Urban Outfitters (URBN) migrated its IBM Sterling Order Management System (Sterling OMS) from an 11 TB Oracle database to Google Cloud’s AlloyDB for PostgreSQL, a move driven by rising licensing costs, operational complexity, and the need for a more scalable foundation.

The migration was a joint effort between URBN, IBM, and Google Cloud, with dedicated engineering teams collaborating to treat AlloyDB as a first-tier database for Sterling OMS.

The deployment architecture includes two read replicas for low-latency reporting and improved resiliency.

Extensive performance tuning by Google Cloud engineers ensured that query performance met or exceeded the previous Oracle baseline.

The team used iterative switchover tests—running the system on AlloyDB for a full day before switching back to Oracle—to identify issues and build confidence before the final cutover.

The migration delivered a more favorable total cost of ownership (TCO) through optimized storage and compute, avoided vendor lock-in by adopting PostgreSQL compatibility, and improved the responsiveness of the order management system.

URBN’s experience is presented as a blueprint for other organizations modernizing mission-critical infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of cross-team partnership and phased, risk-mitigated testing.