- Organisation
- Firmex
- Predecessor
- Approximately 65,000 databases across four on-premises Microsoft SQL Server systems
- Destination
- Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition
- Workload
- Virtual data-room customer and project database estate
- Stage
- Completed database-engine and tenancy-architecture migration
- Retirement status
- Named 65,000-database estate migrated; wider application and infrastructure retirement is not claimed
- Confidence
- High
- Next trigger
- A later residual SQL Server retirement statement or a material Aurora architecture change.
Programme context
Firmex's virtual data-room service used individual customer and project databases on four on-premises Microsoft SQL Server systems. Approaching SQL Server database-count limits led the company to redesign the data layer around PostgreSQL schemas in consolidated Amazon Aurora clusters.
Why this matters: This is not a lift-and-shift label. The evidence identifies a completed database-engine change, a new tenancy model and the implementation path used to move a very large number of small databases.
Migration timeline
| Date | Milestone | What changed | Evidence status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Capacity constraint identified | Firmex determined that the estate was approaching SQL Server database-count limits. | Source-stated |
| More than nine months | Application conversion | Replacement patterns were developed and 260 stored procedures were tested for PostgreSQL. | Source-stated duration |
| Three months | Data transition | More than 45 migration waves moved the named estate while customer windows were controlled. | Source-stated duration |
| 9 Dec 2024 | Technical account published | AWS and Firmex documented the completed 18-month transition. | Dated primary evidence |
Workload migration matrix
| Workload | Predecessor | Destination | Status by 22 Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer and project data | Individual SQL Server databases | PostgreSQL schemas in Aurora clusters | Completed for named estate |
| Stored-procedure logic | T-SQL procedures | PL/pgSQL replacement patterns | Converted for the migration |
| Tenant isolation | Database-per-tenant and project | Schema-based multi-tenancy | Implemented |
Implementation and architecture
- AWS Schema Conversion Tool supported schema conversion and AWS Database Migration Service moved the data.
- Custom tooling coordinated endpoints, tasks, state and migration windows at a scale that exceeded standard task quotas.
- More than 45 waves were executed over three months; the broader redevelopment and migration programme lasted 18 months.
- Reported savings and performance improvements remain attributed Firmex and AWS claims, not independently measured PlatformTrace outcomes.
Known unknowns and contradictions
- The exact final production cutover date.
- Any residual SQL Server workloads outside the named 65,000-database estate.
- The complete application and infrastructure retirement inventory.
- The publication date of the current AWS case-study page.
No missing fact is inferred to create a broader cloud-exit claim.
PlatformTrace analysis
The evidence supports a completed database-engine and tenancy-architecture migration for Firmex's named virtual-data-room estate. It is unusually specific about scale, before-and-after platforms, migration waves and application conversion.
The evidence does not support a claim that every Firmex service or infrastructure component moved to AWS. Cost and performance outcomes remain source claims.
Evidence ledger
- AWS Database Blog, 9 December 2024
Technical account co-authored with Firmex personnel identifying the 65,000-database estate, SQL Server source, Aurora PostgreSQL target, conversion work, migration waves and completed state.
- AWS customer case study, verified 22 July 2026
Current case study containing direct Firmex executive statements and corroborating the database count, four-server source estate, target platform, three-month move and near-zero service-disruption boundary.
Corrections and updates
22 July 2026 — Initial Verified dossier published from the manually recovered overnight intake. Later milestones will be appended rather than silently replacing this state.