The Story at a Glance
Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM), one of the nation’s 50 largest independent CPA firms, needed to modernize its technology infrastructure to support continued growth, improve resiliency, and control rising costs. Operating across on-premise and Microsoft Azure environments, the firm faced challenges with scalability, uptime, and agility, compounded by a small internal IT team and a fixed 10-week deadline to exit its data center.
KSM partnered with CleanSlate Technology Group to execute a rapid migration and modernization initiative on Amazon Web Services (AWS). In just ten weeks, CleanSlate helped KSM transition critical workloads to a secure, scalable AWS environment, improving performance, reducing operational overhead, and positioning the firm for more than 30% in projected cost savings through optimization and rightsizing.
The engagement demonstrates CleanSlate’s ability to deliver complex modernization initiatives under tight timelines, while protecting business continuity during peak operational periods.
What Had to Change
Tight Timeline and Business Risk
KSM was required to exit its on-premises data center within a non-negotiable 10-week window. This transition coincided with the firm’s busiest season, leaving no margin for downtime or operational disruption.
Complex, Interconnected Environments
The firm operated a mix of on-premise and Azure workloads with numerous interdependencies. Migrating these systems required
careful sequencing and planning to ensure reliability and continuity across critical business functions.
Infrastructure Not Built for Scale
Legacy configurations include limited performance, scalability, and resiliency. A simple “lift and shift” approach would not have supported KSM’s business objectives around cost efficiency, future growth, and operational agility.
Limited Internal IT Bandwidth
While highly capable, KSM’s internal IT team was lean and needed a solution that reduced long-term operational burden while enabling knowledge transfer and sustainable ownership post-migration.
How CleanSlate Responded
Cloud-First Modernization Strategy
CleanSlate partnered with KSM to design and implement an AWS-first architecture that prioritized
scalability, security, and operational efficiency. Rather than simply migrating workloads, CleanSlate helped re-architect key systems to better align with business goals.
Phased Migration Approach
To reduce risk and ensure continuity, CleanSlate executed the migration in structured waves, allowing workloads to transition incrementally while maintaining performance during peak business operations.
Secure, Scalable Foundation
A governed multi-account AWS environment was established to support long-term growth, centralized oversight, and consistent security controls across the organization.
Enablement for Long-Term Success
CleanSlate worked closely with KSM’s IT team throughout the engagement, providing hands-on enablement and knowledge transfer to ensure the internal team could confidently manage and optimize the environment after the migration.
What Changed
CleanSlate successfully delivered a complete modernization and migration within KSM’s aggressive timeline, without disrupting business operations.
Key outcomes included:
- Completed full data center exit within 10 weeks
- Reduced operational risk by retiring legacy infrastructure
- Improved system performance, scalability, and resiliency
- Freed internal IT resources to focus on higher-value initiatives
- Positioned the firm for 30%+ projected cost savings through optimization and rightsizing
By modernizing its infrastructure on AWS, KSM now operates on a secure, scalable foundation that supports continued growth, future acquisitions, and innovation, while maintaining the reliability and performance its clients expect.
Publish: 12/22/2025
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