Business Case
CT DSS oversees the management of the Enterprise Master Person Index (EMPI) platform, which provides a single gateway to link citizens more effectively to a broad range of DSS programs and services. There were six non-production test and development environments for the EMPI hosted externally in a non-DSS datacenter. Visibility and access to these environments were very limiting for DSS. Maintaining and operating these environments was time-consuming and inefficient, as any changes or upgrades were applied separately to all six environments.
The Solution
Connecticut DSS wanted to consolidate the six remote EMPI environments supported in an external Data Center into two environments supported in the AWS cloud, which is under CT DSS jurisdiction.
To ensure a successful migration to the AWS Cloud and a well-architected framework, CMA considered five important parameters—security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and operational excellence.
CMA successfully migrated and configured the following tools and technologies in the AWS cloud environment:
- AWS Windows 2012 R2
- NextGate Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) application
- AWS EC2
- MS SQL Server on AWS EC2
- AWS CloudWatch
- AWS Security Features (Security Groups, AWS VPC, VPN Connectivity)
- Java JDK database driver 8.x
- Soap UI toolkit 5.x
The Results
CMA worked with DSS and other project stakeholders to successfully migrate and consolidate the six remotely-hosted EMPI environments into the two environments residing in the AWS Cloud. This migration continued, without interruption, during the COVID-19 outbreak, and CMA successfully completed the work on schedule during the pandemic.
The migration gave CT DSS many advantages and benefits. In terms of cost, the client should see reduced operational costs, with increased effectiveness of IT processes. The use of AWS Cloud computing also shifts the IT expenditures to a flexible and streamlined pay-as-you-go model.
In addition, the migration provided CT DSS with increased visibility and control into the environments while reducing the workload for monitoring by the IT support department. It has also improved the handling and efficiency of administrative tasks such as database backup, software upgrades, and support.
Finally, the AWS Cloud computing environments allow remotely-located employees to access applications easily and work via the internet.