Moving Big Retail Centralized CRM and Data Management Server to Infrastructure as a Service (AWS)

This case study focuses on the Big Retail Company called XYZ that has decided to change its current centralized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and data management server to the cloud-based system. The cloud-based model that is selected is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud that will be Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform. The case study discusses the current issues, scalability concerns, challenges, implementation plan, cloud architecture, microservices architecture, business layer, continuous integration, and feasibility analysis.

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Moving Big Retail Centralized CRM and Data Management Server to
Infrastructure as a Service (AWS)
5/22/2019

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1. Introduction & Description of the Case
The case study focuses on the Big Retail Company called XYZ that has decided to change its
current centralized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and data management
server to the cloud-based system. The cloud-based model that is selected is Infrastructure as a
Service (IaaS) cloud that will be Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform.
1.1. Current Issues
There is lot of data that the organization deals with on a per day basis. It includes the
customer information, business details, and product information. The centralized server is
located in a different city and it is becoming difficult for the organization to manage the data
sets in this method. The company is expanding its business and it is becoming difficult to
handle the data sets with the server lying at a centralized location.
Scalability is the primary concern as the requirements for the organization vary as per the
need of the resources and the data sets. It is necessary to have a solution that can be scaled up
or scaled down as per the requirement. The absence of such a solution can lead to the
inability to handle the data and information sets as the dynamic needs will not be met
(Padilla, Milton & Johnson, 2015). The current issues are creating problems with the data
storage, data access, and execution of the business operations. With the expansion of the
business, it has become essential for the organization to move to a cloud-based platform. This
is because the cloud-based platform will provide the required scalability and resources to
manage the data sets. The remote handling and storage of the information pieces will also
become possible (Sill, 2016).
There are certain issues and challenges that may emerge with the adoption of the cloud
services and platforms.
 Price: Cloud-based models are cheaper and there are no infrastructure costs associated
with the cloud models. However, there are training costs, maintenance costs, etc. that
may come up.
 Internet Speed: The variances in the internet speed can have an impact on the
performance of the cloud.
 Security: One of the primary concerns that may emerge with the inclusion of cloud in
the business architecture is the data security and privacy. There are numerous security

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and privacy risks that the data sets may get exposed to. Some of these include
malware attacks, man in the middle attacks, eavesdropping attacks, denial of service
attacks, and data breaches (An, Zaaba & Samsudin, 2016).
 Resource Sharing: One of the inherent properties of the cloud is sharing of the
resources. It may provide the benefits of optimum resource utilization; however, the
privacy and confidentiality of the information can become a problem (Hentschel,
Leyh & Petznick, 2018).
 Change Management: The cloud services and platforms will be used for the first time
in the organization. This will lead to the emergence of several changes in terms of
operational and technical changes. The mismanagement of these changes may lead to
the reduction in the productivity and efficiency levels. Also, there will be a
considerable share of cost that will be spent on the training modules (Hentschel, Leyh
& Petznick, 2018).
 Ownership Issues: In the IaaS cloud model, the ownership of the data and the
operations will be distributed to the vendor and the XYZ organization. The
determination of the ownership and the permissions may be an issue (Hentschel, Leyh
& Petznick, 2018).
2. Implementation Plan
2.1. Overview
The transition from the on-premises systems to the cloud systems will be done in a series of
steps. This is because the Big Band implementation will have higher chances of failure. Also,
the phased implementation approach will provide the ability to have short-term goals and the
problem-solving will be easier (Mahwish, 2018). The first step in this phase will be the
determination of the cloud architecture and the integration of the enterprise software. This
integration could be done for the SAP software with cloud infrastructure. The next step will
be the development of Microservices architecture at the top which will provide the ability to
create the services in order to make the interactions and integration with the databases in
accordance with the business requirements (Aws, 2019). The overall adaptability and
scalability will improve with this architecture and its implementation. The next step will
include the development of a business layer which will enable the API access for
Microservices and the consumption capacity will increase. Continuous integration and
development will be essential and it will be made possible with the aid of some of the

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automated tools. Bamboo is one such tool that can be used (Atlassian, 2019). The cloud
model that will be used in this case will be Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model for cloud
computing. It will provide the ability to enhance the overall scalability of the cloud services
and solutions.
2.2. Cloud Architecture
The current on-premises server will not be able to handle the increased demands of the
customers and the products. The demand associated with the retail industry is dynamic in
nature and it keeps on changing. It is, therefore, necessary to have a scalable solution in place
that may be scaled up or down. The resources in the cloud architecture can be scaled up or
down as per the requirement. The IaaS-based AWS cloud architecture that will be
implemented in the XYZ organization is shown in the image below.
Cloud Architecture (Awsstatic, 2019)
There will be numerous cloud services that will be used. The above architecture shows the
mechanism of data storage and data backup on the cloud along with the recovery. The SAP
Data Services agent in this case will facilitate the integration process and it shall also be
configured to make sure that the data can be migrated between the cloud systems and the on-
premises facility. The on-premises agent will provide the required connectivity and
networking ability to all of the components available. The use of HTTPS will be done to
communicate with the cloud in a secure manner. The utilization of a web-based interface will
be done for the purpose and the configuration and monitoring will be accordingly carried out
(Mahwish, 2018).

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There are multiple agents that may also be configured to take care of specific tasks, such as
load balancing and failover support. There are agent groups that may be developed and the
assignment of the tasks can be done to these groups at the runtime. It will also be possible to
switch between these agents as per the requirement. The standards, such as SOAP and REST
can be utilized to develop the connections with the rest of the applications (Awsstatic, 2019).
2.3. Microservices Architecture
The Microservices architecture will be developed at the top in the next step of the
implementation cycle. The architecture will be developed to make sure that the database
interactions are easily carried out and the facilitation of the same is done in accordance with
the business requirements.
Microservices Architecture (Aws, 2019)
The above architecture will be used to develop and implement the Microservices application
on AWS. The Microservices will be the central point to gather the user requests through the
user interface. The application logic will be stored at the back-end and it will be based on a
set of programmable interfaces. The use of REST services will be done in this case. There
will be numerous functionalities that will be performed by these Microservices, such as

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authentication processes, management of the traffic, routing, and a lot more (Sharma, Rajesh,
& Gonzalez, 2017).
Container-based deployment will be used to bring down the complexities and to have
enhanced portability (Aws, 2019). Container images are immutable in nature and therefore,
the performance does not vary on the basis of the environment in which they run. The cross-
service dependencies are also eliminated with the involvement of the containers. The
resource usage will be improved and the explicit specification of the resource requirements
will be attained with the aid of the containers. They will also automatically version the
control of the application code and the associated dependencies.
2.4. Business Layer – API Access for Microservices
The business layer will be developed and it will be placed above the data stores to allow the
API access for Microservices. There are different patterns that may be used for the
development and incorporation of the business logic and the business layer.
One such pattern is the transaction script pattern. The method, referred as transaction script
shall be written and the requests from the presentation layer shall be handled on the basis of
this script. The classes shall be used to implement the behaviour. Also, the classes that will be
used to implement the behaviour will be separate from the ones that will comprise of the
information on the store state (Sharma, Rajesh, & Gonzalez, 2017).
2.5. Continuous Integration for Continuous Development
Bamboo is the Continuous Integration for Continuous Development (CICD) tool that will be
used in this case.
There will be different phases that will be involved in this tool. The first will be the Build
phase in which the focus will be on coding. There will be multi-stage build plans that will be
developed and the triggers will be set-up. The agents will be assigned to the critical builds
and deployments. Testing will be one of the most significant phases of continuous
integration. There will be automated tests that will run in the tool for continuous integration
and improvement. The deployment of the project will be automated with per-environment
permissions. The best integration will be done with the Jira software and Fisheye
(Bobrovskis, & Jurenoks, 2018).
 The scheduling and coordination of all work activities will be performed by the tool
that is a central management server.

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 There are numerous interfaces and plugins included in the tool which will enable the
execution and completion of a number of activities.
 The source will be obtained from the source repository.
 The development of the build can be effectively done using the tool.
 The development of the built will be effectively done and there will be artefacts
available. There are additional activities that can be performed using these artefacts:
o They may be included in the zipped file and copied in another location
o Install builder may be used for the creation of MSI
o The installation may be performed on the test server so that installation is
correctly done.
o The configuration and reporting can be effectively carried out with the aid of
the tool and the artefacts.
2.6. IaaS for Scalability
There are numerous cloud deployment and delivery models that have been defined. However,
in this case, the cloud model that has been selected for implementation is cloud Infrastructure
as a Service (IaaS). The services and resources in this case will be scaled up or scaled down
as per the enterprise requirements. These requirements are dynamic in nature and IaaS cloud
will have the capability to meet the scalability needs of the enterprise (Lu, Yajun, & Cecil,
2015).
The on-demand scalability will be added as one of the features to the cloud models and it will
enhance the flexibility as well. The changing requirements and needs will be met with the on-
demand scalability, flexibility, and agility (Padilla, Milton & Johnson, 2015).
3. Feasibility Analysis
3.1. Economic
The implementation on the cloud platform will require several costs, such as cost of
implementation, installation cost, cost of resources, training costs, migration & conversion
costs, maintenance costs, and various others.
These costs will be handled by the organization as there are funds available for the project.
Also, the cost-benefit analysis was conducted to determine the benefits and realise the

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benefits associated with the project. There will be tangible and intangible benefits that will be
achieved. Therefore, the project will be feasible from the economic point of view.
3.2. Technical
The technical aspects have been covered in the implementation plan that has been included
above. There will be a number of technical considerations that will be involved, such as
integration with the other technical components, conversion of the data sets, security controls
and issues, and likewise.
The implementation plan determines that these areas will be effectively handled and on-
demand scalability will be provided. Therefore, the project will be technical feasible.
3.3. Operational
The resources in the organization do not have prior experience in the cloud platforms.
However, there will be operational trainings that will be provided to the resources so that they
gain an understanding of the cloud platforms and mechanisms.
The project will be feasible from the operational aspects.
4. Result
The organization was able to introduce scalability in the resource handling and distribution
leading to the overall improvements in the operational speed, accuracy, and quality of service
after the implementation of the cloud.
5. Conclusion
The phase by phase implementation and transition to the cloud platforms will provide higher
chances of success. It will be possible that the project aims and objectives are achieved while
maintained adherence to the implementation plan and guidelines. The use of continuous
integration & continuous development tool will provide the ability to continually improve on
the implementation of the cloud platform.

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6. References
An, Y., Zaaba, Z., & Samsudin, N. (2016). Reviews on Security Issues and Challenges in
Cloud Computing. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science And Engineering, 160,
012106. doi: 10.1088/1757-899x/160/1/012106
Atlassian. (2019). Bamboo Continuous Integration and Deployment Build Server. Retrieved
from https://www.atlassian.com/software/bamboo
Aws. (2019). Simple Microservices Architecture on AWS - Microservices on AWS.
Retrieved from https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/microservices-on-
aws/simple-microservices-architecture-on-aws.html
Awsstatic. (2019). Backup and Restore to VMware Cloud on AWS. Retrieved from
https://d1.awsstatic.com/VMwareCloudonAWS/VMwareCloudonAWS_DR_RA.pdf
Bobrovskis, S., Jurenoks, A., 2018. “A Survey of Continuous Integration, Continuous
Delivery and Continuous Deployment”. In: Zdravkovic, J., Grabis, J., Nurcan, S.,
Stirna, J. (Eds.), Joint Proceedings of the BIR 2018 Short Papers, Workshops and
Doctoral Consortium colocated with 17th International Conference Perspectives in
Business Infomatics Research (BIR 2018) Stockholm, Sweden, September 24-26,
2018. Vol. 2218. pp. 314–322. URL http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2218/paper31.pdf
Hentschel, R., Leyh, C., & Petznick, A. (2018). Current cloud challenges in Germany: the
perspective of cloud service providers. Journal Of Cloud Computing, 7(1). doi:
10.1186/s13677-018-0107-6
Lu, Yajun, & Cecil. (2015, September 10). An Internet of Things (IoT)-based collaborative
framework for advanced manufacturing, The International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology. Retrieved from https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-
journals/an-internet-of-things-iot-based-collaborative-framework-for-advanced-
BeZPcdS79v
Mahwish, A. (2018) IT Optimization with Cloud Computing: A SAP Cloud perspective for
Education and Research. International Journal of Engineering Research &
Technology (IJERT), 6(9), 1-7. Retrieved from https://www.ijert.org/research/it-
optimization-with-cloud-computing-a-sap-cloud-perspective-for-education-and-
research-IJERTCONV6IS09011.pdf
Padilla, R., Milton, S., & Johnson, L. (2015). Components of service value in business-to-
business Cloud Computing. Journal Of Cloud Computing, 4(1). doi: 10.1186/s13677-
015-0040-x
Sharma, S., RV, R., & Gonzalez, D. (2017). Microservices: building scalable software.
Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/

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Sill, A. (2016). Cloud, Data, and Business Process Standards for Manufacturing. IEEE Cloud
Computing, 3(4), 74-80. doi: 10.1109/mcc.2016.93