Client's Testimonial

The team at Developers.dev provided the strategic, unbiased expertise we needed to execute a complex multi-cloud strategy. They weren't just AWS or Azure experts; they were cloud experts. Their methodical approach, from cost analysis to implementing a seamless CI/CD pipeline across clouds, has made our infrastructure more resilient and cost-effective. They've become an invaluable extension of our platform engineering team.

James Peterson, CIO

Client Introduction

An established online retailer with over $2B in annual revenue was running its entire operation on a single public cloud provider. While successful, the executive team, led by the CIO, recognized this single-vendor dependency as a significant business risk. They were also concerned that they weren't leveraging the unique strengths of other cloud platforms, potentially overspending and missing out on innovation.

Problem

The client's complete reliance on a single cloud provider created a potential single point of failure. A major outage from that provider could take their entire business offline for hours, costing millions. Furthermore, they suspected they were overpaying for certain services like data warehousing and wanted to explore more competitive options.

Key Challenges

Vendor Lock-in

Their applications and infrastructure tooling were tightly coupled to the primary cloud provider's proprietary services.

Operational Complexity

Managing infrastructure and deployments across multiple clouds without increasing operational overhead was a major concern.

Cost Management

Gaining a unified view of costs across different cloud providers was difficult.

Data Portability

Moving terabytes of data between clouds for specific workloads needed to be efficient and secure.

Our Solution

We assembled a "Site-Reliability-Engineering / Observability Pod" to lead the multi-cloud initiative. Our strategy focused on using platform-agnostic tools and identifying specific workloads to migrate for clear ROI.

📊 Workload Analysis

We analyzed their application portfolio and identified the data analytics workload as the perfect candidate for migration to Google Cloud Platform's BigQuery, which offered superior performance and cost savings.

🛠️ Abstracted Tooling

We containerized applications with Docker and used Kubernetes (via Rancher) to manage clusters across both AWS and GCP, creating a single control plane. Infrastructure was managed via Terraform for platform-agnostic provisioning.

🚀 Cross-Cloud CI/CD

We re-architected their CI/CD pipeline (using GitLab CI) to be able to deploy containerized applications to either cloud provider from a single, unified pipeline.

👁️ Centralized Monitoring

We implemented a centralized observability platform to provide a single pane of glass for monitoring application performance and infrastructure costs across both clouds.

Implementation and Execution

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Conducted a cost-benefit analysis that projected a 30% saving on data warehousing costs by moving to BigQuery.

Secure Interconnect

Established a secure, high-speed interconnect between AWS and GCP.

Pilot Migration

Performed a pilot migration of a non-critical dataset to validate the process and performance.

Data Warehouse Migration

Systematically migrated the primary data warehouse to BigQuery with zero downtime for the e-commerce site.

Application Refactoring

Refactored key applications to be stateless and cloud-agnostic.

Team Training

Trained the client's in-house SRE team on managing the new multi-cloud environment and tooling.

Positive Outcome

💪 Enhanced Resilience

The business is no longer vulnerable to a single-provider outage. Critical applications can now be failed over to the secondary cloud provider.

💰 32% Cost Reduction

The migration of the data analytics workload to BigQuery resulted in a 32% reduction in data warehousing costs annually.

🤝 Increased Bargaining Power

Having a multi-cloud strategy gave the client significant leverage in negotiating enterprise agreements with both cloud providers.

⚙️ Operational Efficiency

The unified tooling and CI/CD pipeline allowed them to manage a more complex environment without a proportional increase in headcount.

Why Choose Us

🌐 Platform-Agnostic Expertise

Our certified experts across AWS, Azure, and GCP provided unbiased, strategic advice.

⚠️ Focus on Business Risk

We framed the project around mitigating a key business risk, which resonated with the executive team.

🔧 SRE & DevOps Mastery

Our expertise in Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD was critical to abstracting away the complexity.

📈 Data-Driven Approach

Our solution was based on a thorough analysis of their workloads and costs.

✅ Phased, Low-Risk Implementation

We proved the value with a pilot project before a full-scale migration.

🧠 Knowledge Transfer

We empowered the client's team to manage the multi-cloud environment confidently.

💲 Cost Optimization Focus

We delivered a clear and measurable ROI.

🏢 Enterprise-Scale Experience

We have a proven track record of handling complex, mission-critical infrastructure projects.

🤝 Strategic Partnership

We acted as strategic advisors, not just implementers.

Conclusion

By embracing a multi-cloud strategy with Developers.dev, the e-commerce client transformed their infrastructure from a potential liability into a strategic advantage. They achieved higher resilience, significant cost savings, and greater flexibility, positioning them to continue innovating and leading in the competitive retail market.

Multi-Cloud Strategy for an E-commerce Giant: Enhancing Resilience and Optimizing Costs

Industry Retail & E-commerce