strategy.
Rising Infrastructure Costs:
The organisation was incurring significant expenses from VMware platform overhead and Windows Datacenter licensing, resulting in higher-than-necessary cloud operating costs.
Limited Modernisation Opportunities:
The VMware-based architecture restricted the adoption of AWS-native capabilities such as automation, managed services, serverless computing, and modern DevOps practices.
Inflexible Scaling:
Resource scaling remained tightly coupled to VMware infrastructure, limiting the ability to dynamically adjust compute and storage based on changing business demands.
Complex Hybrid Operations:
Managing networking, security policies, and governance across a hybrid VMware environment increased operational complexity and administrative overhead.
Licensing Uncertainty:
Impending VMware licensing changes following the Broadcom acquisition introduced cost unpredictability and strategic risk, creating urgency for a more sustainable cloud platform.
The Solution
SourceFuse designed and executed a comprehensive migration strategy that enabled Service Stream to transition from VMware Cloud on AWS to a fully AWS-native environment while maintaining business continuity and minimising operational risk.
Comprehensive Discovery and Assessment
Using AWS Application Discovery Service (ADS) and VMware-native tools, SourceFuse conducted a detailed assessment of application dependencies, infrastructure utilisation, and migration requirements. Service Stream provided application and operational insights to ensure accurate workload mapping and migration planning.
Automated Migration Planning
The team leveraged AWS Transform for VMware to create dependency-aware migration waves across Development, Test/UAT, and Production environments. This structured approach reduced migration complexity and ensured predictable execution.
Near-Zero Downtime Migration
AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) served as the core migration engine, enabling continuous block-level replication from VMware environments to AWS-native infrastructure. This approach minimised disruption and supported seamless cutovers aligned with business operations.
Automated Infrastructure Configuration
AWS Systems Manager was used to automate Active Directory configuration and domain integration, simplifying post-migration provisioning while ensuring consistency across workloads.
Phased Migration Execution
Migration activities were executed through carefully planned waves, allowing Service Stream teams to validate applications, conduct testing, and approve each stage before progressing to the next environment.
Cost Optimisation and Operational Readiness
Following migration, SourceFuse conducted workload right-sizing and performance optimisation exercises to maximise cost efficiency. Monitoring, governance controls, operational runbooks, and knowledge transfer sessions were implemented to enable long-term self-sufficiency.
Results
15% Reduction in Annual AWS Spend
20% Faster Migration Execution
Near-Zero Downtime During Cutover
Enhanced Scalability and Flexibility
Improved Security and Governance
Greater Operational Efficiency and Resilience
Modernisation Readiness
Technologies & AWS Services Used
- Migration & Transformation: AWS Application Migration Service (MGN), AWS Application Discovery Service (ADS), AWS Transform for VMware
- Compute: Amazon EC2
- Networking: Amazon VPC, AWS Transit Gateway
- Security & Compliance: AWS Security Groups, Network ACLs (NACLs)
- Management & Governance: AWS Systems Manager
