Assai's Seamless Transition to Azure Kubernetes

Empowering Innovation: Assai's Seamless Transition to Azure Kubernetes

As Assai embarked on the journey to migrate to Azure Kubernetes (AKS), they recognized the need for a reliable partner to navigate the complexities of this transition. After careful consideration, Assai chose CloudNation.

About Assai

Assai serves as an integrated system for document management, document control, and asset information management, specifically tailored for complex projects and operations within the energy market.

The Challenge

Operating primarily within a monolithic framework posed significant hurdles for Assai. The dependency on virtual machines running on Windows proved to be expensive and cumbersome for maintenance, especially regarding security patching. Additionally, the lack of agility hindered their ability to release services swiftly and innovate effectively. To address these challenges, Assai sought a more modern infrastructure with improved automation capabilities and better scalability for future enhancements.

Why CloudNation?

CloudNation emerged as the preferred partner for Assai due to their location in the Netherlands, facilitating personal contact and on-site support, which proved invaluable. Furthermore, CloudNation's expertise extended beyond Azure, aligning with Assai's broader technology objectives. The detailed response to the RFP demonstrated a shared understanding and language between the two parties.

"The cultural alignment between Assai and CloudNation is remarkable. CloudNation truly feels like an extension of our team." – Floris Schrijver, CTO Assai

The Solution

CloudNation assembled a dedicated team of cloud consultants to collaborate closely with Assai, functioning as an extension of their workforce. Tasked with implementing Azure Kubernetes and orchestrating the migration to Azure Kubernetes, CloudNation executed a seamless transition. Assai's comprehensive migration encompassed production environments across multiple global locations, ensuring minimal disruption to operations.

By leveraging containers and microservices, Assai gained agility and scalability. Breaking down functionalities into smaller components facilitated granular scalability and efficient resource allocation. CloudNation's ongoing knowledge sharing about Azure and Infrastructure as Code empowered Assai to enhance their infrastructure on Azure continually.

The Results

Assai now experiences improved uptime reliability, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery to their customers. The transition to microservices streamlined their innovation pipeline, facilitating agile release management and automation, thus reducing the likelihood of errors. With the constraints of monolithic architecture eliminated, Assai navigates the innovation landscape with newfound ease and efficiency.

"The partnership with CloudNation has significantly enhanced our infrastructure capabilities, enabling us to innovate faster and optimize our operations." – Floris Schrijver, CTO Assai

Furthermore, Assai has optimized costs on the cloud by leveraging AKS autoscaling capabilities, resulting in significant cost savings. They managed to save on infrastructure costs. Enhanced security measures, including least privilege access, provide better organization and control over data access, ensuring heightened security posture compared to the previous infrastructure.

Future Cooperation between Assai and CloudNation

CloudNation remains committed to assisting Assai in cost optimization efforts. Assai plans to leverage the flexibility of their new infrastructure to expedite patching processes and deploy new releases efficiently.

In conclusion, the partnership between Assai and CloudNation exemplifies a successful collaboration driving innovation, efficiency, and resilience in the face of evolving technology landscapes.