We live in a world where digital connections and student lives are slowly intersecting. With online networking becoming the main focus of most university students, our client is one of the forerunners in this industry. Their brainchild, product, is one such platform that has taken the world over by storm. Students can get multiple benefits such as discounts, event details, and enough space to store their IDs virtually. But, with such a big responsibility comes the problem of storage.

So, let’s take a look at how we helped our client store data securely and at lower costs.

Who is the client?

Our client is a company that believes in creating communities with similar interests. Their focus is to create safe spaces for students. A space where they could get all the details about events happening around them or discounts at local stores.

Which is why this product was born.

The platform was made to help students connect with one another while getting the best offers around them.

This way, students could enjoy their university life at a limited cost.

This product, so far, has over 1 million happy users. And the numbers keep growing.

But they faced a challenge!

Considering the number of users of the platform, there are bound to be issues with data storage. This is what our clients face in real-time. Previously, all their information systems were hosted within their own office premises. But this meant that there were added risks.

Why?

Because they were using older technology and tightly coupled monoliths.

This was when they realized they needed to move to a cloud-based platform and restructure their entire storage process per the modern micro-servicing options.

What solution did we offer?

Firstly, we start engaging with the present client to understand how their existing app works and what they expect it to do. Next, we plotted the latest technological needs to turn PRODUCT into PRODUCT 2.0. It was set to have more detailed features than the older version and was to have more brand collaborations.

There were 8 stages through which the solution unfolded:

1. Discovery phase: The team started exploring the existing system and scrutinized its technological and functional aspects.
2. The strategy used: A mixed method was implemented, including a lifting and shifting approach, with re-platforming and restructuring. This approach was taken to make the migration of the existing platform to a more agile form.
3. Technology roadmap: The team created a roadmap to highlight the stages of implementation. The primary focus was to reuse as many existing segments as possible.
4. Creating user journeys: Our technical experts mapped out the entire user journey. It included how the web and app interfaces would interact and how a revamped backend would work together to offer a seamless experience.
5. Microservice architecture: Our experts crafted fine-grained microservices that made the platform flexible and easily scalable for front-end interactions.
6. Event-driven serverless architecture: We implemented an event-driven serverless architecture to reduce operational costs and maximize responsiveness.
7. DevOps and automating the process: We embraced infrastructure as code, added DevOps practices, and automated the process to improve the overall stability and reliability of the process. This meant the deployment process was now faster, automated, and completely stress-free for our developers.
8. Observations: We introduced a comprehensive monitoring and alerting system that helped proactively resolve any issue the platform faced.

The technology we used!

To craft this cost-effective and secure solution, we used multiple technologies and AWS services such as:

1. AWS EC2, Containers
2. AWS Lambda and Serverless
3. AWS SQl and NoSql persistence
4. AWS SQS and SNS for a decoupled architecture and AWS events
5. AWS IAM, Organisations, Identity center
6. AWS logs, metrics, and monitoring
7. AWS Data Lake and Redshift data warehouse
8. AWS Costs Explorer and budgets
9. AWS Cloudformation (Infrastructure and automation) / Circle CI
10. AWS DevOps tools
11. Data Dog for observability in the full platform

What have we achieved?

Because of the implementation of our solution, the entire revamped application emerged as:

1. A Cloud Native – The application now seamlessly harnesses the power of cloud-based principles.
2. Microservices and AWS – Utilizing microservices and AWS, we maximized the platform’s potential.
3. Decoupled and event-driven platform – We ensured that an event-driven and decoupled platform emerged that could adapt to the latest technological advancements.
4. Scalable – The platform now can serve over 4.5 million users concurrently.
5. Revenue Generation – The platform and its ecosystem can now generate a revenue of over 6 million GBP.
6. Students love it – The new website has become one of the top most loved platforms among students in the UK.

Finally!

We at Arrk Group UK played a pivotal role with precision and expertise to help the client navigate the difficult task it had set out for itself. By taking time to understand the technological and functional differences, we provided a roadmap that could handle the surge of students looking to use it.

Our dedication to automation and DevOps practices helped remove any stress on our developers and brought in a culture of efficiency and reliability.

Ultimately, our collaboration shows that we help solve problems and unlock a new world of possibilities with the client.