Large organizations often expect cloud projects to bring visibility and control. In practice, the work can introduce new layers of cost and complexity. This tension is now visible at the Bank of England, where a long-running effort to move internal systems to the cloud has gone over budget.
Procurement records show that the total cost of migrating the bank to the cloud has risen to £21.5m from an initial estimate of £7m. The increase did not happen all at once. It emerged over several years as plans shifted, scope expanded and delivery methods changed.
The project began as a move to bring core back-office systems – such as finance, procurement and recruitment – into a single cloud environment. Early plans called for a two-phase rollout with a limited feature set. At the time, the work seemed closed and predictable. This assumption did not last long.
How the Bank of England’s cloud migration has changed over time
As the migration progressed, the bank moved away from a simple two-phase plan. Instead, she adopted a step-by-step approach that broke the work down into multiple phases. Each module would move as internal teams were ready, rather than on a fixed schedule.
This approach reduced the risk of disruption to day-to-day operations, but also made the project more difficult to manage. Each phase requires its own testing, integration work and coordination between teams. Over time, these efforts add up to costs.
The migration contract was first awarded in 2023, worth £8.7 million. In early 2025, the bank revised the deal, increasing it to £13.8m following changes in delivery plans. A later update brought the total to £21.5 million as more work was added that was not included in the original tender.
Internal notes contained in the tender documents suggest that the bank saw little room to change course. Finding a new supplier at this stage has been described as costly and disruptive, with the risk of duplication of work and delays. Once the project reached a certain point, continuing with the same partner became the least disruptive option.
Weight of legacy systems
This experience reflects the challenge many large organizations face when moving long-established systems to the cloud. Tools that deal with finance or human resources rarely work in isolation. They are tied to reporting processes, data feeds and external systems that have been built up over many years.
These links take some time to extract. In some cases, teams only discover dependencies after migration work begins. Each discovery can lead to new tasks, new test cycles and better coordination between technical and business teams.
For the Bank of England, this work also involves internal changes. Cloud platforms are changing the way systems are managed and supported. Teams previously focused on hardware maintenance now need skills in service oversight, access control and vendor coordination. Training and process changes are part of the cost, although they don’t always show up clearly in initial budgets.
Choosing deposit over speed
The bank’s decision to roll out the systems in stages reflects a careful attitude. For an institution that promotes financial stability, systemic outages carry a real risk. Moving slowly can protect day-to-day operations, even if it increases deadlines and costs.
This trade-off is familiar to many public and private sector organizations. A faster migration may reduce short-term expenses, but increases the likelihood of errors or interruptions. Slower adoption spreads risk, although it often comes with additional costs.
From a business perspective, the lesson is not that cloud projects fail when budgets grow. The point is that initial estimates often struggle to capture the full range of associated changes. Integration work, data preparation, staff training and testing can outweigh the cost of the platform itself.
What the Bank of England’s cloud experience shows other organisations
The experience of the Bank of England offers a practical reference for further planning of similar steps. Cloud projects that touch core systems tend to change shape once work begins. Budgets need room for adjustment. Timelines require flexibility. Purchase plans should allow for additional work that will only become apparent during delivery.
Despite rising costs, the bank has not retreated from its cloud strategy. The goal remains to tie fragmented systems together, reduce long-term maintenance efforts, and support more consistent internal processes. These goals still matter, even if the path to them becomes more difficult.
For organizations outside the technology sector, this case highlights a simple point. Moving critical business systems to the cloud is rarely just a technical exercise. It is a long process that combines technological changes with organizational adjustments. When costs go up, the reasons often lie in that overlap—not in the cloud itself, but in trying to make it work inside the actual organization.
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