IRIS Cascade is move to Microsoft Azure cloud — Frequently Asked Questions

This document provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the migration of IRIS Cascade from Rackspace hosting to Microsoft Azure.

General Questions

Question Answer
Why is IRIS Cascade moving from Rackspace hosting to Azure? This move will build upon the existing resilience, security, and scalability of the platform, and ensure a future-proofed modern architecture. This will enable us to serve you better with improved service delivery.
Is this move for all clients? This move will involve all IRIS Cascade cloud hosted clients. If you are one of our remaining on-premise clients we would encourage you to look at moving to the cloud and all the benefits it provides. If you are interested in transforming your HR and moving to the cloud please contact your Account Manager.
How do I know if I’m a hosted IRIS Cascade client? For hosted clients, your URL will contain cascadecloud. This will change when moving to Azure.
When is the move to Azure taking place? We are targeting moves from mid-2026. We will let you know in advance, and to minimise any potential disruption to your services.
What are the benefits of this migration for customers? With Azure, our service will be more resilient and provide better scalability. This will help us serve our customers better, providing a future proofed platform for IRIS Cascade for years to come.
Is there any cost to move to Azure? There is no cost involved in moving from Rackspace to Azure.
Who should I contact if I have any further questions? If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us through our usual channels or reach out to your account manager, and we’ll be happy to help.
Do you have an updated security assurance statement? Yes, an updated security assurance statement is available and can be provided on request or downloaded from the IRIS website.
Is Rackspace still involved in any capacity after the migration? No. Once your instance has been migrated to Azure, Rackspace will have no involvement in hosting or processing your data.

URL and Access Changes Questions

Question Answer
What will be the main change? The URL of IRIS Cascade will change. In some cases this will be invisible due to DNS configuration, however if the URL has been saved or hard-coded it will need to be updated. The new URL will be https://{company}.cascade.irisglobal.com
Will I be affected by the move to Azure? The main change is to the URL of IRIS Cascade (as detailed in What will be the main change?) – apart from this, you won’t be affected as we’re doing our best to minimise any potential disruptions.
Will there be any URL redirects in place between old and new URLs? No URL redirects are required for a migration from Rackspace to Microsoft Azure as the migration moves data and services rather than changing website addresses, but customers migrated to Azure will have a new URL (as detailed in Will I be affected by the move to Azure?).
Will I need to update any bookmarks, saved links, or hardcoded URLs? Yes. Your IRIS Cascade URL will change to https://{company}.cascade.irisglobal.com. If you are also using MyCascade this URL will change to https://{company}.cascadeapp.irisglobal.com Any bookmarks, browser shortcuts, or hardcoded references to your current cascadecloud URL will need updating.

Migration Process and Downtime Questions

Question Answer
Is there any downtime during the move and when? The plan is to perform cohorts of moves and will involve downtime. We will keep this document updated with the latest information.
How long will the downtime be during my migration, and will I be given advance notice? We will provide advance notice of your specific migration window. We are performing migrations in cohorts and will keep you updated with timescales. We are working to minimise any disruption.
Will there be a parallel running period where both environments are available? No. The migration will involve a cutover from Rackspace to Azure. Once your instance is live on Azure, the Rackspace environment will no longer be available.
Will my data be migrated securely? What safeguards are in place during the transfer? All data transfers between Rackspace and Azure will be conducted over encrypted channels. The same security standards that apply to day-to-day operations – encryption in transit, role-based access, and audit controls – apply throughout the migration process.
What testing will be taking place prior to customers being migrated?

Before migration, we will complete controlled test migrations to confirm that data transfers accurately, databases remain consistent, integrations and access controls work correctly, and performance is acceptable in the new Azure environment. Post-migration, we will perform validation to verify that customer access, application functionality, data integrity, and service performance all operate as expected, with any issues identified and resolved promptly before the migration is considered complete The following tests will be taking place

 

  • Controlled migration tests.

  • Performance/load tests to ensure similar response to original platform.

  • Full external penetration test.

  • Full run of the existing, comprehensive automation suite of tests designed for IRIS Cascade.
What monitoring will be in place when customers are migrated?

When customers are migrated, monitoring – via DataDog - will be in place across the Azure environment to track service health, performance, and availability, with alerting for failures or abnormal behaviour so issues can be identified and resolved quickly:

  • Health checks and alerting on key services and infrastructure components.

  • Performance visibility to help confirm the environment is operating as expected after migration.

  • Logging and issue monitoring to support investigation and resolution if anything changes unexpectedly

Data Security and Encryption Questions

Question Answer
Where will my data be stored after the move to Azure? Your data will continue to reside within the UK and will remain 100% secure. We have taken measures to ensure your data remains private and compliant with regulations.
Is my data secure on Azure? Yes, with Azure, we can provide even stronger security features to protect your data against any potential threat. We have also put measures in place to ensure the security of your data as part of the transition.
How is my data encrypted on Azure? Your data is stored in a combination of Azure Storage and Azure SQL, encrypted at rest using 256-bit AES encryption with dedicated service-managed keys. For data in transit, all communications are secured using SSL/TLS certificates.
Has the encryption approach changed from Rackspace to Azure? The encryption standard remains AES-256 for data at rest. The key difference is that encryption keys on Azure are managed as dedicated service-managed keys within the Azure platform, rather than being managed by Rackspace. Data in transit continues to be protected by TLS.
Where exactly are the Azure data centres located? Your data is held in Microsoft Azure’s UK data centre regions. Previously on Rackspace, data was held across two London facilities (LON3 and LON5). With Azure, data remains within the UK.
Does Azure have the same or better security certifications as Rackspace? Microsoft Azure holds a broad range of internationally recognised certifications including ISO 27001, SOC 1/2/3, and many more. These complement IRIS Cascade’s own ISO/IEC 27001 compliance. The move to Azure strengthens the overall security posture through Microsoft’s extensive investment in data centre security.

Infrastructure and Physical Security Questions

Question Answer
Who is responsible for the physical infrastructure and hardware on Azure? All infrastructure is hosted by Microsoft Azure, meaning IRIS Cascade inherits Microsoft’s physical and environmental security controls.
Who provides anti-malware protection on Azure? Anti-malware for the production environment continues to be a managed service provided by eSentire. On Rackspace this was delivered as a joint service with Rackspace; on Azure, eSentire provides the service directly.
Will there be penetration tests against IRIS Cascade in Azure? Yes, a full external penetration test will be conducted prior to any customers being migrated from Rackspace to Azure. From then, annual external penetration tests will continue to be conducted, as well as our annual internal penetration tests.

Backup and Business Continuity Questions

Question Answer
Will the backup and disaster recovery approach change on Azure? The RPO (Recovery Point Objective) of 4 hours and the RTO (Recovery Time Objective) of 72 hours remain unchanged. What has changed is the underlying mechanism – backups now operate through Azure Recovery Services Vaults rather than Rackspace Managed Backup, with monitoring fed into our observability platform for alerting.

Integrations and Technical Questions

Question Answer
I use the HR APIs, will any changes be needed to the API setup? No, the API is already in Azure, as a result there will be no changes to the HR API platform when this migration takes place. All the API endpoints and token address will remain as they are.
Are the URLS changing for the HR API No, all URLS for the HR API will remain the same
Will the migration period affect our access to the API? No, the API will show a snapshot of your data as it was before the migration started allowing you to continue querying your data via the API however you will not be able to POST / PUT or DELETE any data until the migration has ended. Any data changes sent to the API during the migration period will be lost and not actioned.
Will our API credentials continue to work after the migration Yes, all existing credentials will continue to work after the migration period
Will the change have any effect on the Microsoft Exchange integration for calendar sync? The base URL for this will change in line with the Cascade URL. https://calendarfeed.cascadecloud.co.uk/ will change to https://calendarfeed.cascade.irisglobal.com/ You will need to update the URL you are using in the calendar management tool.
Will the change have any effect on the Microsoft Exchange integration for emails? Customers using the email platforms we provide (Sendgrid/Amazon SES) will be unaffected. Customers using their own email provider, such as Office365, should be aware that the original source of the email will change. Customers will need to ensure that any SPF records and/or firewall rules are updated in accordance with the move. If you are using Outlook Integration then this currently uses Microsoft's EWS service where we post data to the customer's instance. This will be unaffected.
I use Modern Authentication as part of my IRIS Cascade setup, will this still be available? New modern authentication options such as Azure/Entra, ADFS, or other OIDC/OAUTH2 method that requires the redirect and logout URIs will need to update or replace the existing Redirect URI's and Logout URI's (not every method include this)
Will my ADDE Sync process be affect by the move? The data syncing between IRIS Cascade and customers on-Premise Active Directory will require a minor update to ADDE config. Essentially the URL in the ADDE web.config file which your internal IT can access will need the new IP which will be supplied as part of the migration process
I currently have a Database Download Service configured, how will this be affected? The Backup of your company database will still be available after the moved to Azure, However the FTP process is being moved to a new site so you will need to reconfigure the credentials used for file collection. These will be provided as part of the migration process
Will third Party Exports and Imports be affected by the move ? As the majority of our file integration involve IRIS Cascade “collecting” file form external sources these should be unaffected by the move. However these will be checked and clarified as part of the migration process as there will be some downtime whilst the move takes place.

Scalability and Performance Questions

Question Answer
Will performance improve on Azure? Azure provides enhanced scalability capabilities and a modern infrastructure platform. The underlying tech stack and architecture remain the same, but Azure’s infrastructure gives us more flexibility to manage peak traffic and scale resources.
Does Azure provide better monitoring than Rackspace? Yes. On Azure we use Datadog for comprehensive infrastructure monitoring, APM, log management and alerting – providing enhanced observability compared to the previous Rackspace setup.

Governance and Organisational Questions

Question Answer
Has the team responsible for data security changed? The overall governance structure, including the IRIS Privacy, Security and Compliance Steering Group, is unchanged.
Has the list of sub-processors changed as part of the migration? The primary change is that Microsoft Azure replaces Rackspace as the hosting provider. All other sub-processors – including SendGrid, Amazon SES, AWS, Jira/Atlassian, Genesys, Salesforce, Cybage, and Apigee – remain unchanged. Your existing email configuration (SendGrid, Amazon SES, or your own relay) will not be affected.