Executive summary
Our client, InvoiceXpress, a major player in the Financial field, offers expert services through their specialised multidisciplinary teams that assist in the field of online invoicing software. They have more than 5k customers and have a team that is committed to making sure that no one will ever struggle to deal with invoicing again. Having that in mind our client was looking to centralize the entire infrastructure in a single point, under its full management.
Devoteam helped and allowed InvoiceXpress to configure and implement a new infrastructure under their full control, as well as support the migration of the data and the subsequent infrastructure management.
About the Client
InvoiceXpress is part of a group named RUPEAL, present in the market since 2007 with an invoicing SaaS solution for the SME market. InvoiceXpress is a cloud-based invoicing and billing software designed to help businesses streamline their invoicing processes, manage expenses, and handle financial transactions. It is particularly aimed at small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and freelancers. As a certified invoicing program, InvoiceXpress is always up to date with legal updates from the Tax Authority, so that our customers always invoice following the laws in force with some features as:
- Invoicing
- Online Payments
- Expense Tracking
- Estimates and Quotes
- Reports and Analytics
- Client Management
- Automation
- Multi-Currency and Multi-Language Support
- Tax Compliance
The Challenge
Our client is a reference in the financial field because of their online invoicing software which makes the finance process much easier for their clients.
Migrating data and managing infrastructure poses a complex challenge for a client, especially when the infrastructure is segmented and dispersed across multiple partners.
The challenge lies in not only migrating the data efficiently but also in establishing a unified management framework post-migration and having the least downtime during this process. This framework must address the diverse technical requirements and operational preferences of the partners, guaranteeing smooth ongoing operations. Effective communication, collaborative planning, and robust management tools are essential to overcome this challenge and ensure a successful migration and subsequent infrastructure management in a multi-partner, segmented environment. Migrating data and managing dispersed infrastructure under the management of various partners involves a combination of technical, organisational, and logistical complexities. Addressing these challenges requires careful planning, collaboration, clear communication, and the implementation of robust strategies to ensure a successful migration and effective ongoing management.
With Devoteam’s collaboration, we achieved a successful migration of our InvoiceXpress invoicing SaaS, moving from infrastructure management on EngineYard to full integration on AWS. Their experience and dedication were instrumental in this smooth and effective transition. Devoteam not only demonstrated professionalism and technical competence, but also a deep understanding of our needs and objectives, ensuring that each phase of the process was executed with excellence. We are grateful for the exceptional work and the valuable partnership we established.
The solution
Addressing this multifaceted challenge necessitates not only the efficient migration of data but also the establishment of a cohesive post-migration management framework. This framework must adeptly accommodate the array of technical prerequisites and operational inclinations presented by the diverse partner landscape, ensuring a seamless continuum of operations.
To successfully navigating the challenges of migrating data and managing dispersed infrastructure with multiple partners requires a comprehensive solution that focuses on creating a cohesive management framework, ensuring technical integration, prioritising data security, monitoring performance, managing changes, and fostering effective communication. By implementing these strategies, the client can achieve a harmonious and efficient post-migration environment that aligns with the operational preferences of all partners involved.
Having that in mind, the Devoteam team divided this project into two different steps involving Professional Services & Managed Services.
Step 1 – Data Migration
- Creation, configuration and parameterisation of the AWS RDS MySQL or Amazon Aurora MySQL service (Pre-Production and Production environments).
- Import MySQL dump from the Database (Source) to the Database (Target – Pre-Production).
- Define governance, security and flows.
- Monitor and test data replication and synchronisation between source and target (post-backup restore).
- Change the pointing of applications to the new MySQL or Amazon Aurora RDS (Production) created in the InvoiceXpress AWS account.
- Create the replicas of the Master DB according to the parameters defined by InvoiceXpress.
Step 2 – ECS Cluster Migration
- Re-sizing the ECS Cluster (Fargate) to the Pre-Production environment.
- Replication of the ECS Cluster (Fargate) from Pre-Production to Production.
- Definition of the ECS Cluster (Fargate) in Terraform.
Operation, Maintenance & Support
Devoteam will ensure operation, maintenance and support services in the following areas:
- Service Management – Contract management, scope, provision and presentation of service reporting (monthly).
- Service Desk – Single point of contact with InvoiceXpress, incident management, request management and changes.
- Knowledge Management – Management of knowledge base arising from activities and operations
- Infrastructure and Cloud Services – Administration and support of operating systems and cloud services
- Monitoring and Alarming – Continuous monitoring of the solution and its components and respective alarming, including the components of storage consumption, and use of CPU, memory and bandwidth.
- Storage and Backup – Management of data storage, and backup and restore processes.
The architecture was designed alongside AWS to provide the client with the best solution possible following the AWS guidelines.
Our team created all the AWS resources that were needed by the application layer using Terraform to provide infrastructure as code (IaC). This is important because it brings many benefits to our client, such as faster speed and consistency, which allows environment replication and disaster recovery within minutes.
Since the application was running in docker containers, we configured an Elastic Container Service (ECS) cluster using Fargate mode, which demands less effort to manage since it is a serverless offer. Inside the cluster, we were able to define the services that use task definitions to keep a desired number of containers running.
In front of the ECS cluster, we deployed an Application Load Balancer to expose the web application to the world through this single point, using TLS/SSL in-transit encryption and security groups to block all the other ports (besides 443).
The main benefits
Main results and benefits for the customer are:
- The entire AWS infrastructure is centralized in a single point, under the client’s full management and control, allowing them to quickly implement new services, and features and make changes when needed.
- Increased productivity
- Reduced errors
- Flexibility
- Cost reduction
- Scalability
- Security
- Business agility
- Sustainability
- Efficient backup
- Storage
- Monitoring
- Resilient architecture
- Elasticity
- Agility
- Centralised infrastructure management
- Faster replication and disaster recovery (IaC)
