Case Study · Sybase S2SIM — SQL Server Migration

Consolidating on SQL Server for a Windows-Standardized Shop

A manufacturing group had standardized its entire infrastructure on Microsoft Windows and Active Directory — except for one legacy Sybase ASE instance running production scheduling. S2SIM closed that gap, automating schema, stored procedure, and job conversion to SQL Server.

Manufacturing S2SIM SQL Server Agent Platform Consolidation

1 of 1

Remaining non-Microsoft database eliminated

100%

Scheduler jobs converted with schedule parity

11 Wks

Duration

The Challenge

The Last Non-Microsoft System in an Otherwise Standardized Estate

Platform Sprawl

One Database, a Different Skill Set

The group's ERP, file services, and identity management all ran on Windows Server and Active Directory — except for a production scheduling database on Sybase ASE, which required a completely separate specialist skill set to maintain.

Operations

Scheduler Jobs Outside Standard Tooling

Production scheduling jobs ran on the ASE task scheduler, invisible to the IT team's standard SQL Server Agent monitoring and alerting — creating a blind spot in an otherwise unified operations view.

Talent Risk

A Single Point of Specialist Knowledge

Only one remaining engineer on the team had deep ASE experience. Any extended absence or departure would have left the scheduling database without qualified in-house support.

The Approach

An S2SIM Migration With Full SQL Server Agent Job Parity

OptiSol treated the scheduler job conversion as a first-class part of the migration scope — not an afterthought — so the group's existing SQL Server Agent monitoring would cover the migrated workload from day one.

Discovery & S2SIM Scan

S2SIM catalogued the ASE scheduling database's stored procedures, T-SQL dialect patterns, and scheduler job definitions, producing a report scoping the conversion against SQL Server 2022.

Automated Conversion

Schema, DDL, and stored procedure signatures were converted automatically, resolving datatype mappings, reserved word collisions, and SET option semantics in a single automated pass.

Specialist Resolution & Regression

Engineers resolved cursor behaviors, @@rowcount semantics, and quoted identifier handling that required contextual judgment, then ran a full regression suite against production scheduling scenarios.

SQL Server Agent Job Conversion & Cutover

Every ASE scheduler job was converted to a SQL Server Agent job with matching schedule and step definitions, bringing the workload directly into the team's existing monitoring and alerting before cutover.

Last Non-Microsoft System Eliminated Retiring the final Sybase ASE instance meant the group's entire infrastructure estate now runs on a single Windows Server and Active Directory-based operating model, with no remaining exception to manage separately.

100% Scheduler Job Parity, Zero Blind Spots Every ASE scheduler job was converted to SQL Server Agent with matching schedules and steps, bringing production scheduling into the team's existing monitoring and alerting for the first time.

Single-Point-of-Knowledge Risk Removed With only one remaining engineer holding deep ASE expertise, migrating off the platform eliminated a standing key-person risk that any extended absence could have otherwise turned into an operational gap.

11-Week Migration, Not a Multi-Quarter Rewrite S2SIM's automated conversion of schema, stored procedures, and datatype mappings meant a project spanning a single legacy database was completed in 11 weeks rather than the extended timeline a manual line-by-line conversion would typically require.

The Impact

The Business Impact

Last remaining non-Microsoft database eliminated from the infrastructure estate
All ASE scheduler jobs converted to SQL Server Agent with full schedule and step parity
Production scheduling now visible in the team's standard monitoring and alerting
Single-point-of-knowledge risk on ASE specialist expertise removed
Stored procedures reconciled for cursor, @@rowcount, and quoted identifier differences
Platform consolidated fully onto Windows Server and Active Directory-based operations

"The scheduling jobs finally show up in the same dashboard as everything else. That one system had been invisible to us for years." — OptiSol S2SIM Delivery Lead

Consolidating on SQL Server for a Windows-Standardized Shop