LiDestri is a premier private label and contract manufacturer of sauces, dips, beverages, and other food products. From its headquarters in Rochester, New York and multiple facilities across the United States, the company produces millions of units per day. For more than forty-five years, national brand and retail customers have relied on LiDestri to help them formulate new products, expand production capacity, and handle seasonal overflow. To support these operations, LiDestri ran Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) modules for financials, process manufacturing, supply chain, purchasing, and warehouse management, along with advanced supply chain planning (ASCP) and service-oriented architecture (SOA) components, all hosted in a private cloud.
The Challenge
By 2022, that private cloud environment had reached the end of its life. The hardware provider announced the closure of the data centre, forcing LiDestri to decide whether to migrate to another private cloud or switch to a public cloud platform.
At the same time, the company faced several operational challenges:
- Lack of disaster recovery: The private cloud did not provide a true disaster recovery (DR) solution; i.e. backups were physically shipped offsite, and a DR event would require finding capacity and rebuilding servers.
- Unstable mobile web applications: LiDestri’s mobile web applications (MWAs) needed frequent manual restarts.
- Slow reporting: Year-end and other data-heavy reports were taking longer to generate.
- Timeline pressure: LiDestri wanted a quick migration with minimal disruption, noting they had neither the patience nor the time for a one-or-two-year project.
With these issues in mind, LiDestri turned to its long-standing managed services partner, Data Intensity. Andrew Finkel, LiDestri’s Oracle Development Manager, explained that the company’s ten-plus-year relationship with Data Intensity had delivered continual success due to expertise in all areas of support. The impending cloud exit accelerated their need to seek our guidance.
The Solution
We always begin cloud migrations with a Total Cost of Transformation (TCOT) assessment. This proprietary tool analyzes workloads, environments, licensing requirements, architecture needs, and implementation timelines to identify the optimal cloud platform. After jointly agreeing that a “lift and shift” approach was preferable, the TCOT methodology was used to evaluate both Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Microsoft Azure.
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TCOT Assessment Results:
Three critical insights were revealed:
- Better license utilization: OCI would allow LiDestri to make more effective use of existing Oracle licenses and avoid purchasing additional software. During planning, Data Intensity’s licensing experts reviewed LiDestri’s license position and found that OCI’s lower CPU requirements meant existing licenses could cover both production and DR environments. The team also removed unneeded Oracle database and middleware features to ensure compliance after migration.
- Complete DR solution: OCI offered a robust, built-in DR capability, eliminating the manual backup process and server rebuilds required in the private cloud.
- Fast timeline: The end-to-end migration—from planning through cutover— could be completed in less than six months, a critical factor for a company with limited tolerance for lengthy projects.
These advantages, combined with Data Intensity’s deep Oracle expertise, made OCI the clear choice. Finkel remarked, “The TCOT report was highly technical and detailed, yet presented in a way senior leadership could easily understand, making it simple to see the scope and benefits of migrating to OCI.”
Executing the Lift & Shift
With the cloud platform selected, Data Intensity developed a project plan that minimized risk and downtime. The team scheduled the cutover to occur over a long holiday weekend to avoid disrupting production. Because this was a lift-and-shift migration, the focus was on moving existing workloads rather than rearchitecting them, but careful preparation was still required.
Leading up to the cutover, the project team took the following precautions:
- Implemented a patch and code freeze, refreshed the database, and conducted mock cutovers to test processes.
- Worked with critical users to ensure functionality testing could happen during the cutover weekend.
On the Monday after the holiday weekend, LiDestri’s users logged into the same applications using their existing credentials and encountered a familiar interface. Finkel noted that from a user standpoint, the only difference was in the superior performance on OCI. The lift and shift migration achieved its goal of minimal disruption while delivering immediate benefits.
The Impact
LiDestri’s journey underscores the importance of partnering with a managed services provider that understands both the technical and business dimensions of Oracle workloads. The results speak for themselves: a 25 percent reduction in infrastructure costs, performance improvements of up to 80 percent, reliable disaster recovery, and a stable, modern platform poised for future innovation.
Cost savings and performance
Right-sizing the environment on OCI resulted in significant cost savings. Reportedly, LiDestri achieved nearly a 25 percent reduction in infrastructure costs by reviewing workload requirements and allocating resources appropriately.
Performance gains were also dramatic. During the first end-of-quarter close after migration, the company’s finance team initially thought something was wrong with the system because reports were completing 50 to 80 percent faster. The faster processing times were simply the result of running EBS on modern OCI infrastructure.
Stability and manageability
This migration solved the instability of LiDestri’s mobile web applications. Finkel reported an immediate reduction in MWA issues and noted he couldn’t recall the last time they had to manually restart the MWA or dispatcher service. The more reliable stability freed IT staff from constant troubleshooting and allowed them to focus on other strategic initiatives.
Data Intensity also provided ongoing Software Asset Management (SAM) services. After verifying LiDestri’s license compliance post migration, we continue to monitor usage and licensing to ensure the environment stays optimized. Finkel praised the SAM partnership, saying the team’s knowledge of Oracle licensing has been a great reassurance.
Disaster recovery and tools
By moving to OCI, LiDestri replaced its off-site backup process with a true DR solution. Early smoke tests confirmed the new environment functioned as intended, but there has been no need to invoke it because OCI has experienced no outages. Finkel expressed pride in having robust DR capabilities ready if needed.
OCI also provides access to management tools and dashboards that LiDestri’s team did not previously have in the private cloud. Finkel enjoys being able to monitor usage, reports, and dashboards himself, noting there are bells and whistles they are not even using yet, and the transparency is excellent. With Data Intensity handling day-to-day operations, access to native OCI tools empowers LiDestri’s IT staff to gain insights into their environment.
Partnership and future plans
Faced with an aging private cloud environment, unstable applications, and slow reporting, LiDestri partnered with Data Intensity to evaluate options, plan a rapid migration, and execute a seamless cutover. Finkel said that during the migration, our support never wavered, and he looks forward to a continued relationship. The project’s success has emboldened LiDestri to explore additional Oracle Cloud services. They are currently evaluating Oracle Integration Cloud as a replacement for their middle tier and B2B solution, and are eager to watch the continued evolution of OCI.
Key Takeaways
Assess total cost and fit. A thorough analysis of workloads, licensing, and timelines helps identify the right platform. Data Intensity’s TCOT process compared OCI and Azure and highlighted tangible benefits, such as license optimisation and quicker implementation.
Prioritize minimal disruption. A lift and shift approach with careful planning, including patch freezes, mock cutovers, and a strategic holiday cutover window, can reduce downtime and user impact.
Focus on long-term value. Beyond cost savings, improvements in performance, stability, disaster recovery, and management tools deliver lasting benefits.
Leverage expert partners. LiDestri’s decade-long partnership with Data Intensity provided the trust and expertise needed to navigate licensing, migration, and managed services. Expert support is essential when managing critical enterprise systems like Oracle EBS.
Considering A Cloud Migration?
LiDestri’s experience offers several lessons for organisations considering a move from a private cloud or on-premise infrastructure to the public cloud. Most importantly, it demonstrates how a well-executed cloud strategy can solve immediate challenges while laying a foundation for future growth. Contact us today to see how a cloud assessment and migration plan can help your enterprise.
