From Legacy Systems to Cloud Flexibility: A Medtech’s Journey with Bespin Global
From Legacy Systems to Cloud Flexibility: A Medtech’s Journey with Bespin Global
REGION
Middle-East
COMPANY TYPE
Startup / Digital Native
INDUSTRY
Healthcare
CLOUD SOLUTION
We observed a risk that applications hardcoded to connect to SQL databases using IP addresses may experience downtime. To mitigate this risk, we implemented Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN) for database connections, to ensure a smoother transition and reduce potential downtime.
THE CUSTOMER
Our client is a leading medical technology company, developing a suite of products that offer minimally invasive laser treatments.
The company’s products stand out for their careful, unique application of laser technology across everyday medical procedures. For example, the company’s diode laser system is notable for its dual wavelengths (980 nm and 1470 nm), making it adaptable for use in different medical specialties.
The company is recognized for pioneering innovative treatment methods and for its contributions to advancing laser medicine. It commits to ongoing research and development to ensure its offerings represent the cutting edge of laser medical solutions.
With three decades of expertise in medical laser and fiber technology, our client emphasizes innovation. It benefits both healthcare professionals and patients and ensures the company retains a unique position in photodynamic therapy.
But, just like so many other established companies, the company’s three decades in business meant that it accumulated a range of legacy applications. These legacy applications were costly to run and relied on expensive on-premises solutions.
THE CHALLENGE
The client was ready to move its on-premises workloads to the cloud but faced a multifaceted challenge – beyond simply shifting existing servers into the cloud. First, the company relied on a series of virtual machines that required a significant level of bandwidth: up to 100Mbps for optimal performance.
Without this level of bandwidth, the replication and migration processes could be delayed, affecting project timelines and potentially increasing costs due to extended transition periods.
Another significant challenge was around the version of Microsoft applications the company relied on. This included an unsupported version of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, which required an upgrade to Dynamics AX 2012 R3 or later for successful migration.
Likewise, the organization relied on Dynamics CRM 2007 and SharePoint 2007, neither of which enjoyed support on Microsoft Azure. That said, the biggest challenge was Exchange Server 2010: no longer supported, the company’s entire cohort of mailboxes needed to be upgraded to Exchange Server 2013 all of which required significant planning, migration efforts, and costs.
Altogether, our client faced a complex migration process and demanded a Microsoft Partner with deep Azure expertise for cloud migration – and the knowledge to successfully upgrade legacy Microsoft solutions to current product versions.
THE SOLUTION
The company partnered with Bespin Global, an e& enterprise company and a leader in cloud professional services, to design, deploy, and manage this transition. Bespin proposed a solution built on Azure Landing Zones covering design areas such as identity management, resource organization, network topology and connectivity, governance, deployment options, and an operations baseline.
The initial phase involved migrating the client’s existing Windows and Linux servers directly to Azure Virtual Machines. This lift-and-shift approach allowed for rapid migration without extensive changes to the underlying applications, ensuring that the company could maintain operational continuity during the transition. The team meticulously planned the migration of each server to guarantee that performance and availability were preserved.
Bespin worked closely with the client to tackle their complex migration from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud. They were facing several significant hurdles, starting with the need for robust bandwidth—up to 100Mbps—to keep their virtual machines running smoothly. We took a close look at their network setup and recommended improvements to ensure they had the necessary speed for replication and migration.
The real challenge, though, lay in their reliance on outdated Microsoft applications. The client was using unsupported versions like Dynamics AX 2009, Dynamics CRM 2007, and SharePoint 2007. We crafted a plan to upgrade these systems, targeting Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and the latest versions of the other applications. The biggest task was the migration of their Exchange Server 2010, which required careful planning to move all mailboxes to Exchange Server 2013.
As part of the migration strategy, supported SQL workloads were re-platformed to Azure SQL Database, which operates as a Platform as a Service (PaaS). This shift not only simplified database management but also allowed the company to leverage built-in scalability, automated backups, and enhanced security features, improving overall database performance and reducing administrative overhead.
To help facilitate communication during this transition, we integrated SendGrid with Exchange, allowing them to send emails from Azure seamlessly. Through collaboration and a clear strategy, we were able to guide the client through these challenges, setting them up for a successful cloud journey while modernizing their legacy systems.
“For the company’s network architecture, we proposed a hub-and-spoke model for virtual private cloud (VPC) networks, ensuring network-level isolation. This model features Virtual Network peering for connectivity between different VNETs. The hub VNET houses the VPN Gateway, facilitating secure data exchange across VPC networks.” – according to Basil Damra – Bespin Global Senior DevOps Engineer.
For security, Bespin segregated the production environment in the Production VNET, while staging and development/testing environments are allocated to separate VNETs.
THE OUTCOME
Working closely with the client, Bespin Global successfully transitioned on-premises servers to Azure Virtual Machines – enhancing the company’s IT security, scalability, and availability. The move to the cloud leveraged Azure’s on-demand compute resources and utilizes Azure Managed Disks for robust, high-performance storage.
Besides rehosting and re-platforming, the migration plan included adapting existing applications to better utilize cloud services. Applications were modified to integrate with Azure-native features such as Azure Storage, and Azure Logic Apps. By embracing these cloud capabilities, the client was able to enhance application performance, improve resilience, and take full advantage of the Azure ecosystem.
“We observed a risk that applications hardcoded to connect to SQL databases using IP addresses may experience downtime. To mitigate this risk, we implemented Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN) for database connections, to ensure a smoother transition and reduce potential downtime.” – Basil Damra.
Bespin also recommended Azure Backup for its cost-efficient, secure, and straightforward backup capabilities, adaptable to our storage needs, and managed through a centralized interface.
Alongside Azure Backup, Microsoft Defender for Cloud safeguards the company’s cloud infrastructure, with foundational cloud security posture management (CSPM) enabled by default to include asset discovery, ongoing assessments, security improvement recommendations, and a Secure score to gauge the organization’s security posture.
For Active Directory Domain Controller integration, we recommend deploying an additional controller within Azure to support migrated VMs. This ensures seamless communication with an on-premises Domain Controller for domain-joined PCs, with frequent native Active Directory replication between controllers for consistency and reliability.
RESULTS & BENEFITS
Overall, it meant that the company’s eleven branch offices experienced minimal disruption, now able to efficiently connect to virtual machines in the cloud.
Azure Monitor will be deployed to ensure optimal availability and performance of applications and services, offering extensive telemetry collection, analysis, and action capabilities across cloud and on-prem environments, aiding in proactive issue resolution and performance monitoring.
The client’s engagement with Bespin Global resulted in a successful migration of on-premises workloads to Microsoft Azure. This transition brought about several significant benefits, including:
- Enhanced scalability and flexibility: Azure’s on-demand compute resources and pay-as-you-go model empower the client to rapidly scale infrastructure up or down in response to fluctuating business needs, driving efficiency.
- Improved cost management: Shifting from a capital expenditure (CapEx) model for on-premises hardware to an operational expenditure (OpEx) model through Azure allows for more predictable IT costs and a reduction of upfront investments.
- Robust security: The implementation of Azure’s security mechanisms, such as Azure Backup, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and Azure Active Directory, bolsters the company’s security posture against cyber threats, ensuring data protection.
- Increased availability and performance: Azure’s high-performance infrastructure, paired with Azure Load Balancer and Azure Monitor, guarantees optimal application responsiveness and minimizes downtime for the client’s end-users.
- Streamlined IT management: Azure’s centralized management capabilities allow the company’s IT team to effectively administer cloud resources, leading to reduced operational complexity and overhead.
These outcomes position the client to continue delivering innovation in the medical devices space – while enjoying streamlined operations, and long-term cost savings. All within a secure, reliable environment for delivery of their cutting-edge medical solutions.
Throughout the migration process, Bespin Global ensured continuous assessment of the client’s cloud environment. By leveraging tools such as Microsoft Defender for Cloud, the team provided ongoing evaluations of the security posture, resource utilization, and performance metrics. This proactive approach allowed for immediate adjustments and optimizations, ensuring that the company’s cloud infrastructure remained aligned with best practices.
“The key design decisions and descriptions provided by the case study highlighted the importance of integrating various Azure services and tools to strengthen security posture, manage encryption and secrets, organize resources efficiently, and ensure network security and connectivity.” – according to Damra.
This comprehensive approach aimed to leverage Azure’s innovative stack of services and tools to evolve the client’s platform for future needs.
About Bespin Global, an e& enterprise company:
A Microsoft Azure and Security Specialized Solution Partner, BESPIN GLOBAL MEA (Middle East and Africa), an e& enterprise company, is a leading provider of automated cloud solutions and consulting services, including cloud strategy, migration, implementation, DevOps, and Big Data. Acknowledged by Gartner in 2020 as a “Leader” in Public Cloud Infrastructure and Managed Services, Bespin Global was also recognized as a “Visionary” for Public Cloud IT Transformation Services in 2022 and 2023. Bespin offers the industry’s most automated, end-to-end cloud management platform, Bespin OpsNow, enabling customers to consolidate, visualize, and manage distributed, multi-cloud assets within a single solution to optimize resources and reduce costs by 30% or more.
Address: The Offices 4, #138-139, One Central, Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC)
Telephone: 800 BESPIN (237746)
P.O. Box: 340729
