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GFT helps investment firm migrate legacy applications to AWS cloud

GFT helps investment firm migrate legacy applications to AWS cloud

An alternative investment asset manager needed to integrate applications from an acquisition into its existing ecosystem, with improved security, quality, and continuous integration and delivery

A modern glass skyscraper reflecting a bright blue sky with soft white clouds, symbolising innovation and growth. — A sleek, modern glass building reflecting a clear blue sky with soft clouds, representing innovation and the seamless integration of technology and architecture. This image embodies GFT's expertise in cloud migration and digital transformation for financial institutions, enhancing operational efficiency and scalability.

Capability to create the entire environment from scratch in 8 hours with a minimum of manual intervention or configuration

Reduce the number of servers from 20 to 14

Reduce the size of the servers based on the usage by around of 20 percent

Challenge

From legacy applications to the cloud

An alternative investment firm with more than $73 billion in assets under management, needed to migrate and integrate applications from legacy systems inherited through its acquisition in 2014.

The older systems didn’t have the capabilities for the continuous integration, deployment, and change management required of newer applications. The firm asked GFT to transfer the applications from the acquired legacy system to the cloud-based platform used for its other applications, and it wanted the project completed within eight months.

The firm also wanted some automation of certain functions and ongoing support for the applications once the migration was complete.

Engagement

Completing the migration in record time

The firm chose GFT after a series of practical tests in which we proposed solutions for some of its specific migration issues.

GFT migrated 28 complex applications from the legacy environment to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. It developed a system of automated tests for the user interface that covered 240 scenarios inside those applications.

We also implemented continuous integration of the applications using a variety of tools such as TFS, Go Server, CHEF, and AWS CloudFormation.

As the firm began running more processes on a serverless system, we migrated all the legacy apps from the legacy on-premises server to the cloud, using an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model for building, deployment, configuration, and automated testing.

GFT’s automation process drastically improved the project’s timeline, with the process of building, deploying, and testing, the applications completed in less than eight hours.

Benefit

Improving performance, scalability, and reliability at lower cost

After the migration had been completed, the investment firm’s development process maturity increased, and average application performance rose by 38 percent.

GFT’s automation enabled the firm to reduce support staff for the applications from 23 to eight, reducing support costs by more than 65 percent. In addition, the new system offers improved scalability and reliability for all applications moving to the cloud.

“The objective was to migrate all applications from the ordering environment in the older company’s legacy application to the investment firm. And after that migration, then we would take over support of those applications.”

Michael Pizzo

Senior Client Partner