Granite Properties, a privately held commercial real estate investment and development company, recently completed a major transformation: moving their JD Edwards system from a private cloud environment to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) while simultaneously upgrading to Release 24 (R24). The project, led in partnership with Circular Edge, delivered significant cost savings, modernization benefits, and improved system reliability.

Why Granite Properties Decided to Migrate

Granite had long relied on JD Edwards as their ERP platform, but their aging private cloud setup was creating challenges. Expanding infrastructure was expensive, communication with their hosting provider was inconsistent, and system updates often resulted in unexpected downtime. In addition, they were running on Windows Server 2016—software nearing end-of-life for security updates.

Faced with rising costs and operational risks, Granite made the strategic decision to invest in keeping JD Edwards current by moving to OCI and upgrading tools and applications in a single project cycle.

Weighing Azure vs. OCI

Granite had already invested heavily in Microsoft Azure for open systems development and DevOps. Initially, they considered consolidating everything into Azure. However, when comparing total costs, OCI came out ahead. OCI’s pricing structure and performance options—particularly for Windows SQL workloads—made it the more cost-effective choice.

Project Scope and Approach

The migration project covered:

• Moving from private cloud hosting to OCI.
• Upgrading from JD Edwards 9.2.5 (32-bit) to R24 (64-bit).
• Retrofitting more than 1,000 customized objects.
• Implementing SQL Server data compression to reduce storage costs and improve performance.

The team opted for a “rebuild and restore” approach rather than a straight lift-and-shift. By provisioning new virtual machines in OCI, laying down the JD Edwards software, restoring backups, and then performing retrofit and testing, Granite achieved a clean, modernized environment.

Testing and Timeline

Standing up the infrastructure and completing upgrades typically takes three to four weeks, followed by a retrofit cycle and extensive testing. For Granite, application testing took more than a month due to job-specific testing requirements.

The original plan was an aggressive go-live in June 2024, but a testing delay and a customer-imposed blackout period pushed the go-live to November. Despite this, the final cutover was smooth, supported by careful mock go-lives and readiness planning.

Overcoming Technical Challenges

One unexpected challenge was network connectivity. The initial plan to route all site-to-site VPN traffic through a single tunnel proved unworkable, requiring 24 separate VPN tunnels from Granite’s various offices into OCI. While this added management overhead, it didn’t increase costs thanks to OCI’s no-charge VPN model.

Performance tuning was another priority. By implementing SQL Server data compression, Granite reduced its 300 GB database down to just 60 GB—a 77% reduction. This not only lowered storage costs but also improved report performance, especially for I/O-intensive processes. OCI’s Volume Performance Units (VPUs) further optimized database response times.

Benefits of the Transformation

Granite Properties realized multiple benefits from the move:

• Lower costs compared to their private cloud provider.
• Improved reliability with a single team managing both infrastructure and JD Edwards.
• Enhanced security through current OS and database versions.
• Future readiness with the ability to adopt new JD Edwards features and leverage OCI services more easily.

Key Takeaways

Granite’s journey highlights several important lessons for JD Edwards customers considering cloud migration:

• Cost matters: OCI often provides better value than private cloud and can compete effectively with Azure for Windows SQL workloads.
• One size doesn’t fit all: The right approach—lift and shift, rebuild, or move-and-improve—depends on your environment’s size and complexity.
• Plan for testing: Retrofitting and user acceptance testing require significant time, especially with many customizations.
• Leverage compression: SQL Server compression can drastically reduce storage costs while boosting performance.
• Expect the unexpected: Network architecture or third-party integrations may require extra planning.

For organizations still running JD Edwards in private clouds or on-prem, Granite’s successful move to OCI demonstrates how cloud migration paired with an application upgrade can deliver tangible cost savings, stronger security, and smoother operations.

Want more?

Explore more content and resources to help you get the most from your JD Edwards investment:

• Be sure to check out the INFOCUS 2025 Event Hub (coming soon) for presentation slides – available exclusively to Quest members.
• Explore the JD Edwards Orchestrator Strategic Content Center for more Quest-exclusive resources.
• Visit the Quest Learn Library for blogs, how-to demos, and on-demand sessions.
• Connect with peers in one of our Quest JD Edwards Community User Groups to swap stories, ask questions, and share tips with other users facing the same challenges.

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