The Company:
A government agency that oversees Victoria's extensive transport system, coordinating efforts among various entities, including Public Transport Victoria, Transport for Victoria, VicRoads, Regional Roads Victoria Department of Transport and Freight Victoria.
With a dedicated workforce of 7,000, they manage significant capital works and operating budgets, ensuring an efficient transport network for the community.
The Challenge:
Over seven years, AC3 and the agency developed a collaborative relationship which has proven instrumental in supporting various divisions within the agency. Recognising the evolving landscape of modern technological infrastructure, the agency engaged AC3 in the Timetable Systems Uplift project. AC3’s task was to migrate a suite of applications and data services to a newly managed cloud platform based on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The strategic focus of this migration to uplift both the infrastructure and applications was a twofold approach: the agency had a commercial data centre exit plan, also that the applications could make use of a major release upgrade -paving ways for additional feature-sets and higher reliability and operational excellence.
The workloads involved highly specialised applications, rich and diverse database and storage types, as well as distinctive data flows. Managing these complex systems, crucial for public services, required a reliable, responsive, and adaptable platform. The absence of a direct Rehosting migration path added complexity, necessitating significant architectural changes. The agency and AC3 strategically opted for an AWS-based solution, addressing intricate data flows and diverse components.
The Solution:
The solution involved a Re-factor migration approach. AC3 implemented a multi-account AWS environment, featuring AWS EC2 and AMI design, Auto Scaling Groups, Application Load Balancers, Serverless functions, and robust security measures. The comprehensive solution included a cluster of various firewalls, inspection and monitoring services, FSx for OpenZFS, application virtual streaming, the migration from Oracle to AWS cloud-native open-source databases, and a DevOps service model for continuous improvement.
AC3 helped the agency achieve significant milestones in Phase 1, 2, and 3, successfully migrated key timetable systems applications to AWS environments. The modern AWS cloud environment proved effective in real-world operations, enhancing reliability, performance, security, and sustainability.
AC3 navigated business challenges, collaborating closely with the agency and software vendors. The solution facilitated the exit from the data centre within the specified timeframe, including major software upgrades and infrastructure enhancements.
The Result:
AC3 implemented a customised solution for the government agency’s Timetable Systems Uplift project, focusing on a refactoring migration approach tailored to unique requirements. The solution accommodated highly specialised applications, addressing complex data flow while satisfying customer security considerations. The solution met the Recovery Point Objective and Recovery Time Objective requirements while future-proofing the application infrastructure. Deployment included specific configurations for application characteristics, leveraging all AWS Availability Zones and employing multiple auto-scaling technologies.
AC3's contribution enabled the agency to successfully uplift Timetable Systems workloads, with improved reliability, performance, security, cost efficiency, operational excellence, and sustainability. AC3’s close collaboration with the agency implemented and refined procedures for smooth testing operations moving forward. AC3 now operates a DevOps support model for the department, with an ongoing focus to foster continuous improvement, reduce costs and enhance delivery efficiency.