The client is a local food delivery service operating in informal settlements, providing a crucial link between residents and local vendors. They bring accessible and affordable food options to communities often underserved by traditional delivery services. Their business relies heavily on timely and secure transactions, making efficient and reliable IT infrastructure vital to their success.

The client’s traditional on-premises infrastructure was ill-equipped to handle business growth and presented several key challenges:

• Scalability Issues: On-premises servers struggled under increasing demand, resulting in downtimes and slow service.
• Security Concerns: Informal settlement operations created unique security challenges, particularly in protecting client data and transactions.
• Operational Inefficiencies: Lack of centralised management led to manual processes and frequent errors, hindering service delivery.

BATSAMAYI took a comprehensive approach, modernising the client’s infrastructure with AWS services and implementing DevOps practices:

• Migration to AWS with DevOps Best Practices: The client’s platform was migrated to AWS, leveraging Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and AWS Fargate to manage containerised applications without manual server management. Fargate automatically scaled to meet fluctuating demand, improving service reliability. BATSAMAYI also implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using AWS CloudFormation, automating infrastructure management and ensuring consistency across environments (prod and non-prod). This transformation allowed for dynamic scaling, ensuring the system adapted to changes in demand with zero manual intervention.
• CI/CD Pipeline Implementation for Efficient Deployments: A CI/CD pipeline was introduced using AWS CodePipeline integrated with AWS CodeBuild and AWS CodeDeploy. This automated the deployment process, applying quality, security, and policy checks at every stage. By integrating these checks, such as unit testing, security analysis, and static code analysis, the client drastically reduced production issues and improved delivery speed. Development cycles went from quarterly to weekly, increasing agility in releasing new features.
• Enhanced Security with IAM and Automated Audits: BATSAMAYI implemented AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to enforce role-based access controls, ensuring only authorised personnel accessed sensitive data. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) was introduced to further safeguard access. AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config were configured to log all API activity and audit configuration changes, providing full visibility and compliance with security protocols.
• Centralised Operations Management with AWS Tools:Using AWS Service Catalog, AWS Systems Manager, and Amazon CloudWatch, a centralised operations management framework was built. This provided real-time monitoring of the infrastructure and automated routine tasks such as configuration management and software patching. The integration with the client’s existing IT Service Management (ITSM) tools allowed for seamless operations management across both cloud and on-premises environments.

The combination of AWS migration and DevOps practices brought substantial benefits:

• Improved Scalability and Performance: AWS Fargate’s auto-scaling features and the standardisation of environments using IaC allowed the client to meet demand spikes effortlessly, reducing downtimes and improving delivery times. Auto-scaling policies based on metrics like CPU utilisation dynamically adjusted compute resources, reducing costs and ensuring uninterrupted service during peak hours.
• Robust Security: IAM and CloudTrail’s security enhancements resulted in a significant reduction in unauthorised access incidents. Centralised logging and monitoring of activities ensured compliance with security protocols, and any anomalies were flagged and addressed proactively.
• Operational Efficiency: The centralised operations management framework reduced manual intervention and minimised errors, leading to more efficient service delivery. The client could now monitor their entire infrastructure from a single dashboard, enabling quicker response times to any issues.