Unifying legacy migration workflows to simplify VM mobility.
From a scattered legacy to a unified plane.
Enterprise VM migration was fractured across the Network Operations UI and the HCX UI — operators navigated disjointed workflows with no situational awareness of their capacity or overall scope. Partnering with product and engineering, I led the strategy to deprecate migration planning in legacy Net Ops, integrate it directly into the modern Operations Console, and modernize the HCX UI for future platform consolidation.
Streamlining the end-to-end workflow
By mapping the end-to-end journey, we identified redundant handoffs and consolidated legacy capabilities — removing manual export and import steps, auto generating waves & groups, and pulling the "Commit" action across the platform boundary seamlessly into the Ops UI.
Mapping the schema, screen by screen
Once the workflow was understood, I laid out the entire user-journey schema screen-by-screen to see the full scope and the sub-steps involved. This helped compare the efficiency of the auto-generation feature — and surfaced a critical insight from research: users were unlikely to adopt auto-generation unless the underlying logic considered criteria beyond just network dependencies.
What the enterprise operators surfaced.
Network Mapping
Need global network mapping to avoid per-VM setup.
Want mapping at site › group › VM levels.
Confused by optional network mapping.
Migration Workflow & Controls
Transfer & Switchover should be separate & user-controlled.
Unclear that Switchover starts automatically.
Prefer local time zone for scheduling.
Guidance & Clarity
Destination settings at group level are confusing — label them clearly.
Need guidance on which migration types require VM restart.
Prefer icons for reset — the circle arrow looks like refresh.
Scale & Performance
Large-scale users (10,000+ VMs) depend on API migrations. UI still helpful for smaller sets.
Need a smart system for parallel migrations (round-robin, FIFO).
Performance limits with huge vCenter environments remain a concern.
Troubleshooting & Ops Integration
Validation errors should log to syslog.
Need in-UI timestamps to correlate with logs.
Planning & Capacity
Capacity & cost planning from Ops should carry into the migration plan.
Prefer integration with vR Ops and vRNI for diagnostics & planning.
Users expect to start migration from the familiar inventory view.
High value redesigns, shipped end-to-end.
Global visibility at the landing page
Contextualizing the global scope. The legacy planning tool forced users to start from a blind list view. I redesigned the landing experience into a data-rich dashboard, providing immediate cross-plan metrics — such as completed vs. failed waves — before the user even initiates a new migration plan.
Persistent context during execution
Persistent summary widget. During research, users reported limited visibility into the plan's capacity once they were deep inside the migration workflow. In direct response, I designed a sticky, collapsible summary widget that persists across every step of plan creation — ensuring operators always have real-time visibility into allocated resources without losing their place.
Automating the tedious and error-prone
Building migration waves manually was highly tedious and error-prone. We introduced an automated workflow that analyzes network dependencies to instantly generate optimal migration waves and mobility groups — drastically reducing time-to-value while preserving the operator's ability to review and override the system's logic.
Modernizing legacy execution workflows
The legacy HCX execution flow buried critical settings under complex, nested interactions. When engineering decided to modernize the architecture, I redesigned the UI into a clear, linear progression — utilizing scalable inventory tables and global network destination assignments. This removed immediate friction and structurally prepared the interface for its eventual native integration into the Ops UI.
A unified "single pane of glass" for the next horizon.
Following the success of the Workload Mobility unification, I defined the long-term vision for a Global Mobility Service — shifting from individual tool integration to a unified operational surface.
Project Dashboard
A single pane of glass surfacing every active migration, scope, and status across all migration plans.
Destination Insights
Comparison of clusters as possible destinations, organized by capacity, cost, and compatibility.
Capacity Analysis
Forecasted resource utilization across waves — showing CPU, memory, and storage growth before the operator commits.
Capacity Optimization
Recommendations to resize workloads before migration, ensuring optimal usage of available network bandwidth and resources.
Validated in the operator's own words.
I'm encouraged by the direction Migration is taking. Greater integration between HCX and Net Ops would help create a more cohesive and streamlined workflow.
Citibank
Auto-generating waves and groups could be highly beneficial for us. I'd like to see the logic incorporate additional criteria beyond just network dependencies.
Trinity Health
I would like the planning capability to be built into Ops without having to install Net Ops. I'd especially like to use that collapsible widget to understand capacity needs from an HCX service-mesh standpoint.
VISA
Three lessons that travel.
Designing for ecosystems
Bridging legacy tools requires solving the overarching architecture — not just localized UI fixes.
Balancing wins with vision
Features like the collapsible widget addressed immediate pain points, while research set the foundation for the future Global Mobility Service.
Multiplying impact
True design leadership means elevating the team. Mentoring a junior designer to independently moderate high-stakes customer sessions expanded research velocity and built lasting capability.
