Completion of wholesale migration of VMware workloads from an ageing data center to cloud without disruption to business or refactoring
Backup jobs now complete in minutes instead of days
Overnight reports that once took 8–10 hours now complete in under five hours
Freed up teams to focus on more value-added, strategic work
Global British fashion brand Superdry modernized its technology foundation with Google Cloud VMware Engine, strengthening its risk posture and enhancing performance to focus on innovation and growth.
Global British fashion brand Superdry modernized its technology foundation with Google Cloud VMware Engine, strengthening its risk posture and enhancing performance to focus on innovation and growth.
Laying the foundations for sustainable innovation
Over the past decade, retail has been transformed by ecommerce growth, rising customer expectations for personalization, and a growing focus on sustainability. With the addition of AI-driven pricing, predictive analytics, and smart supply chains, the pressure is on for retailers to innovate continually.
For British fashion brand Superdry, staying ahead of the curve meant rethinking technology’s role in the business. “Our aim is to deliver value through technology by driving efficiency, strengthening operational resilience, and ensuring we're investing in innovation that aligns with our growth ambitions,” says Dafydd Moore, Global Technology Director at Superdry.
I have a history of using Google Cloud in fast paced situations and have always been impressed by the results. From my perspective, partnering with Google Cloud was the best way to build a more successful future for our brand.
Dafydd Moore
Global Technology Director, Superdry
In need of a platform that could deliver speed and scalability, Superdry began the process of migrating its legacy on-premises environment to the cloud in collaboration with Google Cloud partners Xtravirt and DoiT. “To support our infrastructure and some of our bigger ambitions, we needed to work with fewer but better partners, and Google Cloud definitely fits into that category for us,” says Moore. “I have a history of using Google Cloud in fast-paced situations and have always been impressed by the results. From my perspective, partnering with Google Cloud was the best way to build a more successful future for our brand.”
From legacy infrastructure to cloud-based agility
Superdry’s legacy infrastructure, based on VMware workloads, limited the company’s ability to scale and innovate, while maintenance issues continued to increase. What’s more, its energy consumption hindered Superdry’s net-zero goals. Continuing to patch and upgrade the architecture was no longer an option.
The whole process has been very smooth. We’ve transitioned nearly 100 servers for the business to Google Cloud with no negative migration impact on our user base.
Simon Watson
IT Operations Manager, Superdry
“We were running legacy hardware with legacy speeds for a modern business that wanted more — quicker, cheaper, and faster,” says Simon Watson, IT Operations Manager at Superdry. “We simply couldn’t do that on the technology we had.”
The team began to move away from its UK data centers and established a new central hub within the cloud environment, allowing Superdry to address immediate infrastructure risks and improve cost effectiveness. However, migrating VMware workloads directly to native cloud services can be a long and complex process, and Superdry couldn’t afford to compromise business continuity, which is critical in retail where downtime directly impacts revenue.
Xtravirt and DoiT provided professional guidance to Superdry throughout the selection process, ultimately helping the team identify Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE). The solution offered the technical alignment, cost effectiveness and performance the company was looking for, and it proved the most effective way to move existing VMware workloads without disruption over peak periods such as Black Friday and the lead-up to Christmas.
Supporting Superdry through the migration, both partners worked as an extension of internal IT teams to map the organization’s entire infrastructure, prioritize workloads, and sequence the migration around the retail calendar. “The whole process has been very smooth and we’ve valued our partners’ spirit of collaboration and willingness to adapt to our needs throughout this migration,” says Watson. “We’ve transitioned nearly 100 servers for the business to Google Cloud with no negative migration impact on our user base.”
Beyond GCVE, the project included NetApp Volumes to secure and optimize file storage and sharing, Compute Engine to run additional workloads, and Cloud Storage to streamline backup processes.
Increasing performance, lowering costs and empowering teams
The impact of the migration was almost immediate. For instance, the company saw a 70–80% increase in application throughput on several key systems. Overnight reports that previously took up to 10 hours are now complete in under five hours, and backup jobs that once ran over days are now completed in minutes. This enables the company to transition away from traditional tape-based backups, improving efficiency while eliminating reliance on third-party data centers and daily tape collection services. “This is a real win, both in terms of reducing costs and supporting our ESG commitments by removing the need for daily collections,” Watson says.
As a result, the company’s disaster recovery capabilities and compliance readiness have improved significantly. Before the migration, the company's on-premises infrastructure posed increasing security risks: Storage limitations meant backups had to be carefully prioritized, and maintaining patch levels on end-of-life systems became a challenge. By migrating to a fully managed platform with integrated security and compliance processes and cloud-based disaster recovery, Superdry now benefits from full backup coverage across all environments, faster recovery times, and greatly reduced operational risk.
Being able to say that we're on an industry-leading platform such as Google Cloud has really improved our compliance profile.
Simon Watson
IT Operations Manager, Superdry
"For our production systems, we’ve always had strong business continuity and resilience in place,” says Watson. “But our test and development systems are super critical too, and it’s great to now have the ease of spinning those up or restoring them quickly. We can use them more efficiently and support other parts of the business much better. What’s more, being able to say that we're on an industry-leading platform such as Google Cloud has really improved our compliance profile.”
The migration has sparked a major cultural shift within Superdry’s IT team. Faster systems have given teams more control and flexibility, while collaboration with Xtravirt and DoiT is creating opportunities to build new skills and confidence. “We've moved from having to say, ‘We can’t do that,’ to ‘Absolutely, let’s see what we can do,’” says Watson. “The tech team has been completely reinvigorated: They now see the bigger benefits for the business.”
From fighting chronic issues to innovating for the future
The move to Google Cloud wasn’t only about speed and resilience. It also enabled Superdry to begin phasing out aging on-premises systems that consumed more power and required intensive maintenance. This was a critical step in reducing both Scope 2 emissions (from purchased electricity) and parts of their Scope 3 footprint (from outsourced services and hardware dependency), helping the company to meet external ESG standards while maintaining its CDP A-minus rating.
We want to work with partners to simplify our tech stack so IT can focus on supporting innovation. That’s what technology is here to do: to empower the business.
Dafydd Moore
Global Technology Director, Superdry
Freed from the constant demands of aging systems, the Superdry team can focus its energy on future innovation. “The fact that we’ve been able to reduce what we saw as a significant risk to the business — running on legacy technology — has moved us from a mindset of firefighting to innovating,” says Watson.
Superdry’s UK-based data centers historically acted as the central hub for all global sites. Now the company’s long-term goal is to make Google Cloud the new operational core, with stores, offices, and other locations connecting directly to a cloud-based hub.
The team is beginning to explore opportunities to move more workloads from VMware environments into Google Cloud-native services, including the migration of databases from self-managed virtual machines to fully managed cloud database platforms.
Superdry will continue to collaborate with Xtravirt and DoiT as an extension of its internal team. “To companies looking to implement this kind of project, I would strongly recommend working with an experienced and committed partner who can collaborate with your internal experts and ensure a smooth delivery,” says Moore.
Lisa Ruddy, Head of Technology, Cyber Security and Operations at Superdry adds, “This achievement stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and shared expertise. We acknowledge the contributions of our partners and Google Cloud, whose expertise and dedication were instrumental in the successful delivery of this project within the ambitious budget and timeline. Throughout the process, they provided unwavering support and innovative solutions to every challenge.”
In addition to simplifying its technology stack, Superdry is also looking to consolidate software procurement through the Google Cloud Marketplace. “We’re constantly reviewing how to reduce our technology budget while increasing capability, and Google Cloud Marketplace will be a significant partner in that,” says Moore. “We still have a long tail of bespoke and point solutions, and we want to work with partners to simplify our tech stack so IT can focus on supporting innovation. That’s what technology is here to do: to empower the business.”
Superdry is a premium British fashion retailer founded in 2003 that sells clothing and accessories, known for blending Japanese graphics, vintage Americana, and British tailoring. The brand's mission is to become the number one premium sustainable style destination, focusing on contemporary design and craftsmanship. Headquartered in Cheltenham, UK.
Industry: Retail
Location: United Kingdom
Products: VMware Engine, Cloud Storage, Compute Engine, NetApp Volumes
About Google Cloud partner — DoiT International
DoiT International is a global technology company that provides cloud consulting services and software to help organizations manage and optimize their public cloud usage.
About Google Cloud partner — Xtravirt
Xtravirt is a modern cloud and data center business that provides consulting, professional, and managed services to help companies innovate and transform their IT through modern cloud and digital workspace technologies.
