EnergyUtilitiesAnonymized

    Rescuing & Cloud-Migrating Business-Critical Platforms

    ISO 27001ISO 9001ISO 42001TÜV SÜD PartnerEU-BasedGDPR CompliantMicrosoft Partner

    Challenge & Approach

    The Challenge

    Large regulated organizations run on-premise infrastructure that has been in place for over a decade. Collaboration platforms, document management, internal portals hosting business-critical applications. Thousands of users depend on them daily.

    Over time: patches get skipped, data integrity erodes, vendor support disappears, technical debt accumulates. The system is simultaneously the most business-critical and the most fragile thing in the organization. And now the enterprise wants to move to cloud - but you can't migrate what's falling apart.

    Our Approach

    Take full ownership of a failing platform - not an assessment, but hands-on stabilization and recovery with zero acceptable downtime. Delivered by MNB Solutions with engineering discipline and a clear principle: stability first.

    • Full platform takeover regardless of technology, documentation state, or vendor history
    • Stability first - stop the outages before planning modernization
    • Data recovery when the original vendor says it can't be saved
    • Reverse-engineer applications without source code
    • Custom tooling where standard migration paths are too slow or expensive
    • Individual migration per application - rewrite, lift-and-shift, or replace
    • Named owner for every component from day one
    Proof: Energy / Utilities — Anonymized

    Client Context

    In 2019, MNB Solutions took over a SharePoint 2013 farm from a previous supplier - 5,000 daily active users across 7,000 sites with dozens of business-critical applications. Weekly outages were routine. The system had been unpatched for years. Database corruption was growing daily. Some applications had no source code. Microsoft specialists concluded the data could not be saved.

    What MNB Solutions Built

    Full platform recovery and cloud migration executed in four phases over approximately four years - while maintaining continuous operation for 5,000 daily users throughout. This was an emergency takeover that became a long-term managed operations partnership.

    Phase 1: Stabilization

    Eliminated regular outages. Diagnosed database corruption. Microsoft said the data couldn't be saved. We found a way - migrated all content to clean databases, recovering all critical files, contracts, and data with zero loss.

    Phase 2: Patching & Modernization

    Full patching for the first time in years. Developed custom migration scripts enabling direct 2013-to-2019 migration, skipping the standard intermediate step - saving significant time, cost, and license fees.

    • Full patching applied for the first time in years
    • Developed custom migration scripts enabling direct 2013-to-2019 migration, skipping the Microsoft-standard intermediate step (2013→2016→2019) — saving significant time, cost, and license fees
    • Custom tooling where the standard path was too slow or too expensive

    Phase 3: Application Takeover

    Every application on the platform brought under MNB management — regardless of documentation state.

    • Took over all applications: client-facing portals, helpdesk tools, contract management, SAP-integrated solutions
    • Applications without source code were reverse-engineered and brought under full management
    • Continuous operation maintained throughout for all users and business processes
    • No application left as a black box. Every component understood, documented, and owned.

    Phase 4: Cloud Migration

    Among the first in the client's corporate group to establish cloud-native applications on Microsoft Azure.

    • Each application migrated individually: some fully rewritten with modern technologies, others lift-and-shifted depending on what each application required
    • SharePoint content migrated to SharePoint Online
    • Full migration completed in under 4 years
    • Platform now runs on modern cloud infrastructure, fully managed by MNB Solutions

    Results

    Weekly outages
    → zero major outages in 6+ years
    (from crisis to stability)
    Data declared unrecoverable
    by Microsoft — recovered by us
    (engineering discipline under pressure)
    5,000+
    daily users served
    (without interruption throughout)
    Dozens of applications
    modernized and running in cloud
    (individually assessed and migrated)
    Platform still under
    MNB management
    (long-term operational partnership)
    Full migration
    completed in under 4 years
    (from emergency takeover to cloud)

    Key Insight

    The platform went from weekly outages under the previous supplier to zero major outages in 6+ consecutive years under MNB Solutions management. Same infrastructure, same complexity, same 5,000 users - but with a partner who takes end-to-end responsibility for outcomes in production. This is what "We stand behind it" means in practice.

    Platform Status

    In production on Microsoft Azure. Continuously managed by MNB Solutions. Zero major outages in 6+ years. The emergency takeover is now a long-term managed operations partnership.

    Reference upon request

    What This Enables Next

    This recovery pattern applies across every regulated industry with aging infrastructure:

    • Vendor recovery and platform takeover when the previous supplier failed or disappeared
    • Legacy modernization of end-of-life systems - SharePoint, Lotus Notes, legacy .NET, outdated Java
    • Cloud migration for complex environments with dozens of interconnected applications
    • Application rescue without source code - reverse-engineered, documented, managed
    • Production Stability Assessment: 2-3 weeks, fixed scope, clear risk map and roadmap - the entry point when you know something is wrong

    Every recovery follows the same principle: stability first, then modernize. The team that fixes it stays to run it.

    Centralized Contract ManagementAutomated Regulatory Compliance Scanning

    Something isn't working. Let's fix it.

    Whether it's a failing platform, an abandoned project, or a system you've outgrown - we've been in that room before. The first step is a conversation.

    Talk to us

    No pitch deck. No 6-week assessment. Just a direct conversation about what's broken.

    MNB Solutions took over a failing SharePoint 2013 farm in 2019 serving 5,000 daily active users across 7,000 sites with dozens of business-critical applications including client-facing portals, helpdesk tools, contract management, and SAP-integrated solutions. Weekly outages were routine. The system had been unpatched for years because patching would further destabilize it. Database consistency errors were discovered and growing daily with files, contracts, and data entries becoming inaccessible or lost. Some applications had no source code available. Microsoft specialists concluded the data could not be saved.

    MNB Solutions executed a full platform recovery and cloud migration in four phases over approximately four years while maintaining continuous operation for 5,000 daily users throughout. This was an emergency takeover that became a long-term managed operations partnership.

    Phase 1 Stabilization: Eliminated regular outages that had been disrupting 5,000 users weekly. Diagnosed database corruption causing data loss across hundreds of files and entries. After Microsoft specialists concluded the data could not be saved, MNB Solutions found a way - migrating all content to clean databases and recovering all critical files, contracts, and data with zero loss. The platform was stabilized to a point where patching and further work became possible.

    Phase 2 Patching and Modernization: Full patching was applied for the first time in years. MNB Solutions developed custom migration scripts enabling direct 2013-to-2019 migration, skipping the Microsoft-standard intermediate step through 2016, saving significant time, cost, and license fees.

    Phase 3 Application Takeover: All applications on the platform were brought under MNB management regardless of documentation state. Applications without source code were reverse-engineered and brought under full management. Continuous operation was maintained throughout for all users and business processes. No application was left as a black box.

    Phase 4 Cloud Migration: MNB Solutions was among the first in the client's corporate group to establish cloud-native applications on Microsoft Azure. Each application was migrated individually with some fully rewritten with modern technologies and others lift-and-shifted depending on what each application required. SharePoint content was migrated to SharePoint Online. Full migration was completed in under 4 years.

    The platform went from weekly outages under the previous supplier to zero major outages in 6+ consecutive years under MNB Solutions management. That is not a technology achievement - it is an ownership achievement. The same infrastructure, the same complexity, the same 5,000 users, but with a partner who takes end-to-end responsibility for outcomes in production.

    Full platform takeover means assuming operational ownership of the entire platform including all applications, all users, and all data - not selective cherry-picking of easy components. Stability first means stopping the bleeding before planning the future and eliminating outages before creating any modernization roadmap. Data integrity is non-negotiable - if the vendor says the data cannot be saved, every technical option is exhausted before accepting loss. Applications built by previous vendors with no documentation and no source code are reverse-engineered, understood, and brought under management with no component left as a black box. Custom tooling is developed where the vendor's recommended migration path is too slow, too expensive, or technically inadequate. Every application is assessed and migrated on its own terms - some fully rewritten and others lift-and-shifted based on what the application needs. Zero acceptable downtime means every stabilization step, every patch, and every migration is executed while the platform serves its users continuously.

    This recovery pattern applies across every regulated industry with legacy infrastructure: vendor recovery and platform takeover when the previous supplier failed or disappeared, legacy platform modernization for on-premise systems running on end-of-life technology, cloud migration for complex environments with dozens of interconnected applications and no documentation, application rescue without source code, and structured Production Stability Assessments for organizations that need clarity before committing to a full recovery engagement.

    MNB Solutions is an enterprise technology partner for regulated industries including energy, utilities, banking, treasury, healthcare, and public sector. ISO 42001, ISO 27001, and ISO 9001 certified by TÜV SÜD. 100% EU-based delivery with all data processing within EU regions. 40+ custom-built enterprise applications in production with 6+ years of zero major outages across all managed solutions.