- Customer Success Story -
A Migration from Azure Government to Commercial to Accelerate Data Modernization
City of Corona
Overview
The City of Corona is a fast-growing Southern California municipality committed to delivering reliable, technology-driven services to its residents. With approximately 90% of its infrastructure already operating in Microsoft Azure, the city had long embraced cloud-first principles. However, evolving security requirements, increasing data volumes, and the rapid pace of innovation in analytics and AI created pressure to reassess whether their existing environment could support the city’s long-term vision.
Rather than maintaining the status quo, Corona’s technology leadership sought a more modern, flexible foundation capable of supporting future innovation while maintaining the security posture expected of a public sector organization.
Vision
Corona’s IT leadership approached technology with a mindset more commonly found in commercial enterprises than in municipal government. The goal was not simply to keep systems operational, but to continuously modernize, improve visibility across data, and position the organization to take advantage of emerging technologies. To accomplish this, the city needed an environment that would allow them to:
-
Adopt modern data platforms
-
Strengthen governance and security controls
-
Improve reporting and analytics
-
Prepare for AI-driven capabilities
-
Enable faster access to new Microsoft innovations
Achieving this vision required challenging a long-held assumption across many government organizations: that remaining exclusively in Azure Government was the safest and only viable path forward.
The Challenge
Although Azure Government provides strong compliance guardrails, it can introduce constraints for organizations seeking rapid modernization.
For the City of Corona, several factors began to surface:
-
Limited access to emerging technologies: Many modern services reach commercial environments first. Waiting for availability in government cloud delayed the city’s ability to innovate.
-
Security visibility gaps: The city relied on an outsourced Security Operations Center. Due to the restrictions of the government environment, the SOC lacked the necessary authority and visibility to fully monitor and respond to threats. Leadership realized they were not operating with the level of oversight they expected.
-
Modernization friction: Years of cloud growth had created an opportunity to re-architect the environment using current best practices rather than continuing to build on legacy patterns.
-
Industry assumptions: Many state and local agencies believe moving beyond Azure Government is not possible. This perception alone prevents organizations from evaluating alternatives that may better support their strategic goals.
The City of Corona recognized that remaining in a constrained environment could quietly limit both operational efficiency and future innovation.
The question became clear: Was it possible to modernize without increasing risk?
“We thought the whole time our security provider had visibility into our government cloud. When we discovered they didn’t, we realized we had been operating blind.”- Kyle Edgeworth, Deputy Chief Information Officer, City of Corona
Strategy and Decision
CloudServus partnered closely with the City of Corona to evaluate the feasibility of transitioning appropriate workloads to a commercial Azure environment while preserving security, compliance, and operational continuity.
Rather than pursuing a full relocation, the strategy emphasized precision.
Highly regulated data such as police and court systems remained in Azure Government. Less sensitive workloads were transitioned to commercial Azure, allowing the city to benefit from modern capabilities while maintaining regulatory safeguards.
This hybrid approach enabled Corona to move forward confidently without exposing critical systems.
Equally important was execution risk. For a municipality, downtime can impact essential services ranging from permitting to emergency response workflows. CloudServus designed and executed the migration with zero downtime, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery for residents.
The success of this transition reinforced leadership confidence and positioned CloudServus as a strategic advisor rather than a transactional vendor.
“We were worried about downtime during the transition, but we had zero downtime. We were able to move everything without impacting operations.”- Kyle Edgeworth, Deputy Chief Information Officer, City of Corona
Solution
CloudServus led the architecture and migration effort with a focus on long-term sustainability, not just immediate change. Key elements of the engagement included:
-
Secure workload transition: Appropriate systems were migrated to commercial Azure while sensitive data remained protected within government boundaries.
-
Centralized security enablement: The new environment allowed the city to integrate advanced security and governance capabilities, including data classification and protection controls that improved organizational visibility.
-
Modern architecture reset: The move created an opportunity to rebuild portions of the environment using current frameworks and best practices, reducing sprawl and improving operational clarity.
-
Foundation for data modernization: With fewer platform constraints, Corona could begin centralizing data sources and preparing for advanced analytics initiatives.
This was not simply a migration. It was a deliberate architectural evolution designed to support the city’s next decade of technology growth.
“The move allowed us to start with a clean slate and build the environment the right way using today’s best practices.”- Kyle Edgeworth, Deputy Chief Information Officer, City of Corona
Outcomes
The engagement delivered immediate operational benefits while positioning the city for future innovation.
-
Stronger security posture: Leadership gained improved visibility into their environment and the confidence that external security resources could fully support their operations.
-
Modernization unlocked: Freed from platform limitations, the city can now adopt new services as they emerge rather than waiting for delayed availability.
-
AI readiness established: Corona is actively implementing Microsoft Fabric to centralize data and create a scalable foundation for AI-driven insights.
-
Operational risk reduced: The transition was executed without service disruption, protecting resident-facing operations.
-
Strategic flexibility gained: The city now operates in an environment designed to evolve alongside Microsoft’s innovation roadmap.
The project has already generated interest beyond Corona. Microsoft teams have engaged CloudServus to help demonstrate how similar organizations can modernize safely.
Partnership Impact
CloudServus’ relationship with the City of Corona has continued to expand as new initiatives emerge. What began as a strategic migration has evolved into an ongoing modernization partnership focused on data, governance, and AI.
The city’s willingness to serve as a reference for other municipalities reflects the confidence built through consistent execution and deep familiarity with their environment.
By combining technical expertise with a practical understanding of public sector risk, CloudServus has become embedded in Corona’s long-term technology strategy.
Looking Ahead
With its new foundation in place, the City of Corona is accelerating its data modernization efforts through Microsoft Fabric. Centralizing information will allow internal teams to surface insights more quickly and explore new ways of delivering value to residents.
The initiative also opens the door to future AI capabilities that can improve decision-making, streamline operations, and enhance public services.
For many municipalities, modernization can feel out of reach due to perceived regulatory barriers. Corona’s experience demonstrates that with the right strategy and partner, it is possible to move forward securely while embracing innovation.
CloudServus continues to guide the city as it builds toward a more intelligent, data-driven future.
“CloudServus understands our business and our infrastructure, which allows us to move quickly while avoiding potential issues.”- Kyle Edgeworth, Deputy Chief Information Officer, City of Corona
Modernization don't have to come at the Expense of Security
If your organization is evaluating its cloud strategy or questioning whether legacy assumptions are limiting innovation, CloudServus can help you chart a secure path forward.