Migration of management software from on-premises to AWS
Overview
THE CHALLENGE
The company is embarking on a two-year journey to transition to a SaaS model through cloud migration and is looking for AWS experts to provide guidance, practical training and ensure a smooth transition.
THE SOLUTION
Ollion successfully transitioned the company’s software to AWS, paving the way for SaaS adoption. They are currently onboarding initial customers, developing a comprehensive playbook and strategizing for future support and modernization.
THE OUTCOME
With its SaaS transition on AWS, the company gains scalability, client onboarding and revenue support. Ollion ensures success through AWS training and ongoing cloud management.
About the Business
This utilities software management company is a renowned leader in the industry, specializing in planning, budgeting, regulatory, revenue and accounting solutions for the utility sector. With a well-established portfolio of solutions widely adopted across the United States, they are now driven to broaden their impact by expanding into other industries.
Business objectives
This utilities software management company operates as a consulting firm within the public sector utilities industry, offering strategic solutions to enhance operational efficiency. Their innovative management software optimizes return on equity (ROE) by integrating planning, tracking and management processes into a cohesive, end-to-end performance platform.
The company's primary goal was to evolve this powerful management tool into a SaaS-based application, enabling seamless access and distribution of operational resources, fostering revenue growth and enhancing top-line revenue. By modernizing their software, they aim to deliver enhanced customer experience through superior services while reinforcing their technological leadership and competitive edge in the market.
The business challenges
For over two decades, the company has offered its management software as a standalone product, complemented by optional maintenance and support services. However, the fluctuating revenues typical of this traditional legacy software model no longer align with the demands of today's cloud-centric market. To remain competitive and minimize the risk of their technology being replicated, the company recognizes the necessity of transitioning to a modern SaaS-based platform. This shift will safeguard their innovations and enhance their software’s application in a dynamic digital landscape.
Like many businesses, the company faces challenges due to limited internal resources and expertise required for a swift, cost-effective and efficient migration of on-premises software to the cloud. Seeking a dedicated partner, they consulted with their AWS representative for recommendations. After a thorough evaluation of potential partners, they chose Ollion, impressed by our strong reputation and extensive experience in cloud migration. Our attributes—responsive communication, clear statements of work, adept funding mapping and a straightforward, multi-step migration process—set us apart.
Following the initial project, the company was captivated by our high level of expertise and dedication to educating their team members. We provided invaluable insights into AWS, public cloud operations and the nuances of managing a production application, affirming their choice of Ollion as the right partner for their cloud transformation journey.
The Ollion solution
To successfully migrate their management software to AWS, Ollion executed a comprehensive lift-and-shift operation, transferring the company’s database, servers and application to the cloud. The initial priority was to transition the application onto AWS, ensuring that each customer receives an individual environment with the management software fully deployed. This single-tenant architecture will be transformed into a multi-tenant application, enhancing efficiency in patching and upgrades, simplifying maintenance and reducing costs. In a single-tenant setup, as the number of customer accounts increases, synchronizing account management becomes increasingly complex. A multi-tenant architecture offers a more streamlined solution within the AWS environment.
Through continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), combined with ongoing application modernization, Ollion will continue collaborating with the company to enrich and expand the management software's features and functionality. This effort includes enhancing resilience through a high-availability environment and implementing more robust disaster recovery capabilities. Our focus on innovation and efficiency ensures that the software not only meets current demands but is also well-prepared to adapt to future challenges.
The business benefit
With the management software now functioning as a SaaS application on AWS, the company can effectively showcase the product to prospective clients. Demonstrating the application is vital to the sales strategy, providing a pipeline that aligns with and supports the revenue objectives outlined in their AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP). While their previous implementation restricted scalability, their new SaaS solution offers the flexibility required to onboard new customers, migrate existing ones and optimize application functionality simultaneously. For instance, Ollion has already successfully deployed the management software for the company's first new customer in a dedicated SaaS environment.
Beyond the technical advancements, the company has benefited significantly from Ollion's expertise in cloud technology. Recognizing the internal need for comprehensive AWS and public cloud training, Ollion dedicated several weeks to educating the company’s team. Supported by a robust foundation of our Modern Cloud Operations (MCS), "OlliOnDemand", the company will continue to receive advanced cloud operations and environment management services from Ollion. This partnership allows Ollion to oversee the production application, freeing the company to concentrate on achieving its broader business goals.
In addition to converting the application to a cloud-based model, running it efficiently in the public cloud and providing extensive internal training, the company has found a reliable partner in Ollion, ensuring long-term success and stability.
