The Challenge
Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity) is a leading provider of high-value research, analytics, and business intelligence for financial services. With over 4,000 employees globally, Acuity serves customers seeking innovation, transformation strategies and support.
Acuity needed to modernize its application environment (Jira & Confluence) to centralize information and support a globally distributed workforce and customer base.
Their IT staff had limited bandwidth and needed a skilled partner to manage migration and minimize risks. They selected e-Core because of a shared philosophy (empower, innovate, scale, and transform) and e-Core’s skill, experience, and proven methodology.
Acuity chose to migrate all Jira Software and Confluence content from its local servers to a cloud environment. The company knew cloud technology would support easy access to data, network reliability, scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency.
The project had to be completed with minimal disruption. Always-on availability was a major factor in Acuity’s decision to migrate to the Atlassian cloud. The company was further constrained by a limited time frame. Their on-premise Atlassian licenses had nearly expired when the project began, and Acuity was not interested in having dual on-premise and cloud licenses.
Sameer Goyal, Head of Engineering and Strategic Initiatives said, “We had data spread over various data centers all across the country. When we deployed on-premise, I used to worry about what would happen when we ran out of storage. How will our applications respond? We were staring at potential availability risk when the server is down for maintenance.” With cloud migration, he knew he would avoid having availability problems in the future.
Finally, Acuity needed two additional deliverables to optimize its cloud migration’s effectiveness. First, Acuity had to integrate Jira Software Cloud with GitHub to improve software development processes. Second, to enhance its security outlook, it was looking to integrate Atlassian Access SSO with the Okta identity management platform. SSO implementation not only helps financial services firms meet security standards and compliance requirements but also saves employees’ time and improves productivity.
The solution
e-Core completed a comprehensive assessment of Acuity’s existing networks, applications, processes, and workflows. It crafted a phased migration strategy that would be completed quickly, minimizing disruption while prioritizing data and network security.
Jira and Confluence were updated to their latest versions in the server environment to improve the stability and results of the migration. Data, processes, and workflows were run through a test environment and validated prior to migration.
Jira projects were migrated quickly and accurately using the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant app, which helped maintain all data and user history. Confluence content was migrated with the same success using the Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant app.
Acuity’s security profile was strengthened by configuring and integrating Single Sign On (SSO) between Atlassian Access and Okta identity management. This also ensured that updated applications and services could be easily accessed in a user-friendly manner, increasing adoption.
Jira was fully integrated with GitHub using the GitHub for Jira app and the Smart Commits syntax. e-Core synchronized commits, branches, and pull requests between GitHub and projects in Jira.
Results
The cloud migration resulted in technology process optimization for Acuity’s 4,000+ employees, making their daily work easier and enabling them to work smarter and faster. Acuity achieved greater flexibility and scalability. Furthermore, the migration ensured reliable, continued access to data, enabling Acuity to fulfill its promise of 24 x 7 x 365 services and customer support.
The migration was completed within a short time frame, with minimal disruption to employees or customers. As a technology-first company, Acuity was uniquely positioned to evaluate e-Core’s performance as a cloud migration partner.
“Good project management made it all possible. Setting project management expectations is one of the most critical aspects of an engagement. You make commitments. But whether or not you honor those commitments is a sign of your engagement quality. We found that e-Core followed through on every commitment. That was the cornerstone of this engagement,” said Goyal.
Acuity now has a cloud premium SLA that guarantees 99.9% uptime while eliminating the expense of maintaining a data center environment. With better availability and improved access to resources, IT productivity and capacity increased. IT can focus on high-level, strategic objectives, with reduced burnout and improved morale.
With full access to Jira and Confluence projects and spaces in the cloud environment, employees in the IT department and across the organization find it easier to collaborate, strategize, and innovate.
Moreover, given the cost savings from cloud adoption, improved process efficiency and employee productivity, resources previously dedicated to maintaining servers now focus on creating customer value.
Goyal noted, “The biggest problem that cloud computing solves is time-to-market. Launching a new application on-premise is easily a two-to-three-month project. But it takes me less than three minutes on the cloud to set up a server. And another five minutes to put on an application. So, I basically can cut through this perceived red tape and go to market faster.”
Business Impact Delivered.
“Working with e-Core, we had a real-time, contextual, and predictable view of the project. We always knew where we were with the project. Our experience was seamless and transparent.”
Vikash Kumar
Head of Digital Program Management, Strategic Initiatives at Acuity
Conclusion
Acuity attributes its successful cloud migration to several factors, such as e-Core’s detailed project plan, clear responsibilities, and transparent communications throughout the project.
“Working with e-Core, we had a real-time, contextual, and predictable view of the project. We always knew where we were with the project. Our experience with e-Core was seamless and transparent,” said Vikash Kumar, Head of Digital Program Management, Strategic Initiatives at Acuity.
Moreover, Acuity credits the speed at which employees adopted new techniques to the training, knowledge management, and seamless support from e-Core. “The feedback has been good. The application is now simpler to use and more convenient. Our team members are very happy with the experience and enjoying the ongoing team collaboration,” Kumar said.
Additionally, Acuity appreciates e-Core’s customer-first approach. Customer-first is Acuity’s core value – 24 x 7 availability is a cornerstone of Acuity’s service. e-Core’s approach to cloud migration reflected this philosophy.
“They worked on weekends and accommodated the time zone difference by being available during our work hours,” said
Kumar.
If your company is considering cloud migration but you are concerned about the hassles, data integrity, and security issues associated with large-scale migration, contact e-Core today.
You can increase your chances of successful cloud migration with a proven, tested migration process and a team of skilled and experienced technology consultants. Leverage e-Core’s methodology, skills, and experience to maximize your cloud investment, protect your data, and access all cloud technology’s benefits.
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