Transforming Business-Critical Legacy Applications into a Modern AWS Solution

Introduction

This case study presents the successful transformation of business-critical legacy applications into a modern, cloud-based solution for a leading Shipping & Transport company. The company partnered with 1CloudHub to embark on a transformative journey, modernizing their essential legacy applications and leveraging the benefits of cloud technology.

Their primary objective was to overcome the limitations of legacy systems and achieve scalability, accessibility, and operational efficiency through cloud adoption. By collaborating with 1CloudHub, the company successfully transitioned from traditional desktop applications to a scalable and easily accessible cloud-based solution.

The legacy applications played a crucial role in the company's operations, serving various teams including import/export documentation and finance. These business-critical applications facilitated the management of import/export documents and financial activities for customers.

The existing applications presented significant challenges for the company, including limited scalability, accessibility constraints, and manual maintenance and upgrades. These issues hindered their ability to meet growing business needs and restricted remote access and flexibility for users.

Solution Outcomes:

To address the challenges and achieve the user objectives, 1CloudHub proposed and implemented a comprehensive solution using AWS cloud services:

1. Cloud-Native Application Development: The legacy desktop applications were redeveloped using a cloud-native approach, leveraging AWS services.

2. Scalable Infrastructure: The applications were hosted on AWS providing a highly scalable and elastic infrastructure to handle increasing workloads.

3. Web-Based Application: The desktop applications were transformed into web-based applications, eliminating the need for local installations and enabling remote access from any device.

4. Data Migration to AWS: The legacy MS Access database was migrated to MySQL on RDS, ensuring data security, availability, and scalability.

5. Single Sign-On (SSO): User authentication was implemented using PingFederate, allowing seamless access with existing corporate credentials.

6. Modern Technology Stack: The application was built using Java (Spring Boot) for the backend, React JS for the frontend, and AWS services like S3, EC2 (auto-scaling), and AWS API Gateway.

7. DevOps Implementation: 1CloudHub set up a structured development and release pipeline using Git for version control and automated build and release processes.

8. Monitoring and Backup: Robust monitoring and backup mechanisms were established to ensure the availability and integrity of the application and its data.

Migration & Cutover Planning: 1CloudHub meticulously planned and executed the migration process, ensuring a smooth transition from the legacy desktop applications to the cloud-based solution. A comprehensive migration plan, including dry runs and testing, was carried out to minimize downtime and mitigate any potential risks. The data cutover from MS Access to MySQL on AWS RDS was executed seamlessly within the designated downtime window.

Conclusion

This case study highlights the successful transformation of business-critical legacy desktop applications into a modern, cloud-based solution for a leading Shipping & Transport company. By partnering with 1CloudHub, the company achieved their goal of modernizing their essential applications, enabling scalability, remote accessibility, and streamlined maintenance. The modernisation and migration empowered the company with enhanced operational efficiency and positioned them for growth.