Customer Issue

Silah Gulf, a leading provider of customer experience solutions, faced challenges with its on-premises IT infrastructure. Their workloads, consisting of eight virtual machines running on VMware, were becoming increasingly costly and complex to manage. These workloads relied on Postgres and Microsoft SQL databases, running on a mix of Linux and Windows operating systems. The application's vendor imposed limitations that prevented refactoring, leaving Silah Gulf in need of a migration strategy that would preserve their existing architecture while achieving scalability, cost efficiency, and enhanced reliability. They also required seamless connectivity between their on-premises systems and the new cloud environment.

Solution

stc Bahrain, leveraging AWS’s powerful cloud services, proposed a comprehensive migration solution tailored to the specific needs of Silah Gulf. The solution utilized AWS Application Migration Service and a three-tiered VPC architecture to ensure a seamless and efficient migration process. The key steps included:

1. Assessment and Design:
   • Conducted a thorough assessment of Silah Gulf’s on-premises workloads to understand dependencies and resource requirements.
   • Designed a robust target architecture featuring a three-tiered VPC with private and public subnets to isolate and secure workloads.
2. Migration Execution:
   • AWS Account Setup: Created a new AWS account to host the workloads, with dedicated IAM roles for secure operations.
   • AWS Application Migration Service: Installed the migration agent on the VMware virtual machines to enable seamless transfer to AWS.
   • Site-to-Site VPN: Established secure connectivity between Silah Gulf’s on-premises environment and AWS using a site-to-site VPN with an AWS Virtual Private Gateway.
   • Networking and Security: Configured security groups, Network Access Control Lists (NACLs), and AWS WAF to protect the migrated workloads.
   • Monitoring: Deployed Amazon CloudWatch and AWS CloudTrail to monitor performance, track logs, and provide actionable insights.
3. Post-Migration Optimization:
   • Conducted testing and fine-tuning to ensure optimal performance of workloads in the AWS environment.
   • Delivered comprehensive documentation and conducted knowledge transfer sessions to empower Silah Gulf’s IT team to manage their new AWS environment effectively.

Benefits

The migration to AWS provided Silah Gulf with transformative outcomes that addressed their challenges and positioned them for future growth:

1. Cost Efficiency:
   • By leveraging AWS’s pay-as-you-go model and optimizing resource allocation, Silah Gulf reduced operational costs by an estimated 20% compared to maintaining their on-premises infrastructure.
2. Scalability and Flexibility:
   • The AWS environment offered unparalleled scalability, enabling Silah Gulf to easily adjust resources based on workload demands without overprovisioning.
3. Enhanced Security and Compliance:
   • AWS's robust security features, including WAF, security groups, and CloudTrail, ensured that workloads remained protected and compliant with industry standards.
4. Improved Reliability and Performance:
   • With the migration to AWS, Silah Gulf gained access to highly reliable infrastructure backed by AWS’s global availability zones, reducing downtime and improving application performance.
5. Streamlined Management:
   • AWS Application Migration Service simplified the migration process, while monitoring tools like CloudWatch provided real-time visibility into the health and performance of workloads.
6. Future-Ready Architecture:
   • The migration to AWS established a solid foundation for digital transformation, empowering Silah Gulf to leverage advanced AWS services for future innovation.

By partnering with AWS and stc Bahrain, Silah Gulf successfully transitioned their legacy infrastructure to a modern, secure, and cost-effective cloud environment. This project exemplifies the power of AWS services in driving business agility and operational excellence.