Superdry is a global British fashion brand committed to sustainability and innovation in the retail world. It turned to Google Cloud VMware Engine to modernize its technology foundation in order to move away from risks posed by legacy tech, a decision that strengthened Superdry’s risk posture, enhanced performance, and empowered its teams to focus on innovation and future growth.
Challenge: Superdry was operating on legacy, on-premises infrastructure (VMware workloads) that limited its ability to scale, innovate, and meet modern business speeds. This aging system presented increasing security and operational risks, required intensive maintenance, and its energy consumption hindered the company's commitment to net-zero sustainability goals. Continuing to patch and upgrade the old architecture was no longer a viable option.
Solution: Superdry partnered with Google Cloud and strategic partner Xtravirt to migrate its VMware workloads to Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE). This approach allowed them to move nearly 100 servers from their UK data centers to the cloud with minimal disruption to business continuity, even during peak retail periods like Black Friday. The project also included the use of NetApp Volumes for file storage, Compute Engine for additional workloads, and Cloud Storage for streamlining backup processes.
Results: The migration delivered immediate and significant performance improvements, including a 300–400% improvement in core application speed and a 70–80% increase in application throughput. Processes that once took hours were drastically reduced: overnight reports that took 8–10 hours now complete in under five hours, and backup jobs that took days now finish in minutes. Furthermore, the shift to Google Cloud VMware Engine improved Superdry's disaster recovery and compliance posture, reduced operational risk, lowered energy consumption, and accelerated progress toward its net-zero sustainability goals. Crucially, the IT teams are now freed from maintaining legacy systems, empowering them to focus on strategic innovation and future growth.