Executive Summary
We will explore how ITTStar successfully transformed Security Benefits database operations (DB Ops) to improve efficiency, scalability, and
reliability. Security Benefit, a fast-growing U.S. retirement industry, through a combination of product innovation, exceptional investment
management, and a unique distribution strategy, faced challenges with their existing database infrastructure and sought to implement a more
streamlined and automated approach to database management.
Customer Challenge
Manual Database Provisioning: The company had been manually provisioning and managing their databases, leading to delays, inconsistencies,
and human errors in the process.
Scalability Constraints: As the company grew, the existing database infrastructure struggled to scale effectively, resulting in
performance issues and customer dissatisfaction.
High Maintenance Overhead: The manual management of databases required a significant amount of time and effort from the operations team,
diverting resources from other critical tasks.
Lack of Monitoring and Alerting: The company lacked proper monitoring and alerting mechanisms, making it difficult to proactively
identify and resolve database issues.
The challenge implementation
Security Benefit engaged ITTStar Managed Services team to assist with below specified challenges:
ITTStar Over time, the engagement evolved to adopted AWS best practices, automation, and leveraging advanced database management
tools and services.
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Provisioning and Scaling
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Performance Optimization
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High Availability and Disaster Recovery
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Security and Compliance
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Data Backup and Recovery
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Patching and Upgrades
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Monitoring and Troubleshooting
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Data Migration and Integration
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Capacity Planning and Cost Optimization
Partner Solution
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ITTStar adopted infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform and AWS CloudFormation to automate the provisioning and configuration
of database resources.
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Database infrastructure was defined as code, allowing for consistent and repeatable deployments across different environments.
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Containerization: ITTStar containerized their databases using technologies like Docker and Kubernetes, enabling easy deployment and management
of database instances.
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Database as a Service (DBaaS): ITTStar implemented a DBaaS solution to abstract away the underlying database infrastructure and provide self-service
capabilities to development teams for database provisioning and management.
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Database Replication: ITTStar implemented database replication techniques like master-slave or multi-AZ deployments to ensure data availability and redundancy.
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Autoscaling: Leveraging cloud-native services, ITTStar implemented autoscaling capabilities for their database clusters to dynamically adjust resources based on demand.
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ITTStar deployed robust monitoring tools to proactively monitor the client's IT infrastructure, network, and applications.
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Automated alerts and notifications were set up to promptly identify and address potential issues, minimizing downtime and enhancing system availability.
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ITTStar implemented an IT Service Management framework to streamline incident management, change management, and service request processes.
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Service level agreements (SLAs) were defined to ensure timely response and resolution of IT issues, improving overall IT support.
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ITTStar implemented a comprehensive security framework, including regular vulnerability scanning, patch management, and incident response procedures, to
ensure the company's IT environment remained secure and compliant with industry regulations.
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Security controls and access management policies were enhanced to protect sensitive data and mitigate potential cyber threats.
Why AWS?
AWS fully managed database services provide
continuous monitoring, self-healing storage, and automated scaling to help us focus on application development. AWS databases deliver the high
availability, reliability, and security we need for business-critical, enterprise workloads. AWS Match your storage and compute needs easily, often
with no downtime. Support multi-region, multi-primary replication, and provide full data oversight with multiple levels of security, including network
isolation and end-to-end encryption.
Why Security Benefit chose ITTStar?
To solve this business challenge,
ITTStar engaged with Security Benefit on a workshop to walk them through the process we are going to follow and the perks the client will
acquire on migrating their data base to the AWS cloud environment. ITTStar has previously worked on many similar migrations/ rehosting and
this, combined with our strong skill set around MS-SQL DBA team. Security Benefit chose ITTStar through experience, solid processes, and our
strong customer service ethos.
Results & Benefits:
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The partnership with ITTStar resulted in more efficient IT operations, allowing the Client's internal IT team to focus on strategic initiatives and core business objectives.
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ITTStar can fine-tune configurations, implement performance monitoring tools, and identify and resolve bottlenecks. This leads to improved response times, reduced downtime, and overall better database performance.
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Proactive monitoring and maintenance minimized system downtime, ensuring continuous availability of critical IT services and applications.
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ITTStar expertise in cloud migration and optimization helped the company reduce IT costs through better resource utilization, elimination of unnecessary infrastructure, and improved pricing models.
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The robust security framework implemented by ITTStar strengthened the client's security posture, mitigating risks and ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
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Partnership with ITTStar provided the client with access to a broader range of specialized skills and knowledge, augmenting their internal IT capabilities.
Overall, ITTStar DB Ops Managed Services offers improved performance, enhanced security and compliance, proactive monitoring, scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. By leveraging the expertise and resources, organizations can focus on their core business objectives while ensuring their databases are well-managed and optimized for success.
