How a Non-Profit Gained Autonomy and Agility With an Azure Cloud Migration

A large non-profit organization in the Southwest faced significant operational hurdles due to its restrictive, co-located VMware environment. The legacy infrastructure hindered its ability to innovate, respond to service outages and support its community effectively. CDW orchestrated a comprehensive migration to Microsoft Azure, modernizing the organization's infrastructure by shifting to containers on Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) and leveraging Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offerings.

The solution focused on cost optimization, enhanced security and operational autonomy. As a result, the client reduced application deployment times from one month to just two hours, gained full control over its resources and established a scalable foundation for future growth.

The client, a state-level non-profit dedicated to early childhood and family nutrition programs, relied on timely and efficient operations to serve its community. However, its IT infrastructure was hosted within a traditional VMware environment managed by another public sector entity. This co-located arrangement created several critical business challenges:

• Lack of control: The organization had no direct control over its own networking and resources, leading to slow response times from third-party support during outages.

• Stifled innovation: The rigid infrastructure made it difficult to improve applications or adopt modern development practices, slowing the release of new features essential for business operations.

• Operational inefficiency: Multiple layers of complexity meant the internal team could not resolve issues independently, creating dependencies on outside assistance for routine tasks and strategic initiatives.
  

The organization needed a modern solution that could provide greater agility, improve security and reduce reliance on external support contracts.

CDW partnered with the client to design and implement a strategic migration to Azure, grounded in cost optimization and robust security. Our approach was divided into two phases: an initial assessment and a streamlined implementation that leveraged repeatable, time-tested processes.

Our engagement began with a thorough assessment of the existing VMware environment and its applications. This discovery phase allowed us to create a detailed migration framework tailored to the client's specific needs. A key part of this process was identifying opportunities for significant cost savings. CDW facilitated an evaluation of OpenShift on Azure and RHEL Containers versus Ubuntu on AKS. This analysis led the client to select AKS, which drastically cut licensing costs and simplified solution management.

Security was a cornerstone of the migration. The project implemented Microsoft's ISO 27001 Reference architecture to ensure compliance and built the foundational Azure environment according to the Cloud Adoption Framework. To centralize security, CDW deployed Palo Alto NVAs and established a VPN for hybrid connectivity, leveraging the client's in-house expertise with Palo Alto Networks.

The technical solution involved several key modernization efforts:

• Containerization: We moved workloads from VMware virtual machines to containers on AKS, transforming a single virtual monolith into a flexible microservices architecture.

• PaaS integration: Applications were re-architected to leverage powerful PaaS solutions, including Azure SQL, AKS and Key Vault.

• Automation: New automation capabilities were introduced to empower the client to create and deploy new development and production environments on their own terms.
  

By partnering with CDW, the non-profit successfully transformed its technological capabilities and achieved its primary business goals. The modernized Azure environment delivered measurable improvements across the board.

• Deployment speed: The time required to deploy market updates was reduced from one month to just two hours, enabling the organization to respond rapidly to changing needs.

• Operational autonomy: The client gained full control over its resources, eliminating the complexity and dependencies that had previously slowed operations.

• Cost optimization: Strategic decisions around licensing and the adoption of PaaS services led to significant cost savings and optimized resource allocation.

• Enhanced security and resiliency: The new architecture provided robust business continuity and disaster recovery options, safeguarding critical operations.
  

With automation handling environment creation and deployment, the client was able to redirect valuable personnel and resources away from internal operational struggles and toward its core mission of serving the community. This migration not only solved immediate technical challenges but also set a pattern for easily adopting future microservices, ensuring long-term scalability and innovation.