Accelerate Migration Through DevOps Modernization for a Sustainability Platform

Introduction

A leading climate tech company offering a smart carbon measurement and management SaaS platform.

Challenge

The client sought a skilled partner experienced in both Azure and AWS to assist them in migrating their SaaS platform from Azure to AWS. They aimed to leverage the benefits of AWS cloud services, adopt DevOps practices, ensure comprehensive observability with Prometheus and Grafana, and automate the entire deployment process using Terraform.

Solution

Cloud Migration:

• Azure to AWS Transition: The partner developed a comprehensive migration plan and utilized Terraform to automate the migration of the client's SaaS platform from Azure to AWS. This approach ensured a smooth and efficient transition of application workloads, data, and services.

• Infrastructure Provisioning: The entire infrastructure was provisioned as code using Terraform. The partner created Terraform scripts to set up networking connectivity, security configurations, compliance controls, and other infrastructure components in the AWS environment.

DevOps Transformation

• Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD): The partner implemented a robust CI/CD pipeline using Azure DevOps and AWS CodePipeline. This pipeline enabled automated build, test, and deployment processes, ensuring rapid and reliable software delivery.

• Container Orchestration: The client's SaaS platform was containerized using Docker, and Terraform was utilized to deploy and manage the containers on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). This allowed for efficient container orchestration, scaling, and management.

• Database Migration: Terraform scripts were used to provision and configure the MongoDB database on AWS, ensuring a seamless migration of the client's data from Azure. This automated approach simplified the database migration process.

Scalable and Resilient Architecture

• AWS Native Services: The partner leveraged AWS native services such as Amazon EKS, Amazon EC2, and Amazon RDS for MongoDB to design a scalable and resilient architecture. Terraform scripts were used to provision and configure these services, ensuring consistent and reproducible deployments.

• Auto Scaling and Load Balancing: Terraform was utilized to set up auto scaling groups and elastic load balancers, enabling automatic resource scaling based on demand. This ensured optimal resource utilization, cost efficiency, and maintained performance during peak periods.

Observability with Prometheus and Grafana

Monitoring Setup

• The partner integrated Prometheus, an open-source monitoring system, and Grafana, a visualization tool, into the architecture. Terraform was used to provision and configure the necessary resources for collecting and storing metrics.

• Custom Metrics and Alerts: Terraform scripts facilitated the definition of custom metrics in Prometheus and the configuration of alerts. This allowed the operations team to receive notifications for any anomalies or threshold breaches.

• Log Aggregation and Analysis: Terraform was utilized to set up log aggregation and analysis tools such as AWS CloudWatch Logs or Elasticsearch. This enabled centralized log management, making it easier to troubleshoot issues, identify patterns, and optimize system performance.

Conclusion & Outcomes

• Successful Cloud Migration: The client's SaaS platform was seamlessly migrated from Azure to AWS using Terraform, ensuring minimal downtime and data loss during the transition.

• Efficient DevOps Processes: The adoption of Terraform for infrastructure provisioning and automation facilitated efficient CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration, and database migration. This streamlined the software delivery processes and improved operational efficiency.

• Scalable and Resilient Architecture: The use of Terraform allowed for consistent provisioning and configuration of AWS services, enabling a scalable and resilient architecture. Auto scaling and load balancing mechanisms optimized resource utilization and maintained performance during varying workloads.

• Comprehensive Observability: The integration of Prometheus and Grafana, provisioned using Terraform, provided real-time monitoring, metrics visualization, and alerting. This enhanced observability empowered the operations team to proactively identify and resolve issues.

• By partnering with a skilled provider proficient in both Azure and AWS, the client achieved a successful migration, efficient DevOps practices, and comprehensive observability, enabling them to deliver a reliable and scalable SaaS platform for carbon measurement and management.