Modern DevOps & Infrastructure As Code Modernization Achieving 86% Cost Optimization

Post University is a private, for-profit university in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA, known for being one of the first institutions to offer full degrees online. They have an internal department that is responsible for data management and business intelligence.

The customer’s infrastructure operated below modern standards, with all Azure resources being configured manually through the portal. This approach led to significant inefficiencies and lack of standardization in resource management.

The existing infrastructure generated substantial monthly costs, primarily due to oversized resources and inefficient resource allocation.

With no automated provisioning process in place, the team faced constant operational overhead and increased risk of configuration errors. The manual approach also made it difficult to maintain consistency across environments.

The organization needed to maintain its existing solution during the transformation, requiring a carefully orchestrated transition to avoid service disruptions.

As the whole initiative was very technical, it required constant communication with the client and translation of technical concepts into business language.

We began with a thorough analysis of the existing infrastructure, developing a new architectural design that aligned with modern standards. This foundation enabled us to create a clear vision and timeline for the transformation.

To address the legacy infrastructure challenges, we:

• Designed and implemented new architecture utilizing cost-effective Azure Services
• Developed infrastructure as code using Bicep scripts
• Established automated deployment processes through CI/CD pipelines
• Created separate development and production environments with comprehensive testing

To eliminate manual dependencies and standardize processes, we:

• Replaced manual Azure portal configurations with automated scripting
• Implemented infrastructure as code for consistent resource provisioning
• Set up automated testing to ensure reliability and reduce configuration errors

Understanding that the organization needed to maintain its existing solution, we implemented a carefully orchestrated transition approach. This enabled the organization to continue its operations while the new infrastructure was being deployed.

We established weekly status meetings as part of our iterative approach, ensuring clear translation of technical concepts into business language. This gave the client full visibility of the project’s progress throughout the implementation.

Through our two-phase approach, we achieved remarkable cost reductions in the infrastructure:

• Phase 1 delivered immediate savings of over 22% annually through optimization of existing resources – scaling down oversized virtual machines, adjusting storage accounts, and eliminating redundant resources. These savings are already reflected in the client’s current billings.
• Phase 2 will deliver additional cost reduction through modern DevOps tools and optimized architecture, making the solution 86% more cost-effective. These savings will be fully realized once the client decommissions the legacy resources.

The client received a completely modernized infrastructure leveraging cost-effective Azure Services, designed with best practices and future scalability in mind. The new architecture significantly improved resource utilization and operational efficiency.

Implementation of YAML-based CI/CD pipelines revolutionized the deployment process, eliminating manual interventions and ensuring consistent, reliable infrastructure updates.

The entire infrastructure is now managed through Bicep scripts and templates, providing automated provisioning and configuration capabilities while ensuring consistency across environments.

Delivered complete documentation covering both high-level architecture and detailed operational manuals, enabling the client’s team to effectively manage and maintain the new infrastructure.