Executive Summary
Repay partnered with ITTStar to engineer a highly secure, resilient, and agile cloud operations framework on AWS, pivotal for its mission-critical financial applications. The solution involved a comprehensive modernization effort to Amazon EKS, bolstered by advanced networking, robust security controls, and an automated CI/CD pipeline. By meticulously implementing services like EKS, AWS Transit Gateway, AWS Backup, and a full suite of monitoring and security tools, ITTStar empowered Repay to not only meet stringent compliance requirements but also achieve unparalleled operational visibility, automated deployments, and strengthened business continuity.
Customer Challenges
Repay, operating in a highly regulated financial sector, encountered several challenges that required a robust cloud operations solution:
- Security Gaps: Lack of granular control over resource and network access, demanding a stronger and automated security framework.
- Visibility & Auditability Issues: Insufficient real-time logging, monitoring, and audit trails, affecting compliance and timely incident response.
- High Availability & Scalability Needs: Critical financial applications required top-tier availability, scalability, and resilience to ensure smooth operations.
- Manual Operations & Inconsistent Deployments: Legacy deployment processes resulted in slow releases, inconsistencies, and high operational costs.
ITTStar’s Solution:
ITTStar designed and implemented a robust AWS infrastructure solution to meet Repay’s complex needs:
- Workload Modernization & Containerization: Repay’s core financial applications were modernized and deployed on Amazon EKS, utilizing Auto Scaling for elasticity. Container images were securely stored in Amazon ECR and integrated with deployment pipelines for seamless updates.
- Advanced Networking & Connectivity: A highly secure Amazon VPC was set up with private subnets and AWS Transit Gateway for hybrid cloud communications. VPC Endpoints and NAT Gateways ensured private, cost-effective connectivity, while Amazon Route 53 handled DNS resolution.
- Secure Application Delivery: Traffic is routed via Route 53 and an Application Load Balancer, protected by AWS WAF to guard against web exploits. SSL/TLS certificates are managed through AWS Certificate Manager for secure communication.
- Robust Data Services: PostgreSQL databases on Amazon RDS, provisioned in private subnets, ensure high availability. Amazon S3 is used for scalable, durable storage of documents, backups, and application assets.
- Comprehensive Security & Identity Management: AWS IAM enforces least-privilege access, while AWS KMS encrypts sensitive data. AWS Secrets Manager secures credentials and API keys, and AWS CloudTrail and Config monitor compliance and audit logs.
- Integrated Monitoring & Logging: Amazon CloudWatch provides real-time monitoring and log aggregation, with CloudWatch Alarms for proactive notifications. VPC Flow Logs and CloudWatch Container Insights ensure detailed visibility into network and container health.
- Automation, Management & CI/CD: AWS Systems Manager, including Parameter Store, automates management, while AWS CodePipeline orchestrates a streamlined CI/CD process, supported by AWS CodeBuild and CodeDeploy for efficient deployments.
- Governance & Business Continuity: Multi-account governance through AWS Organizations strengthens security, while AWS Backup ensures automated, centralized backup and disaster recovery across all AWS services.
Why AWS?
AWS’s comprehensive suite of services enabled ITTStar to create a secure, resilient, and highly automated cloud environment for Repay:
- Containerization & Orchestration: Amazon EKS and ECR streamline container management with scalable, managed Kubernetes, reducing operational overhead.
- Comprehensive Security: AWS’s native services (IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, WAF, CloudTrail, Config) deliver integrated security and compliance across the entire infrastructure.
- Advanced Networking: AWS VPC, Transit Gateway, and VPC Endpoints offer flexible, secure, and controlled enterprise networking for complex environments.
- Integrated Monitoring & Management: CloudWatch, Container Insights, and Systems Manager provide deep operational insights and automation for proactive management.
- Automated CI/CD: The AWS CodeSuite (CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy) ensures fast, consistent, and automated software delivery, boosting innovation.
- Robust Data Protection: AWS Backup offers centralized, automated data protection and disaster recovery, ensuring seamless business continuity.
Why did RePay chose ITTStar?
Repay trusted ITTStar for its strategic expertise and proven capability to deliver complex, enterprise-grade cloud solutions:
- Expertise in Enterprise-Scale Cloud Operations: Deep knowledge in architecting and implementing highly available, secure, and automated solutions, particularly with EKS and advanced networking patterns.
- Financial Regulatory Compliance: Proven experience in designing solutions that meet the stringent security and auditability requirements of the financial sector.
- Full Lifecycle Automation: Ability to implement end-to-end CI/CD pipelines and operational automation, from infrastructure provisioning to application deployment and monitoring.
- Customer-Centric Approach: ITTStar's collaborative approach ensured the solution precisely matched Repay's evolving business and technical needs, culminating in strong customer acceptance.
Impact & Results:
The implementation of ITTStar’s AWS solution delivered significant benefits for Repay:
- Enhanced Security: Automated preventive controls and continuous detection reduced misconfigurations by 60%, strengthening security and compliance.
- Audit Readiness & Visibility: Achieved 100% resource visibility and audit trail coverage, simplifying audit processes and meeting financial regulations with ease.
- Improved Uptime: Modernizing with EKS and AWS Backup, plus multi-AZ deployment, increased application availability by 30%, ensuring business continuity.
- Accelerated Delivery & Efficiency: Automated CI/CD pipelines reduced deployment times by 70%, enabling faster releases and a more efficient DevOps process.
- Optimized Scalability: EKS Fargate and ElastiCache provided elastic scalability, supporting fluctuating loads and enhancing application performance by 25%.
