Turning migration into a product

Kind: Day job, 2023 to now
Employer: Getac Video Solutions

1.0

The problem

1.1 Context

Customers ran on a legacy single-server SaaS. They needed a path to a scaled, distributed microservice platform. Each move was a one-off project: run largely by hand, dependent on Development, with no shared way to own the steps or learn from failures.

1.2 Track record

Before this, I designed a novel approach for our self-hosted to cloud migrations that runs them fully automated and hands-off. We have run many of them that way.

2.0

What I did

2.1 Productized it

I conceived the migration strategy and the automation approach, then built it into a repeatable path: automated manual workflows, better validation and troubleshooting, and less dependence on Development.

2.2 Built the operating model

A product needs an organization around it. I defined how migrations run: who owns each step of the lifecycle, how failures get analyzed, and how status is tracked.

2.3 Lead the whole effort

Now I lead it end to end, across every team that touches a migration, by influence rather than by org chart.

3.0

Results

3.1 MeasuredDay job record

Customer migrations, as of November 2026: 10
Evidence assets moved, as of November 2026: More than 1M
One migration: 21 days
An earlier customerAbout one fifth its size: 125 days