Efficiency Unleashed: How Minfy's Automated Strategy Transformed UGRO's Cloud Resource Management

Customer Challenges

U GRO faced a multitude of technical challenges, encountering delays in applying critical updates due to irregular security measures. This exposed the system to vulnerabilities, necessitating meticulous patch management. The low-security hub score highlighted the need for a detailed security enhancement strategy, requiring in-depth analysis. In addition, the absence of a real-time monitoring dashboard complicated management, and cost oversight became a major challenge. Moreover, organizational inefficiencies, including a lack of account stability, posed challenges, making cost reductions and financial optimizations complex. Therefore, a strategic and technical approach was imperative to fortify security, streamline costs, and establish an organized operational framework. U GRO reached out to Minfy to enlist us as their MSP to solve these issues.

Partner Solution

When Minfy engaged in routine support operations with U GRO, a comprehensive analysis revealed an abundance of underutilized resources, including dormant volumes, idle IP addresses, and lingering floating snapshots. In response, a proactive strategy was initiated, incorporating automated scripting and alert mechanisms for routine sanity checks. This systematic process served the dual purpose of ongoing vigilance over idle resources and concurrent endeavors to optimize costs for U GRO. The automation of these checks ensured a preemptive approach, systematically identifying and addressing unused resources, fortifying the system's efficiency, and mitigating unnecessary costs.

It was also noted that the S3 storage size progressively grew, resulting in runaway costs. To address this a lifecycle policy was recommended to manage costs and restrict storage capacity, Minfy suggested moving the data from standard to archival storage. In terms of data transfer, the month of September 2023, recorded a total outbound data volume of 63 TB. To address this, a review of log store data and lifecycle policies in CloudWatch was advised for optimal system management.

To address the lack of real-time monitoring, Minfy deployed Swayam™ (Minfy's in-house tool). It automated reports and played a pivotal role in enhancing resource management and cost optimization. By leveraging automation, integrity in the infrastructure was continually ensured, contributing to U GRO's fiscal prudence by identifying avenues for resource optimization and cost reduction proactively and systematically through the CXO dashboard and regular cost optimization.

Results

The implemented solution for U GRO yielded transformative outcomes, enhancing patch management to fortify system security and significantly improving the low-security hub score. Proactively identifying and optimizing underutilized resources streamlined financial processes. The introduction of real-time monitoring tools like Swayam and the CXO dashboard bolstered cost oversight for fiscal prudence. Addressing organizational challenges improved operational efficiency and reduced risks, successfully fortifying system security, optimizing costs, and establishing a structured operational framework. This integrated approach aligned U GRO with industry best practices for sustained success. Cost savings initiatives achieved significant benefits, with USD 8,904 in savings attributed to RDS and an additional USD 134 in savings related to EC2, reflecting a cumulative monthly savings of USD 9,038 through successful expense optimization. Following AWS best practices in the U GRO environment resulted in a subsequent Security Hub score improvement from 42% to 70%, addressing initial security glitches and ensuring a robust and secure environment.

About Minfy

Minfy specializes in multi-cloud support, advanced AWS infrastructure monitoring, Database (DB) support, and Application Modernization. Recognized for industry excellence and innovation, Minfy tailored comprehensive solutions for Uno Minda, showcasing expertise in multi-cloud environments and AWS services. Minfy actively participated in cost optimization exercises, demonstrating a commitment to efficiency and fiscal responsibility. We conduct APN programs, such as WAR (Well-Architected framework), different competencies (DevOps, Migration, Data Lake and few more), as a part of Minfy Services as Partners.