Elevating Verofax: A Case Study on Strategic Azure Migration
Elevating Verofax: A Case Study on Strategic Azure Migration
REGION
Middle-East
COMPANY TYPE
Startup
INDUSTRY
Information Technology & Services
CLOUD SOLUTION
The operational efficiencies we've gained through Bespin Global's meticulous planning and execution have transformed our business. Bespin has helped us not only reduce costs but also create a more resilient and secure business platform.
THE CUSTOMER
Founded in 2018 and based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with a presence in Middletown, Delaware, US, Verofax specializes in product digitization, providing innovative solutions that empower brands, retailers, and governments to enhance their operations. Recognized for its asset digitization and traceability software, which democratizes digital transformation, Verofax operates an automation and traceability platform connecting to customers’ current systems. Verofax’s services include sustainable validation via hosted testing as a service (TaaS) running on Microsoft Azure.
THE CHALLENGE
Driven by the need to address various issues affecting operational efficiency, development productivity, exposure to potential security risks and threats, and high consumption costs for clients, Verofax required a partner with expertise in cloud-native solutions and digital transformation experience to help them navigate these challenges and optimize their operations.
“We were at a critical stage where our infrastructure’s limitations were becoming a bottleneck for our growth and innovation,” says Wassim Merheby, CEO of Verofax. “Our expansion goals necessitated a migration that would empower us with enhanced scalability and management capabilities, while also addressing the pressing need for a fortified security posture. However, since we lacked the required skills in-house, we needed a partner with the expertise and experience aligned with our comprehensive requirements.”
Due to TaaS and in-house applications being hosted across multiple Azure subscriptions, Verofax wanted to migrate from Azure Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) to Enterprise Agreement (EA) subscriptions. While Azure CSP subscriptions offer significant benefits when managed by a Microsoft partner, they posed challenges in resource management and operational efficiency for Verofax, which wanted to take advantage of the flexibility, scalability, and better management capabilities of EA subscriptions aligned to the company’s needs.
THE SOLUTION
“A migration project also allowed us to address other critical issues to deliver the capabilities our customers are looking for,” says Merheby. “Our goal for the project was a scalable and cost-effective cloud infrastructure, enhanced deployment and development capabilities, and a more robust security posture.”
Choosing the Right Partner
Verofax selected Bespin Global, an e& enterprise company, for their cloud-native expertise and end-to-end services. Bespin’s reputation as a digital transformation enabler and its ability to provide comprehensive solutions from discovery to security implementation made it the ideal partner for Verofax’s ambitious migration project.
“Bespin Global’s digitally enabled architects and engineers positioned them as a leading enabler for our Azure migration journey,” says Merheby. “They had the right mix of expertise and commitment to excellence that our migration project demanded.”
Bespin Global played a crucial role in the project, handling the architecture and implementation of the Azure Landing Zone and the transition of resources to newly established Enterprise Agreement (EA) subscriptions for more flexibility, scalability, and better management capabilities. In addition, Bespin’s team formulated a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, ensuring that Verofax can maintain essential business functions during and after a disaster, reducing the impact of disruptions and ensuring ongoing operations.
“Our strategy was to provide Verofax with a seamless migration experience,” says Joseph George, BESPIN GLOBAL’s Project Manager, “while also enhancing their operational and security capabilities without disrupting their ongoing business activities.”
Leveraging Modern Infrastructure
“We carefully selected each technology to build a modern infrastructure that not only solved Verofax’s immediate challenges but also set them up for future success,” says Mahmoud Atallah, Bespin Global’s Azure Delivery Lead. “Leveraging Azure provides Verofax with a robust, secure, and efficient cloud environment.”
To ensure that Bespin Global applied the Azure Well-Architected Framework. This framework, which emphasizes five critical pillars—Cost Optimization, Operational Excellence, Performance Efficiency, Reliability, and Security—guided the creation of a streamlined and future-ready cloud solution tailored to Verofax’s evolving needs.
While Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) was retained as a managed container orchestration service to simplify the deployment, management, and operations of Kubernetes, Azure Firewall was chosen to control egress traffic, addressing Verofax’s need for robust cloud-based application protection given the security vulnerabilities in their existing AKS and VMs. In addition, Microsoft Defender for Cloud was selected for its comprehensive threat-prevention capabilities, which were instrumental in reducing security incidents and enhancing Verofax’s security posture.
Furthermore, Azure Policy and Azure Key Vault were implemented to enforce governance standards, regulatory compliance, and secure secrets management. Azure Policy evaluates Azure resources against the policies created, reporting on compliance and automatically implementing changes, while Azure Key Vault streamlines the key management process and provides secure access to sensitive information while also monitoring access and use. In addition, Azure Disk Encryption (ADE) and Azure Bastion were chosen to enhance data protection and secure remote access to virtual machines directly in the Azure portal, while Azure Monitoring helps maximize the availability and performance of applications and services.
“Bespin selected each technology and service based on its ability to address our specific requirements for governance, operational efficiency, security, and overall cloud infrastructure management,” says Merheby. “Their choices formed a well-integrated solution aligned with our needs, industry standards, and best practices.”
Optimizing Efficiencies
Bespin Global was responsible for managing Verofax’s end-to-end cloud journey, which also included the implementation of CI/CD pipelines to streamline code deployment, enhance version control, and improve development processes. In addition, operational optimization was achieved by cleaning up stale and orphaned resources and implementing FinOps for efficient cost management, leading to significant cost savings and improved resource utilization.
“The new DevOps pipelines have been a game-changer,” says Merheby. “They’ve significantly streamlined our development processes, allowing our teams to deliver faster and more reliably, while implementing FinOps has led to significant cost savings and improved resource utilization.”
Bespin Global’s FinOps services are designed to automate cloud cost management and provide real-time visibility into cloud spending. This allows customers to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize their cloud environment. The services are tailored to each business, ensuring that solutions are customized to maximize return on investment (ROI).
RESULTS & BENEFITS
“The results speak for themselves,” declares Merheby. “We now have a more agile, secure, and efficient infrastructure that is ready to support our ambitious growth plans. The technical and operational results have been outstanding, with a marked reduction in security incidents, a newfound ability to rapidly scale our resources, and a 70% reduction in cloud consumption costs, allowing us to offer the Verofax solution at a more affordable price to our clients. That’s all due to Bespin’s expertise!”
Bespin Global’s value in Verofax’s Azure migration project was multifaceted, encompassing its cloud-native expertise, end-to-end services, and digital transformation experience. By adopting a microservices architecture where appropriate, Verofax was able to enhance application resilience and ensure that individual components could scale independently based on demand. Its comprehensive approach to the project, from planning and migration to FinOps and security implementation, demonstrated its ability to address complex challenges and deliver a seamless transition with minimal operational impact. Furthermore, the project was completed 21 days earlier than planned, demonstrating the efficiency and effectiveness of the migration process.
“The results of our Azure migration have exceeded all expectations,” says Merheby enthusiastically, “especially because it came in 30% ahead of schedule! The operational efficiencies we’ve gained through Bespin Global’s meticulous planning and execution have transformed our business. Bespin has helped us not only reduce costs but also create a more resilient and secure business platform, which will undoubtedly impact customer satisfaction and retention.”
“Completing the project ahead of schedule is proof of our team’s dedication and the strong collaboration with Verofax,” says George. “Seeing Verofax reap the benefits of increased operational efficiency and a robust security posture is a testament to the power of a well-executed cloud migration.”
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
