How to ensure a fast, safe and compliant cloud journey at KSAT
Close collaboration creates understanding of design choices, for building optimal cloud infrastructure.
Shortcut to the cloud with a ready framework for development, which provides faster cloud transformation.
Process by Cloud Enabler Suite takes care of security, compliance and cost control.
The customer says
The foundation Devoteam has laid for us means that we are at a new level of competence and quality in the IT environment, in addition to the fact that we are better able to drive innovation in a controlled and secure manner, and move quickly and to be self-propelled in the cloud.
About KSAT
Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) is a world-leading provider of satellite data reception services. The company has ground stations all over the world and has the world’s largest commercial antenna park at the Svalbard Satellite Station.
KSAT has over 50,000 contacts with satellites per month. The company’s global ground network consists of over 200 antennas at 23 different locations around the world.
When KSAT entered partnership with Microsoft to deliver technology, they needed to move to the cloud quickly. They had started the journey on their own, but realized they needed a more professional setup to fully capitalize on the opportunities in the cloud.
With KSAT’s global operations, complex technology, and critical data, it was crucial for the company to ensure security and compliance in their transition to the cloud. Therefore, they were recommended to use Devoteam as their migration partner by Microsoft.
Why Devoteam
Moving quickly in the cloud is not difficult. What is difficult is moving correctly: avoiding misconfigurations, lacking a holistic view of security, and losing control of data.
“We quickly realized that Devoteam has a unique view on security and compliance and on ensuring a controlled cloud journey with consistent structure and control. For us, this was crucial in choosing a partner,” said John Heskett, CTO of KSAT.
Budget blowout
It is no secret that many companies experience a budget blowout on their cloud journeys. Often, the migration itself takes longer and is more extensive than anticipated. In addition, the ongoing operating costs can quickly spin out of control once you are in the cloud.
“One of the most important things Devoteam could offer was speed and predictability. While other providers often estimated 18 months or more, with a relatively flexible pricing model, Devoteam was able to deliver in 3 months – at a fixed price,” Heskett said.
Informed decisions
At Devoteam, we believe that customers should be able to make informed decisions. While we are happy to make recommendations, it is crucial to us that the customer is aware of all the details. This knowledge enable the costumer to play an active role in their own cloud journey and continue to operate the cloud in a good and controlled manner after we have assisted with the migration.
“Devoteam’s philosophy of making the customer self-sufficient was very reassuring. Instead of mystifying the cloud and making us dependent on an external supplier to continue developing in the cloud after migration, their goal was to raise our competence so we could do it ourselves”
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Solution
The solution for KSAT was our Cloud Enabler. The first product delivery was Cloud Enabler Enterprise Foundation. It is like the foundation when building a house: the foundation on which everything is built, which keeps the house steady and ensures the necessary network of water and power.
To build the right foundation, with the right framework, network, processes, security, compliance, and configuration of Azure, it is important to gain a good understanding of the customer’s business. We identify the systems the customer currently uses, crtitical applications and business segments, risk factors, and make an organizational and technical assessment of how the cloud journey should go.
Workshops
It is especially important that the customer becomes well-acquainted with their own foundation and can make knowledge-based choices about how to build the foundation.
In order to accomplish this, a series of more than 30 workshops were held where we went over all design decisions with the customer, including which network architecture to use, the governance structure to use, how to delegate rights, control mechanisms, security technology, and everything else required to fully utilize the cloud in a safe and scalable way.
“We have been extremely satisfied with the competence lift we received from the workshops. It has given us a completely new understanding of what it means to operate in the cloud. Not least, it has made us feel safe and able to stand for security, compliance, and governance with the structure we have chosen,” said Heskett.
Infrastructure as code
After design decisions have been decided, it is time to construct the infrastructure itself. The standard method for doing this is by clicking through Azure’s services and selecting what you want and where it should be installed. This approach soon results in a loss of control over both policy and cost in addition to being inefficient.
At Devoteam, we use infrastructure as code (IaC) instead. This means that we have a ready-made template for landing zones in a script. This gives us much better control: the same script can be run multiple times, possibly with small adjustments, documentation is generated automatically, and it is easier to ensure both cost control, compliance, and security control. Not least, it is much, much faster.
Cloud Enabler GitOps
The next step in the cloud journey for KSAT is Cloud Enabler GitOps. It is a ready-made framework for development in the cloud, consisting of a number of production-ready IaC solutions, CI/CD pipelines, and processes. We set this up in Azure, ready for KSAT to start rolling out solutions.
In addition, we have created more than 100 ready-developed and reusable quick-start templates for the most common applications, which are pre-configured and tested to ensure smooth and secure deployment.
The value for the customer
“After completing workshops and establishing the framework in Azure, with Devoteam, we have gained a whole new level of competence and quality in the IT environment. We have been able to change the way we work and how we organize the data center and our infrastructure,” says Heskett.
“In addition, it has helped IT department to play a more proactive role in facilitating innovation and new cloud services, rather than being a “gatekeeper” to prevent budget, security and compliance from being compromised.”
The foundation that Devoteam has laid for us enables us to drive innovation in a controlled and secure manner, while also allowing us to move quickly and be self-sufficient in migrating more services to the cloud – and not least in developing cloud native services.”
