Enter Centric: An Innovative Migration Plan
Carbonite partnered with Centric Consulting to determine the best possible solution. One option was to stand up servers within Carbonite’s datacenter. But, given the complex nature of the migration and four-month turnaround time, we proposed a cloud migration as the quickest, safest and smartest solution.
Because Carbonite was already working off a .NET and Microsoft stack, we quickly determined migrating the data and applications to Azure, Microsoft’s enterprise cloud computing platform, would be the better option.
After selecting Azure, we began gaining a deeper understanding of each company’s varying processes, applications and business rules. For example, we learned both companies operated their financial systems off an ERP, but each had different business rules. So, we started by defining one set of business rules for all applications.
This enabled us to design, code, deploy and adjust applications based on the new rules. After making the changes, we copied data and applications from the subsidiary’s databases and pasted them in Carbonite’s cloud services (Azure Web Applications, Azure Load Balancer, Azure Application Gateway, Azure SQL, Azure Storage and Azure Functions).
The final step was testing the services to make sure we connected each appropriately and that they could handle the required tasks. We conducted user acceptance testing (UAT) of the subsidiary’s two main, customer-facing applications: one that allows customers to download and activate the product, and another that provides meter-usage reporting.
At least 15 more internal portals and applications supported those two applications. We updated, migrated and tested each before pushing them live.
The Results: Scalability, Speed and Security
Working closely with IT teams from Carbonite, the parent company and the subsidiary, we successfully managed a complex application and data migration to the cloud for a smooth business transition. Within the expected timeframe of four months. Without delays. And without business disruption – we deployed and tested all applications, databases and integrations over one weekend.
Carbonite can now point to the following benefits:
- Scalable Applications thanks to Azure Web Applications’ auto-scaling functionality.
- Cloud Security provided by the Azure Application Gateway, which provides a firewall that detects and blocks possible attacks.
- Databases that auto-tune themselves to improve query response. Azure SQL constantly monitors all queries and auto-applies indexes when needed.
- Faster Deployments resulting from data and apps now being in the cloud.
- Automation that quickly delivers transparency into results and needed code adjustments.
- Reliable Connections because all the databases and applications are in the Microsoft stack.
The Next Steps: Full Cloud Deployment
Carbonite is now considering a further cloud optimization project with Centric to move all its apps into one place using Azure Web Applications while developing new code to remove unnecessary, additional steps from its apps.
Because of Centric and Microsoft Azure, Carbonite is now ready for further growth and whatever comes next.
