Embridge Consulting helps Autotrader de-risk ERP cloud migration
When the UK’s largest online automotive marketplace decided the time was right to shift its ERP to the cloud, it knew the importance of de-risking the migration with forward planning. Autotrader turned to Embridge Consulting to help prepare current, mission-critical integrations for the upcoming transition.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate operations across finance, inventory and order management, supply chain management, human resources and more, leading to business process improvements. As a result, ERP has become a mission-critical part of any large organisation in recent years – while transferring those operations to the cloud come with multiple benefits.
On-premises systems require customers to maintain the servers and other hardware within their own data centre. These on-site systems often require a significant investment of hardware, software, space and personnel to implement and keep them running. Cloud ERP solutions offer a more efficient approach, letting companies take advantage of tremendous computing power. Shifting from on-premises to cloud ERP generally offers lower upfront costs, faster implementation and reduced physical and staff resource usage. This does not come without risk, however.
A failed ERP migration can cost huge amounts of time and money. Following a protracted attempt to complete an SAP introduction project, Lidl called time on the procedure, having reportedly spent €500 million on it. The cost was similar to another similarly incurred by Deutche Post - DHL for another failed SAP implementation in 2015.
When automotive marketplace Autotrader decided to move to the cloud, then, it realised the risks. With over 77.5 million monthly visits and 445,000 live vehicle listings, Autotrader depends on seamless system performance – making integration reliability a top priority.
Ahead of its transition to Unit4 Cloud, Autotrader turned to Embridge Consulting for support. After detailed consultation, the Embridge team recommended deploying LEO – its own fully managed integration service – used to replace Autotrader’s legacy on-premise database connection with a future-ready solution compatible with cloud.
LEO
Launched in Spring 2025, LEO facilitates seamless communication between cloud and on-prem applications, via a secure, scalable, Integration-as-a-Service (IaaS) model. Offering both custom integrations and pre-built connectors, it allows organisations like Autotrader to modernise their IT landscapes without additional burden or risk.
Speaking about the partnership with Embridge, John Chan, UK head of finance systems and business insight at Autotrader, commented, “Embridge Consulting provides us with top-tier professional services for business support – including LEO – assisting with our cloud migration journey. This helps us free up internal resource to concentrate on further developing our use of Unit4BW, incorporating new functionalities from SC2 and Spend Analytics to migration users to the web version of BW – safe in the knowledge that Embridge will be there to assist if required.”
Autotrader continues to collaborate with Embridge, both during busy monthly billing cycles and throughout its ongoing transition to Unit4 Cloud, anticipated for completion by the end of this year. De-risking the process with LEO has proven critical to protecting key integrations in advance whilst alleviating the ongoing management burden for Autotrader’s internal team.
Dave Whybrow, technical solutions consultant at Embridge Consulting, added, “Our team takes real pride in going the extra mile – not just to deliver integrations that work, but ones that perform reliably under pressure. For Autotrader, that meant designing and managing a solution that can handle high monthly traffic volumes without compromising speed or operational integrity. By breaking data into intelligent batches, we’ve made sure everything runs smoothly, securely, and in a way that fits their business – both now and in the future."
