The challenge
Cloud computing is no longer a question of if, but when and how. As more businesses adopt cloud migration strategies, the focus becomes prioritizing cloud strategies that allow them to modernize their IT infrastructure, while advancing digital innovation. Our client is recognized as an innovator in the Canadian financial products and services industry. As a Crown corporation, our client provides financial services to more than 770,000 residents and businesses within their home province.
The client faced a number of challenges, including the high cost of their existing platform deployment model, as well as difficulties managing, monitoring and scaling it. Additionally, their existing software was nearing end-of-life status from their vendor.
The complexity of migrating a platform infrastructure, combined with the desired modernization of the application suite, would be a challenge for any organization. The client, however, needed to also consider that the software supported all mission critical business functions and any discovery, planning, testing, migration and implementation plans needed to be rock solid.
The TELUS Digital solution
Given the complexities, the client needed to approach the cloud migration process slowly and carefully to allow for tighter governance over the project to mitigate any potential risks along the way.
The client enlisted the help of TELUS Digital because of our expertise in cloud migration, especially as it pertained to their unique circumstances. Since there was no established conversion process and tools available to transition from their current infrastructure directly to GCP, the client depended on us to completely rehost their cloud platform. We worked closely with them to update their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to new hardware located within the data center of our parent company, TELUS.
This allows the client to continue to collect, store, manage and interpret data from across their broad portfolio of service and business activities. This end-to-end solution redesign employed a GCP-based, High Availability (HA) Metro Disaster Recovery (DR) element to support the client’s need for resiliency and reliability.
Key features of our Cloud & Platform Services include:
- Prioritizing reliability while meeting the project’s stringent goals within the established timeline
- Enabling the client to evolve their core system operations in a cost effective manner, keeping risk mitigation at the forefront of the process
- Integrating with SAP HANA Cloud software, ensuring the client is able to successfully complete their cloud transformation journey seamlessly
The results
TELUS Digital completed this complex and critical transformation project with minimal downtime, while meeting the client’s overall stringent timeline and project goals.
Currently, both the client and TELUS Digital co-manage this new infrastructure. Future phases of the project will see the infrastructure transitioned from being hosted in the TELUS Cloud to fully supported on the GCP.
Project highlights included:
- Projected three-year cost savings of more than CA $4.5M (37% operational savings)
- Overall reduced impact on capital budget
- Consumption-based, flexible infrastructure
- Minimum uptime of 99.95% as per the Service Level Agreement (SLA)