Data Engineering
Azure Migration
2024
6 min read
Migrate SSIS to Azure Data Factory: 50% Cost Reduction Case Study
Industry
Fashion Jewellery Retail
Region
London, UK - Global
Scale
Hundreds of SSIS Packages
Platform
Azure Data Factory · Azure-SSIS IR
A London-based global fashion jewellery brand was running hundreds of SSIS packages across multiple on-premises servers - a brittle, expensive infrastructure that couldn't scale. Numlytics delivered a complete SSIS to Azure Data Factory migration using Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime, cutting infrastructure costs by 50% and improving pipeline performance by 80% with minimal changes to existing SSIS packages.
The Challenge: On-Premises SSIS at Breaking Point
The client's on-premises SSIS environment had grown organically over the years, accumulating technical debt that made it both expensive and fragile. The business case to replace on-premises SSIS with Azure was clear - but executing a migration with minimal disruption required expert Azure Data Factory consulting.
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Resource limits: On-premises servers couldn't handle increasing data volume - scaling required expensive hardware procurement cycles
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Minimal monitoring: SSIS packages had no centralised monitoring - failures were discovered reactively, often hours after the fact
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Complex dependencies: Drivers, connections, and proxies made packages difficult to migrate and maintain without specialist knowledge
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High operational cost: SQL Server Agent job scheduling, on-premises server maintenance, and licence costs were a significant ongoing burden
The Numlytics Solution:
Numlytics selected Azure Data Factory with Azure SSIS Integration Runtime as the migration target - enabling existing SSIS packages to run on Azure with minimal code changes while enabling full integration with the Azure data platform
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Assessment & SSIS Package Inventory
Numlytics catalogued all SSIS packages, dependencies, schedules, and data sources - producing a full migration inventory and risk assessment before any Azure work began. Essential for any SSIS Azure Data Factory migration.
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Azure-SSIS IR Provisioning
Numlytics provisioned and configured Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime clusters, enabling existing SSIS packages to run on Azure infrastructure without rewriting - the core of the migrate SSIS to Azure Data Factory approach.
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Package Migration & Validation
SSIS packages migrated using SSMS Migration Wizard and Azure-enabled SSDT. Each package is tested and validated against the original on-premises baseline - ensuring data quality continuity.
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Azure Service Integration
Numlytics integrated migrated pipelines with Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Monitor - new capabilities that the on-premises SSIS environment had never supported, adding value beyond the migration itself.
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Monitoring Setup & Handover
ADF monitoring is configured with alerts, retry logic, and full logging. Complete documentation and training delivered. Client's operations team fully self-sufficient post-handover.
"The Azure Data Factory portal is a great tool for managing, monitoring, and debugging our SSIS packages. We can easily see the data lineage reports and troubleshoot any issues."
- Data Analyst, Fashion Jewellery Brand, London
The Results
50%
Cost Reduction
On-premises server and SQL Server licence costs eliminated
80%
Performance Improvement
Via elastic Azure-SSIS IR scaling matched to workload demand.
New
Cloud Capabilities
Data lake integration, lineage tracking, quality monitoring enabled.
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Reliability
Azure high availability and fault tolerance vs fragile on-premises setup.