Lemonsoft

Project overview

Industry

Software

Services

Cloud Migration

About company

Lemonsoft is a Finnish software company specializing in the design, development, and sale of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions tailored primarily for small and medium-sized enterprises. Their ERP systems aim to streamline various business processes across multiple sectors, including industrial manufacturing, wholesale and retail, professional services automation, construction, and accounting.

About project

Lemonsoft operated a significant portion of its critical applications and databases in an on-premises environment. As infrastructure renewal loomed, the company needed to decide between investing heavily in new on-premises capacity or migrating to the cloud. Zure supported Lemonsoft in evaluating this decision through an initial assessment project, which later evolved into a full-scale migration initiative to Microsoft Azure.

Strategic Migration Planning Backed by Data
The project began with a thorough assessment phase, delivering a detailed roadmap and risk evaluation, enabling informed decision-making around Azure migration versus on-premises reinvestment.

Zero-Disruption Migration at Scale
Over 19,000 databases and multiple legacy desktop applications were migrated to Azure with no end-user downtime, using custom-built tools and tailored solutions for complex authentication and versioning needs.

Immediate Gains in Security, Scalability, and Automation
By moving to Azure, Lemonsoft eliminated the need for ongoing infrastructure investments while gaining modern CI/CD pipelines, improved security posture, and cloud-native scalability.

Strong Microsoft Backing
With Microsoft cooperation the migration was not only technically sound but also financially viable, providing a strong business case for cloud adoption.

Challenge

Lemonsoft had maintained its systems in a private datacenter, relying on self-managed hardware and infrastructure. The environment included legacy desktop applications and over 19,000 individual databases. Maintaining and modernizing this setup on-premises would have required multi-year investments in hardware, licensing, and operations. Additionally, scaling, automation, and security were becoming increasingly difficult to manage internally.

Goal

The objective was to decommission the on-premises environment and migrate critical systems, including applications and databases, to Azure. This would enable scalability, improve security posture, and eliminate the need for significant hardware renewals. It would also allow Lemonsoft to leverage cloud-native features such as automated infrastructure provisioning and modern CI/CD practices.

“We didn’t have the time or the desire to keep managing hardware and patching environments ourselves. With Azure, Microsoft handles those better than we ever could.”

- Mikko Surakka, Head of Cloud, Lemonsoft

Implementation

The migration process was initiated with a detailed assessment phase. Zure provided Lemonsoft with a comprehensive evaluation of the current environment and a clear roadmap for the migration, including risks, prerequisites, and estimated effort. This assessment enabled Lemonsoft to proceed toward cloud adoption with confidence.

Unlike typical projects where Zure would collaboratively design a solution through workshops and planning sessions, this project required lifting and shifting existing applications, many of them desktop-based, to Azure with minimal code changes. Zure created custom tools to manage the migration and ensure a seamless transition with no noticeable downtime for end users.

By moving to Azure, Lemonsoft eliminated the need for ongoing infrastructure investments while gaining modern CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure templates, improved security posture, and cloud-native scalability. Zure also introduced Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices, enabling consistent and automated environment provisioning.

“Zure has done a great job driving the work forward, challenging our teams, and highlighting what’s important. They’ve made sure this isn’t treated as just another project with a fixed end, but something that truly delivers long-term value.”

Mikko Surakka

Head of Cloud, Lemonsoft Oyj

Challenges During the Project

The migration presented multiple technical challenges. Lemonsoft’s applications were not built with modern frameworks, and many were tightly coupled to a local desktop environment. Shifting authentication from local Active Directory to Azure AD required new approaches and custom solutions.

Version management was also complex. Different customers used different application versions, and Azure had to support up to five live versions simultaneously.

Lemonsoft’s technical team had limited availability, which occasionally slowed progress. Early expectations about timelines turned out to be overly optimistic, making prioritization and coordination essential.

“We’ve had to rethink some architectural decisions, but it’s allowed us to shed technical debt we’ve carried for too long.”

- Mikko Surakka, Head of Cloud, Lemonsoft

Plans for the Future

Lemonsoft now looks forward to leveraging automation and self-service environments for both internal teams and their customers. With the migration complete, the company plans to deepen its use of Azure DevOps tooling and scalable infrastructure.

Our Role

Zure provided support throughout the entire journey, from initial assessment and planning to implementation and tooling. This was a highly specific and targeted engagement, unlike typical ongoing development projects. Once the systems and databases were in Azure, the project concluded.

Zure managed technical complexity and layers to keep the work progressing. The project has been a valuable learning experience for everyone involved and delivered real, lasting change for Lemonsoft.

“Zure has driven the project forward and kept us accountable, which has been invaluable. We’re finally in a place where we can stop carrying technical debt and start building for the future."

- Mikko Surakka, Head of Cloud, Lemonsoft