Case Study: Cloud Migration and Ongoing Support RFP
Client
West of England P&I Club
Services
Cloud Migration
See how AMC successfully led the procurement of a Microsoft Azure cloud migration and support partner for a leading marine insurer, mitigating risks and optimizing commercial terms.
Client & Project
The West of England P&I Club (West), an established international marine insurer, was facing challenges due to an aging on-premises infrastructure with significant key-person dependencies. In line with its broader digital transformation strategy, West sought to migrate to Microsoft Azure to enhance resilience, reduce technical debt, and ensure long-term scalability and regulatory compliance.
To enable this transformation, West appointed Anthony Martin Consultancy (AMC) to lead a Request for Proposal (RFP) process aimed at sourcing a capable cloud migration and support partner. AMC’s remit included ownership of the entire Request for Proposal (RFP) process and ensuring the commercial and contractual integrity of the resulting engagement.
Objectives
Migrate core infrastructure from on-premises to Azure IaaS.
Secure an ongoing support partner with 24×7 operational capability.
Minimise business disruption during migration.
Eliminate risks associated with key-person reliance.
Optimise commercial terms for both implementation and support.
AMC’s Role and Value Delivered
AMC provided end-to-end strategic procurement leadership across the entire RFP lifecycle:
1
Requirements Definition & Documentation
- Facilitated structured requirements gathering sessions with West stakeholders.
- Drafted the complete RFP pack, ensuring alignment with West’s technical and regulatory needs
- Clearly defined service levels, support expectations, and commercial structures to enable fair competition.
2
Sourcing & Supplier Selection
- Identified and invited Microsoft-approved suppliers with insurance experience and a service scale aligned to West’s size-ensuring flexibility and partnership potential.
- Managed Q&A interactions, ensuring a level playing field.
- Administered scoring templates and consolidated evaluation results from a multidisciplinary panel.
3
Evaluation & Governance
- Chaired supplier presentations and ensured consistent evaluation criteria were applied.
- Led internal review sessions to validate scoring outcomes and reach consensus on supplier rankings.
4
Commercial and Contract Negotiation
- Benchmarked pricing proposals, identifying variances and outliers to support final decision-making.
- Led negotiations for the Master Services Agreement (MSA), including:
- Fixed-price work orders for Discovery and Migration phases.
- A scalable support agreement with clear SLAs and service credits.
- Commercial clauses to ensure full transparency in any future pricing adjustments for the ongoing support.
5
Risk Mitigation
- Ensured due diligence on financial viability and environmental compliance for all suppliers.
- Reduced the risk of lock-in by securing a contract with flexible, scalable architecture using standard Azure tooling.
- Avoided supplier overreach by rejecting proposals with excessive caveats or opaque pricing models.
Outcome
1
Preferred Supplier Selected
- An offshore Microsoft-approved vendor with a proven record in insurance and cloud transformations.
2
Optimised Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- AMC facilitated competitive pricing — delivering fixed unit pricing for the term of the multi-year agreement.
3
Risk Avoidance
- Key operational and contractual risks were mitigated through AMC’s negotiation of robust SLAs, a structured milestone-based payment plan, and clear escalation procedures.
4
Commercial Flexibility
- Final contractual agreements included separate Statements of Work for Migration, and Ongoing Support, allowing West flexibility and cost-over service ramp-up.
Preferred Supplier Selected:
An offshore Microsoft-approved vendor with a proven record in insurance and cloud transformations.
Optimised Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
AMC facilitated competitive pricing — delivering fixed unit pricing for the term of the multi-year agreement.
Risk Avoidance:
Key operational and contractual risks were mitigated through AMC’s negotiation of robust SLAs, a structured milestone-based payment plan, and clear escalation procedures.
Commercial Flexibility:
Final contractual agreements included separate Statements of Work for Migration, and Ongoing Support, allowing West flexibility and cost-over service ramp-up.
Procurement Benefits to West
Reduced internal burden via expert-led procurement.
Objective, structured supplier selection based on capability and not just price.
Achieved strategic alignment with Microsoft Azure’s ecosystem.
Established a long-term support framework with high accountability and transparency.
Procurement Benefits to West
The successful delivery of this cloud migration sourcing project by AMC enabled West to secure a technically capable and commercially aligned cloud partner while mitigating significant operational and contractual risk. AMC’s structured and strategic procurement approach ensured that West now has a future-ready, scalable cloud infrastructure and a dependable support framework in place.
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