NHS SCW Data Centre Migration | Apprilis Zero-Downtime Infrastructure Transition

Health & Social Care

Seamless migration to modern infrastructure without service disruption

NHS SCW – Data Centre Migration

NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) provides digital, data, and support services to NHS organisations across England. In 2024, SCW faced a critical challenge: to urgently exit its primary data centre and migrate all physical technology, hardware, and network connectivity to a Crown Hosting facility via the CCS/GOV Crown Hosting Framework.

The migration carried significant operational risk, as it involved critical national healthcare IT services where downtime could directly impact patient care and NHS operations.

Challenge

The programme required:

A secure, seamless migration of infrastructure under strict deadlines.
Redesign of network architecture to optimise performance in the new environment.
Assurance that no unplanned impact would affect live services throughout the transition.
Coordination across multiple suppliers and NHS stakeholders.

Our Approach

Apprilis led the 12-month transformation programme, deploying both programme delivery experts and technical specialists. Key activities included:

Programme readiness assessment to identify risks and establish a critical path plan.
Definition of a clear data centre strategy aligned with Crown Hosting requirements.
End-to-end project delivery management, ensuring governance, oversight, and delivery discipline.
Redesign and implementation of network architecture to optimise resilience and performance.
Data centre optimisation and IT hardware relocation carried out in a staged, controlled manner.
Strong stakeholder and supplier engagement, ensuring collaboration and rapid issue resolution.

Impact

Migration completed on schedule with zero unplanned downtime across live, critical NHS IT services.
Successful relocation of all infrastructure and hardware to the Crown Hosting facility.
Redesigned network architecture improved resilience, scalability, and future-readiness.
Delivered under pressure while maintaining service continuity for NHS operations.

Key Outcomes

Seamless migration of critical NHS infrastructure.
No disruption to patient-critical services.
Enhanced resilience and optimisation of data centre services.
Demonstrated ability of Apprilis to deliver complex, high-risk technical programmes under urgent timelines.

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