Executive summary
Buona Beef is a well established Chicago area restaurant group best known for its classic Italian beef sandwiches, built on family recipes and a tradition dating back generations. In addition to its Buona locations, the company is behind the iconic Rainbow Cone brand and operates a large scale catering business serving events throughout the region. With a growing operational footprint and increasing reliance on core business systems, Buona Beef continues to modernize its technology environment to support day to day operations, future growth, and long term efficiency.
The challenge comes into focus
As Buona Beef prepared for a major facility move, the company faced the challenge of transporting and maintaining a traditional on‑premises server footprint. This approach carried significant risks, including potential downtime, hardware reliability concerns, and increased logistical complexity. The organization wanted a modern, secure, and cloud‑based infrastructure that would support its business operations without disruption.
Project objectives
- Fully migrate all on‑premises server infrastructure to Azure
- Improve reliability, scalability, and security
- Remove unnecessary on‑prem hardware and prepare for a “serverless” future
- Ensure continuity during the headquarters transition
Solution approach
Drawing on deep familiarity with the client’s environment, Sikich designed and executed a streamlined Azure migration. The project leveraged Azure Site Recovery to transition the RDS and GP/SQL servers to the cloud. A new domain controller was deployed in Azure, enabling the decommissioning of an existing on‑prem server and allowing its license to be repurposed. Users were supported with RDWeb access over a secure site‑to‑site VPN, ensuring a smooth shift with minimal operational impact.
Key outcomes
- Reduced Risk: Eliminated vulnerable on‑premises infrastructure ahead of the headquarters relocation
- Lower Administrative Overhead: Simplified IT management through cloud‑based services
- Enhanced Security: Leveraged Azure’s built‑in security capabilities to strengthen the organization’s posture
- Operational Efficiency: Reduced server footprint and advanced long‑term modernization goals
Lessons learned
This project reinforced the value of proactive engagement through the Quarterly Business Review (QBR) process. Sikich’s ongoing relationship with Buona Beef provided deep insight into the company’s environment and long‑term priorities, resulting in a smooth and efficient migration. The collaboration demonstrated how strategic planning, paired with cloud technology, can turn major business changes into opportunities for growth and innovation.
Learn more about Sikich’s collaborative approach with our partners here.
This publication contains general information only and Sikich is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should you use it as a basis for any decision, action or omission that may affect you or your business. Before making any decision, taking any action or omitting an action that may affect you or your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. In addition, this publication may contain certain content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) language model. You acknowledge that Sikich shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by you or any person who relies on this publication.
