Increasing Performance with AWS Services
Executive Summary
Patriot Realty’s IT infrastructure once relied heavily on software and hardware that was aging and out of date. The company reached out to Digicon Corporation to replace its physical server with another one and upgrade its existing licenses. As a long-time IT services partner to Patriot and an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) Consulting Partner, Digicon provided Patriot with a better AWS Cloud solution and currently uses several AWS services to improve operational costs, security, and performance.
Customer Challenge
Being a small business, Patriot had not invested in upgrading its hardware and software for about six years, only applying minimal updates as time passed. As equipment began to slow and the risk of failure increased, Patriot needed a solution to improve its infrastructure so it would be sustainable into the future, as well as within the company’s budget limits.
Partner Solution
Digicon has been a trusted managed services provider to Patriot since 2010. Our established partnership allowed us to leverage our APN Consulting Partner status, AWS product knowledge, and architecture design skill to move Patriot’s architecture to the AWS Cloud.
Rather than purchasing and implementing a new server, Digicon redirected Patriot to migrate to the AWS Cloud. We used our Business IT Services (BITS) offering to address Patriot’s needs for file, print, email, and website services within the AWS Cloud architecture. Our BITS product line, catered to Patriot’s specific needs, included an Active Directory server on AWS, Amazon FSx for the file system, and Office 365 to provide a superior email service.
Although we had planned Patriot’s cloud migration prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing the AWS Client Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution for remote work became especially important when employees had to work from home for health and safety. Digicon implemented an automatic VPN service using mutual authentication to the AWS environment on all devices. We also migrated all the office printers and scanners to work with Active Directory in the cloud so those devices could still be accessed.
To improve Patriot’s remaining hardware, we provided new laptops with Windows 10 and automatic updates. We set up a virtual backup solution using Microsoft OneDrive so anything stored on local machines is replicated to the cloud for constant backup. Digicon’s Cloud Network Operations Security Center (NOSC) is available to ensure Patriot receives prompt, 24/7/365 support by phone and email from qualified AWS-certified and Microsoft-certified IT engineers.
Results and Benefits
Moving Patriot’s IT infrastructure to the cloud saved costs on licensing, established simple and secure remote work capabilities, and increased the company’s IT performance.
Reduced Costs
Now that Patriot is established in the cloud, the company has more visibility into its IT costs; going forward, there is a single bill that represents all costs, rather than numerous individual bills to track for separate services. Implementing cloud-based services has also eliminated the need to maintain and buy new hardware and software licenses, saving several thousands per year on licenses alone.
Simplified Security
With Client VPN, no matter where Patriot’s employees are, they can work exactly the same as if they were sitting in the office. The automatic VPN feature securely connects users to the cloud before they log into their workstations, which reduces the complexity of using the service for end users.
Increased Performance and Reliability
Patriot was previously using a six-year-old server. Moving the IT infrastructure to the cloud and off of aging hardware has increased performance reliability, speed, and security.
Read our blog, why Digicon uses AWS.