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Domino / Lotus Notes 8.x Migration & Upgrade: Company Divestment
Client: Global Science & Technology Company
Migr8IT delivered a critical IT separation as part of the client’s wider divestment from their parent company, a UK FTSE 100 company. The success of the divestment depended on establishing a fully independent Domino / Notes environment to replace shared infrastructure, considered as a high-risk divestment activity due to operational dependencies on Lotus Notes 8.5 and the complexity of the integrated applications.
A new upgraded Domino 12.x environment was designed and deployed in Microsoft Azure to replace shared on-premise infrastructure, providing a secure and scalable platform under the client’s full control.
Global users and critical custom (integrated) applications were migrated from the parent company’s servers with no disruption to operations, ensuring business continuity and independence from day one.
Lotus Notes was flagged as the highest risk divestment activity, but Migr8IT delivered it smoothly and on schedule.
Client's Global Head of IT
£55M
Company divestment.
500+
Global users transitioned to the new environment.
55
Critical Notes client applications migrated.
Strategic Benefits
Migr8IT’s implementation of a new Domino environment in Microsoft Azure provided the client with a secure, independent platform to support post-divestment operations. The project strengthened IT resilience and established a sustainable foundation for future growth.
OPERATIONAL INDEPENDENCE
Delivered a fully standalone Domino environment under the client’s ownership, removing dependency on the parent company’s infrastructure and administration.
LOGICAL DATA SEPARATION
Segregated business data and user access from the parent company’s environment, ensuring full information independence and compliance with divestment requirements.
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Designed and executed migration to Azure with no service interruption, ensuring users could continue working throughout the transition.
SCALABLE AND FUTURE-READY
Leveraged Azure’s infrastructure to provide flexibility for future expansion and disaster recovery options.
SIMPLIFIED MANAGEMENT
Standardised system configuration and monitoring, enabling internal IT teams to manage and support the environment efficiently.
IMPROVED RELIABILITY
Replaced legacy dependencies with a modern, stable upgraded Domino platform (v.12) optimised for availability and performance.
STRATEGIC POSITIONING
Established a controlled, well-documented Domino environment that simplifies future migration to alternative platforms, reducing risk and dependency when the organisation decides to retire Domino completely.
Business Impact
Migr8IT’s delivery provided the foundation for a smooth, low-risk transition to independence, enabling the client to meet critical divestment timelines while maintaining full operational continuity.
ENABLED SUCCESSFUL DIVESTMENT
The new Azure-hosted Domino environment was a prerequisite for separation, allowing the business to operate independently from the parent company’s infrastructure.
ZERO OPERATIONAL DOWNTIME
Migration of 500+ worldwide users and 55 applications was completed without service interruption, protecting productivity and business performance throughout the transition.
FASTER, MORE RELIABLE SYSTEMS
The new Azure-hosted environment improved performance and stability compared with the legacy on-premises platform.
REDUCED BUSINESS RISK
Moving to Azure provided resilience, backup, and recovery capabilities that lowered the risk of data loss or service failure.
IMPROVED SECURITY POSTURE
Hosting Domino in Azure provided a dedicated, enterprise-grade environment with built-in protection, monitoring, and recovery capabilities, a major improvement over the shared legacy infrastructure.
OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY
The independent platform gave the client freedom to evolve its IT roadmap, including the ability to phase out Lotus Notes in the future.
COST TRANSPARENCY
Hosting in Azure introduced clearer cost visibility and scalability aligned with business demand.
Measurable Outcomes
500+ GLOBAL USERS MIGRATED to the new Azure-hosted Domino environment.
55 CUSTOM APPLICATIONS MIGRATED from the parent company’s infrastructure.
ZERO DOWNTIME during migration and cutover.
PROJECT DELIVERED ON SCHEDULE, meeting divestment timelines.
100% DATA INTEGRITY maintained throughout migration.
100% OF SECURITY groups and access control lists maintained.
IMPROVED SYSTEM RELIABILITY and performance in the new hosting environment.
FULL OPERATIONAL INDEPENDENCE achieved at divestment completion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s involved in a Lotus Notes and Domino migration or upgrade?
It involves assessing your current Notes/Domino estate (servers, clients, applications, data), planning the upgrade path or migration target version, executing server and/or client upgrades, updating applications for compatibility, and ensuring business continuity throughout.
Which versions of Lotus Notes / Domino do you support for upgrade?
We support upgrades from many legacy versions, including older releases, but the specific path depends on your environment (number of servers, version gaps, applications). We’ll scope it by reviewing your current versions, dependencies and any unsupported configurations.
Will my existing Notes applications still work after the upgrade?
In most cases yes, but some components (custom agents, old design elements, unsupported features) may require redesign or remediation. A discovery phase helps identify such issues.
How long will the migration / upgrade take and will users be disrupted?
It varies widely depending on the size of the estate, number of applications, amount of data and integrations. Our process is designed to minimise disruption, often using coexistence periods, pilot users, staged rollout, and validated testing to avoid major downtime.
What are the benefits of upgrading my Lotus Notes/Domino environment?
Upgrading gives you improved performance, better security (including support from vendor), access to new features (web, mobile, cloud integration), easier maintenance, less risk of unsupported components, and helps you align with modern IT standards.
Can you help us migrate from Lotus Notes to another platform altogether?
Yes. While this service focuses on upgrades and migrations within the Domino / Notes ecosystem, we also deliver projects that move Notes applications to other platforms. We’ll assess suitability, business logic, data migration issues and recommend the best path.
What kind of planning and audit do you perform before the upgrade?
We carry out a detailed discovery and inventory of servers / clients / applications / data, compatibility checks, identification of risks (unsupported versions, custom code), and creation of a migration roadmap including timeline, cost estimate, and contingency plan.
What happens to the legacy environment after upgrade from on-premise to cloud?
After upgrade and full validation, the prior environment (old servers, unsupported versions) can be decommissioned. We help plan the cut-over, archiving strategy (if required), user transition, and ensure that legacy data remains accessible if needed.
How do you ensure our data and business logic are preserved during migration or upgrade?
We use validated methodologies that include backup, test migration, integrity checks, business-logic verification, user-acceptance testing and monitoring. We ensure that key workflows, agents, access controls and data remain intact or are correctly migrated/refactored.
What ongoing support do you offer post-upgrade?
We offer post-go-live monitoring, maintenance services, user support, application review and remediation for any issues that surface after upgrade. This helps ensure your environment stays secure, performant and future-proof.
Will we need new Domino or Notes licences as part of the migration or upgrade?
In many cases, yes. Licensing requirements depend on your current entitlement, the target Domino version and number of users. During discovery we review your existing licences, identify gaps, and ensure you’re fully compliant without overspending. We can also advise on optimisation, many organisations are paying for licences they no longer need.