Large organisations often expect cloud projects to bring clarity and control. In practice, the work can introduce new layers of cost and complexity. That tension is now visible in the Bank of England, where a long-running effort to move internal systems to the cloud has grown far beyond its original budget.
Procurement records show the total cost of the Bank’s cloud migration has risen to £21.5 million, up from an initial estimate of £7 million. The increase did not happen all at once. It emerged over several years as plans shifted, scope widened, 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 outlined a two-phase rollout with a limited set of functions. At the time, the work appeared contained and predictable. That assumption did not hold for long.
How the Bank of England’s cloud migration changed over time
As the migration progressed, the Bank moved away from a simple two-stage plan. Instead, it adopted a phased approach that spread the work across multiple stages. Each module would move when internal teams were ready, rather than following a fixed timetable.
This approach reduced the risk of disruption to daily operations, but it also made the project harder to manage. Each phase required its own testing, integration work, and coordination between teams. Over time, those efforts added cost.
The contract for the migration was first awarded in 2023, with a value of £8.7 million. In early 2025, the Bank revised the agreement, raising it to £13.8 million after changes to delivery plans. A later update brought the total to £21.5 million as more work was added that had not been included in the original tender.
Internal notes included in procurement documents suggest the Bank saw little room to change course. Finding a new supplier at that stage was described as costly and disruptive, with a risk of duplicated work and delays. Once the project reached a certain point, continuing with the same partner became the least disruptive option.
The weight of legacy systems
The experience reflects a challenge many large organisations face when moving long-established systems to the cloud. Tools that handle finance or human resources rarely operate in isolation. They are tied to reporting processes, data feeds, and external systems that have built up over many years.
Unpicking those links takes time. In some cases, teams only uncover dependencies once migration work begins. Each discovery can lead to new tasks, new testing cycles, and more coordination between technical and business teams.
For the Bank of England, the work also involved internal change. Cloud platforms shift how systems are managed and supported. Teams that once focused on hardware maintenance now need skills in service oversight, access controls, and vendor coordination. Training and process changes form part of the cost, even if they do not always appear clearly in early budgets.
Choosing caution over speed
The Bank’s decision to move systems in stages reflects a careful stance. For an institution that supports financial stability, system outages carry real risk. Moving slowly can protect day-to-day operations, even if it extends timelines and raises costs.
This trade-off is familiar to many public and private sector organisations. Faster migrations can lower short-term spend, but they increase the chance of errors or disruption. Slower rollouts spread risk, though they often bring added expense.
From an enterprise perspective, the lesson is not that cloud projects fail when budgets rise. It is that early estimates often struggle to capture the full scope of change involved. 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 Bank of England’s experience offers a practical reference for others planning similar moves. Cloud projects that touch core systems tend to change shape once work begins. Budgets need room to adjust. Timelines need flexibility. Procurement plans should allow for added work that only becomes clear during delivery.
Despite the rising cost, the Bank has not stepped back from its cloud strategy. The goal remains to bring fragmented systems together, reduce long-term maintenance effort, and support more consistent internal processes. Those aims still matter, even as the path toward them becomes more complex.
For organisations outside the technology sector, this case highlights a simple point. Moving business-critical systems to the cloud is rarely just a technical exercise. It is a long process that blends technology change with organisational adjustment. When costs rise, the reasons often sit in that overlap—not in the cloud itself, but in the effort required to make it work inside a real organisation.
See also: Data centre construction: implications for enterprise strategy in 2026
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