Impress IT completes zero-downtime AWS to Azure migration for Houston construction firm

Impress IT Solutions says it moved a Houston construction company from AWS to Microsoft Azure without downtime or data loss in a five-day cutover after four weeks of parallel build and testing. The project covered eight applications, 16 remote sites and six AWS servers, showing how construction firms are modernizing field operations without interrupting work.

Why it matters: - Construction firms depend on remote field access, project data and business applications that cannot go dark during an IT overhaul. - The migration shows a path to modernize cloud infrastructure without pausing operations, even for distributed teams and jobsite connectivity. - The project also highlights the growing use of zero-trust access and hybrid connectivity in field-heavy industries.

What happened: - Impress IT Solutions completed a cloud migration for a Houston-based construction company moving from a legacy AWS environment to Microsoft Azure. - The engagement ran from August 1 through September 4, 2025. - The cutover finished in five business days, from August 31 through September 4, 2025. - The work covered eight business-critical applications, 16 remote field sites and six AWS servers. - The migration was completed with no planned downtime and no data loss.

The details: - Impress IT Solutions built a new Azure environment in parallel with the live AWS infrastructure before moving production workloads. - The Azure build included a new tenancy via Nerdio, Active Directory domain controllers, virtual networking and a configured VPN Gateway. - The team created an encrypted AWS-to-Azure site-to-site VPN to synchronize data during the transition. - Applications migrated included P6 Primavera, PlanSwift, ACT! CRM, Microsoft Access databases, Egnyte document scanning and a network print server. - Cloud-native integrations for Procore, Vista Viewpoint and GCPay were also carried over. - Appgate SDP replaced legacy VPN infrastructure with identity-aware zero-trust remote access. - The team configured 16 Cradlepoint routers for remote and jobsite locations. - An on-site visit in Deer Park set up Starlink in passthrough mode for a critical field location. - The company used early-morning change windows to reduce impact on operations. - A planned four-week build and validation phase preceded the final production cutover.

Between the lines: - The project shows that the hardest part of a “zero-downtime” migration is usually the preparation, not the cutover. - The parallel-build approach reduced risk by letting the team validate systems before any production move. - The deployment also reflects a broader shift away from legacy VPNs toward identity-based access controls. - During the PlanSwift migration, performance issues with cloud-hosted storage led the team to build a hybrid setup using a local NAS for active project data and cloud backup. - During AWS decommissioning, the team found an undocumented mapped network share and preserved the data before shutdown.

What's next: - Impress IT Solutions is positioning the project as a model for other Houston-area construction and infrastructure businesses looking to modernize their IT environments. - The company says a full technical white paper is available at the technical white paper. - The company also invites interview requests and additional information inquiries via info@impresscomputers.com or 281-647-9977.

The bottom line: - The migration gave the construction firm a newer Azure-based foundation without interrupting field operations, and it underscores how careful staging can make even complex cloud moves effectively invisible to users.