Secure Migration to Armor Enterprise Cloud: Executive Timeline

December 12, 2025 | Dominick Paynter

From on-premises to audit-ready

Business-critical apps get stranded on-premises because the compliance bar is real and downtime is expensive. The goal of this journey is simple: move regulated workloads from on-premises into Armor Enterprise Cloud, our managed private cloud built on VMware, without taking a compliance step backward.  This post lays out a practical path with two gates and a repeatable evidence packet so you can migrate with confidence instead of hope.

Why tough systems get left on-premises

Apps that touch sensitive data carry deep dependencies, custom integrations, and fragile configurations. Teams worry that change introduces more risk than the status quo. Compliance raises the bar again because you must prove segmentation, key handling, logging, vulnerability management, and recoverability. You also need an audit trail that matches or exceeds what already works on-premises. Add latency constraints, vendor support limitations, unclear ownership for refactoring, and leaders defer rather than disrupt.

The answer is not “move faster.” The answer is a migration plan that proves control parity and produces evidence as you go.

The migration journey to Armor Enterprise Cloud

Think of this as a timeline with two gates. Everything before the first gate is risk reduction. Everything before the second gate is audit readiness.

Step 1: Discover and scope

Inventory assets, owners, and data classes
Map dependencies and required ports
Define target RTO and RPO, and confirm backup requirements
Identify constraints (licensed software, legacy OS, vendor supported configs)

Step 2: Quarantine and backup

Land workloads into an isolated quarantine segment in Armor Enterprise Cloud
Restrict egress and limit admin paths
Install required agents and verify time sync
Register backups and confirm restore points

Step 3: Harden and scan

Bring OS and middleware to a supported baseline
Close critical and high findings on a defined service level
Rescan and attach results to the change record
Capture evidence now (scan reports, patch logs, change notes)

At this stage, teams without automation spend 40+ hours manually collecting scan results. Armor auto-generates the compliance packet.

Gate 1: Leave Quarantine

Pass only if:

No critical or high vulnerabilities without an approved exception
EDR and vulnerability agents are healthy
Rescan shows closure or documented exception
Backup is registered and recoverability is verified

Step 4: Stage and test

Move to a staging segment that mirrors production controls
Validate application function and performance
Turn on logging to your SIEM and verify key events arrive with correct time
Validate segmentation behavior and required flows

Gate 2: Before Production

Pass only if:

Segmentation is applied and only required ports are open
Logs are visible in the SIEM with time sync verified
Encryption at rest and in transit is enforced where required
External scan requirements are met for internet-facing systems
Change record includes approvals, test results, and rollback plan

Step 5: Migrate to Armor Enterprise Cloud production

Cut over during a planned window with a rehearsed rollback plan
Run a final authenticated scan in the target
Confirm monitoring and alerting coverage
Confirm backup and disaster recovery posture aligns to RTO and RPO

Step 6: Verify, monitor, and close

Export the evidence packet
Close the change with a definition of done that mirrors the two gates
Transition to steady state operations with continuous scanning and drift detection

Evidence that auditors accept

Must have
(audit blockers if missing)

Vulnerability scan results and remediation proof (including authenticated scans)

Change ticket with approvals, test results, and rollback plan

Network diagrams, segmentation rules, and allowed flow documentation

Encryption settings and key management approach

Should have
(expected for complete audit packet)

Asset inventory and data classification records

Agent health and posture reports from Armor

System hardening checklist and patch logs

SIEM log samples with time validation and alert tests

Nice to have
(strengthens your story)

Backup and disaster recovery registration with alert confirmation

Where Armor fits

Armor Enterprise Cloud is the destination. Armor Agent is part of how you keep the destination compliant over time.

Platform outcome

A VMware based private cloud environment designed for regulated workloads
Segmentation and isolation using NSX
Migration tooling support via HCX or vMotion where appropriate
Backup and recovery support via Veeam

Control coverage and evidence

Continuous vulnerability and configuration assessment (including integration with tools like Qualys)
Host-level detection and response with guided actions
Log collection and normalization to your SIEM
Policy and reporting that supports common audit expectations such as PCI and SOC 2
Posture dashboards that show coverage and health, plus time-stamped artifacts for your audit packet

Put it together

Use Armor Enterprise Cloud as the controlled VMware destination for regulated workloads
Use quarantine, hardening, and two gates to prove control parity before production
Produce an evidence packet as a byproduct of the migration, not an afterthought

Ready to migrate with confidence?

If you are holding back business-critical systems because compliance feels risky, stop treating migration like a leap. Treat it like a gated walkthrough. Start with a quarantine landing in Armor Enterprise Cloud, harden and validate, then move through the gates with evidence in hand. Your destination is an audit-ready footprint in Armor Enterprise Cloud that your security team and your auditors can defend. ReconArt migrated their regulated financial workloads to Armor Enterprise Cloud without taking a compliance step backward, see how they did it.

Read the ReconArt story