Kyndryl Cloud Uplift is the first step in your modernization journey
A fast, low-risk path from aging data centers to modern, cloud-based infrastructure
Kyndryl Cloud Uplift (formerly Skytap) enables you to run your specialized IBM Power workloads natively in the cloud on Microsoft Azure. This allows you to take advantage of core cloud infrastructure capabilities, including capacity on demand, self-service provisioning, and high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR). With Kyndryl, your business-critical applications are on trusted IBM Power hardware, procured and maintained by Microsoft.
With Kyndryl Cloud Uplift, you can enhance traditional applications to extract more value from your data with Azure services—including Azure Synapse, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) and Azure SQL—and more easily integrate traditional and Azure native applications.
Why choose Kyndryl Cloud Uplift?
Fast exit, zero disruption
Migrate AIX, IBM i, and x86 workloads to Azure without rewriting or refactoring — on your schedule, with minimal risk and no production disruption.
Lower CAPEX, lift productivity
Shift from CapEx to OpEx with Azure Marketplace billing (MACC where eligible). Eliminate capital-intensive maintenance and only pay for what you use with a pay-as-you-go consumption model.
Self-service, on-demand capacity
Provision, scale, and retire native IBM Power LPARs in Azure in minutes, with no tickets or wait time. Gain cloud-based scalability, automated backups, and disaster recovery while using existing tools.
Built-in resilience
Protect mission-critical workloads with enterprise-grade high availability and disaster recovery. Kyndryl Cloud Uplift delivers 99.95% uptime across Azure regions with simplified testing and deployment.
Future-proof
Support legacy and modern workloads side by side. Access Azure AI, analytics, storage, and DevOps services while extending your on-premises environments into cloud-native architectures.
Modernize at your pace
Adopt cloud capabilities without forced rewrites. Modernize incrementally, retaining your existing workflows and skills while adding cloud services when and where they make sense.
Use cases
Data center exit
Accelerate your exit from costly, aging data centers without disrupting the business. Kyndryl Cloud Uplift lets you move IBM Power and x86 workloads to Azure in their native formats—no rewriting or refactoring—so you can shut down facilities quickly and confidently.
Hardware refresh avoidance
Avoid expensive hardware refresh cycles and the need to purchase another IBM Power server. Run existing AIX, IBM i, and Linux on Power workloads directly in Azure, eliminating capital-intensive investments, maintenance contracts, and the operational burden of on-premises infrastructure.
Modernization jump start
Lay the groundwork for modernization without having to re-architect legacy systems on day one. By moving production workloads to Azure as-is, you gain access to modern cloud tools, DevOps practices, data services, and integration capabilities that accelerate innovation at your pace.
High availability and disaster recovery
Protect mission-critical workloads with enterprise-grade resilience. Kyndryl Cloud Uplift replicates complete production environments in Azure, enabling automated backups, simplified testing, and seamless failover to ensure applications and data stay online and accessible even during outages.
Customer success with Kyndryl Cloud Uplift
Insurance and wealth management company
A multinational company exited its data center and improved agility through cloud transformation using Kyndryl Cloud Uplift.
Steel producer
A global steel producer used Kyndryl Cloud Uplift to enable rapid disaster recovery of critical ERP systems with cloud migration.
Migrate and modernize with Kyndryl Cloud Uplift
See how Kyndryl Cloud Uplift works
Unlock cloud innovation by moving IBM Power and x86 workloads to Azure—no rewriting or refactoring required.
Kyndryl modernization services for IBM Power
Accelerate migration and modernization with Kyndryl services designed for IBM Power workloads on Microsoft Azure.
Your top questions
Yes — Kyndryl Cloud Uplift is the evolution of Skytap on Azure. Kyndryl acquired Skytap in 2024 and integrated its capabilities under the Cloud Uplift brand. Customers will continue to use the same platform and features, which are now backed by Kyndryl expertise.
Kyndryl Cloud Uplift offers a 99.95% availability SLA and runs in Azure datacenters worldwide, including the US, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, India, Japan, and Australia. Your environments stay close to the users and systems that rely on them.
Yes. Kyndryl Cloud Uplift supports virtual IT labs for training, demos, and proofs of concept. You can provision hands-on environments in minutes and customize them for customer workshops, enablement sessions, and POCs.
Learn more about using Kyndryl Cloud Uplift for virtual IT labs.