BBD has played a pivotal role in developing and managing critical back-end systems for a leading telecom client, supporting functionalities such as client onboarding, registration, and LTE network handling. Initially hosted on-premises, these applications are now being migrated to AWS, with BBD facilitating the entire migration.
Throughout the engagement, BBD has helped the client enhance their cloud operational knowledge by providing enablement workshops that establish cloud governance, operations, FinOps (Financial Operations), and monitoring practices. Serving as a trusted advisor, BBD has guided a phased migration of the client’s IT estate, ensuring a seamless transition while offering operational support through comprehensive monitoring, day-to-day management, and FinOps services. BBD’s phased approach ensures continuously Cloud Managed Services, streamlining operational tasks and providing expert consultation for future projects. This allows the client to focus on migrating workloads while upskilling their teams to take on cloud operations in the future.
Objectives:
- Execute lift-and-shift or refactor migrations of on-premises workloads to AWS as and when identified
- Provide ongoing operational support for seamless functionality across both on-premises and cloud-hosted workloads
- Enable the client to maximise AWS investments through operational efficiency and cloud-native innovations
Benefits:
- Reduced operational overhead through shared responsibility and managed services
- Enhanced innovation by leveraging AWS tools for cutting-edge solutions
- Improved scalability to meet growing demands efficiently
- Establishment of FinOps practices for better cost control and insights
- Empowering the client with the tools and skills needed for autonomous cloud operations management
- Improved monitoring and observability leveraging AWS-native services
Overview of the solution:
The first phase involved designing, costing, configuring and deploying an enterprise-grade AWS Landing Zone, adhering to stringent telecom industry compliance standards and AWS best practices. This design followed the six pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, implementing governance through AWS guardrails, Service Control Policies (SCP) and IAM roles to ensure security and cost efficiency.
Each workload was then independently designed and migrated in phases, with rigorous testing throughout the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). This ensured the preservation of functionality, and optimised performance after migration.
Tools and services utilised:
- Governance & security: AWS Control Tower, AWS Organizations, AWS Guardrails, SCPs, AWS Config, Amazon GuardDuty
- Monitoring & observability: Amazon CloudWatch, AWS CloudTrail, AWS Systems Manager, Grafana
- Networking & management: Amazon Route 53, AWS Transit Gateway, Amazon Certificate Manager, AWS Systems Manager
- Compute & storage: Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, Amazon EKS, Amazon Application Load Balancer, Amazon Network Load Balancer
- Cost management: Amazon Cost Explorer, EC2 Savings Plans, Reserved Instances
AWS Control Tower was pivotal in deploying a multi-account Landing Zone, ensuring AWS best practices were consistently followed throughout the migration.
Approach:
BBD adopted a phased migration strategy, utilising AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) and Database Migration Service (DMS) to ensure a smooth transition of workloads. Throughout the process, BBD’s Cloud Managed Services team maintained the health and performance of AWS environments, while upholding compliance and security standards.
To optimise costs, BBD implemented strategies like EC2 Savings Plans and Reserved Instances, ensuring financial efficiency while delivering high-quality solutions. This approach facilitated the client’s seamless adoption of AWS, allowing time for teams to upskill to manage their new cloud environment effectively in the future.
This phased approach gives the client the necessary time to develop in-house capabilities. Once the team is ready, BBD will implement a structured handover, empowering the client to independently manage their cloud operations post-handover. As part of the engagement, regular enablement sessions are conducted with the aim to gradually transfer responsibility to the client, ensuring they are equipped to manage AWS operations independently once the migration has been concluded.
1. Enablement and futureproofing (Ongoing process):
Beyond providing Cloud Managed Services, BBD played a crucial role in advising the client on an optimised cloud operational model that would support both their current and future needs. This collaboration focused on enhancing cloud financial management, governance, operational management, governance, monitoring and observability, and establishing scalable architecture best practices to ensure long-term success beyond BBD’s engagement.
As part of the handover process, which is still ongoing, BBD continues to conduct enablement workshops, progressively training the client’s internal teams to adopt best practices in cloud. These workshops are focussed on knowledge transfer in the following key areas:
- Operational management: Provides training on best practices for automating operational tasks, scaling, and governance procedures, ensuring the client can effectively manage their cloud infrastructure at scale
- Financial management: Offers guidance on cloud cost management, budgeting, and optimisation strategies, helping the client to track, control, and reduce cloud expenses efficiently
- Governance: Delivers comprehensive training on AWS governance best practices, emphasising continuous implementation within the client’s environment to maintain structure and control across their cloud operations.
- Compliance: Educates the client on maintaining compliance with industry standards and regulations, leveraging tools such as AWS Config and SecurityHub for automated compliance checks and ensuring adherence to required policies
- Monitoring and observability: Ensures the client is equipped with a robust monitoring and observability stack, enabling them to track and analyse system performance effectively. The training covers the integration of tools and expert resources to maintain operational efficiency and alignment with the six pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework
Key components of the operational model:
- Cloud architecture optimisation:
BBD implemented architecture best practices aligned with the AWS Well-Architected Framework, ensuring the client’s cloud environment was scalable, secure, and cost-efficient. These best practices included:- Automation of infrastructure management through AWS Systems Manager, enabling centralised control of resources, streamlined updates, and automated patch management. This reduced manual intervention and allowed more efficient use of resources
- Governance and compliance frameworks were established using AWS Control Tower and AWS Config to enforce policies, maintain security, and monitor compliance across all cloud accounts. This ensured adherence to security standards while simplifying multi-account management
- FinOps and cost management:
- A critical aspect of the engagement was enhancing the client’s financial governance by introducing FinOps best practices. Leveraging tools such as AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets, and Cost Anomaly detection, BBD ensured the client could:
- Track and manage cloud spend effectively, providing insights into resource usage and identifying potential cost-saving opportunities
- Set cost optimisation goals, identifying areas to reduce waste using Reserved Instances and EC2 Savings Plans. This helps in optimising both short- and long-term cloud costs
- Allocate cloud expenses across departments using detailed cost allocation reports, ensuring transparency of AWS usage and enabling better budget control
2. Compliance:
Compliance was maintained by following AWS security and governance best practices, utilising services like AWS Control Tower for account management, AWS Guardrails and Service Control Policies (SCPs) for policy enforcement, and AWS Config for ongoing compliance monitoring. Adherence to industry standards, including telecom-specific regulations, ensured regulatory requirements were met. Automated compliance checks were implemented using AWS Config to keep the environment aligned with evolving standards. The client’s internal SOC team remains responsible for managing and monitoring compliance within their AWS environment.
- Operational efficiency:
BBD focused on building a robust and automated operational model that streamlines day-to-day management. AWS Systems Manager was used to handle tasks such as:- Automated backup and recovery processes for critical workloads, minimising downtime, ensuring business continuity, and enforcement of regulatory standards
- Resource monitoring and troubleshooting using AWS CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager’s automation capabilities, ensuring timely detection and resolution of issues
- Centralised configuration management to reduce operational overhead and improve response times to incidents, making operations more efficient and reducing manual efforts.
- Maintain AWS environments independently post-migration, with the skills and knowledge required to manage their infrastructure efficiently
- Expand their cloud footprint in the future, leveraging BBD’s architectural recommendations and financial management strategies for sustainable growth
- Scale cloud operations efficiently, enabling the client to deploy new projects with agility while maintaining control over costs and security
- Scalability and innovation:
By leveraging the flexibility of AWS services, BBD enabled the client to easily scale their infrastructure in response to evolving business demands. The adoption of services such as Amazon EC2, S3, and RDS provides:- On-demand scalability without the need for upfront investments in hardware, allowing the client to scale in line with their growth
- Rapid innovation by using the agility and flexibility of AWS cloud-native services to quickly deploy new applications and features, enabling the client to stay ahead in a competitive market
Impact of BBD’s partnership:
BBD’s collaboration enabled the client to scale their AWS environment, supporting their expanding AWS estate during migration. Through BBD’s Cloud Managed Services, the client could focus on business-critical tasks, while benefiting from:
- Cloud financial management practices
- Continuous support and maintenance of AWS services and infrastructure
- Comprehensive monitoring and observability
- Cost-saving optimisations and recommendations
- Further development and expansion of their AWS environment