Cloud Enhancements Support UK-based Insurer’s Strategic Focus on Profit and Innovation

Outcomes to date include:

• More predictable cloud costs and an inherently scalable cloud infrastructure.
• Security and compliance enhanced with as-code approaches to ensure consistency.
• Cloud management overhead reduced using centralized approaches, with developers’ autonomy maintained. 
   

Challenge: Bringing Control to a Decentralized Cloud Model
The insurance company has a well-established presence on Azure, with developers working confidently and autonomously in the cloud environment. However, with further business growth expected, this decentralized model was making it hard to predict future cloud costs. It was important to bring more clarity and control to cloud spend while reducing the manual effort involved in the creation of secure, compliant infrastructure.

From a technical perspective, challenges with the existing set-up centered on three core areas: 

1. Limited visibility and observability of applications and associated costs.
2. Complex management of microservices applications and a laborious process for updates.
3. The landing zone wasn’t optimized for a centralized approach to cloud management.  

In short, the company needed new ways to ensure consistency and scalability in the cloud, while upholding standards and managing costs as use of cloud scaled. At the same time, it was essential to maintain the agility and innovation that sets the business apart. Recognizing that the necessary changes would have cultural as well as technical implications, the insurer appointed Amdocs to centralize key elements of cloud management and foster cohesion between internal platform and developer teams. 

Solution: Aligning Cloud Capabilities with Business Growth Goals
Amdocs implemented a multi-phase solution to address technical challenges and enhance the maturity of the Azure presence. Our cloud engineers drew on their vast experience modernizing complex cloud estates and powerful technologies from Azure and open-source providers. Throughout the project, we worked in close collaboration with the insurer’s platform and developer teams.

Landing Zone Uplift
The first phase involved work on the landing zone to prepare the cloud estate for a new centralized model. This included the automation of landing zone procedures using Terraform and infrastructure-as-code. We also implemented a private domain name system (Azure Private DNS) to improve the resilience and security of virtual networks, as well as securing communications between internal services. These measures enhanced infrastructure security and scalability in readiness for future growth.

Pipelines and Guardrails 
Next, we brought consistency to different teams’ deployment of resources using standardized pipelines. Security guardrails were also established via enterprise policy-as-code. This prevents the deployment of misconfigured or non-compliant resources, maximizing the security and cost-efficiency of cloud operations. It aligns with a ‘shift left’ ethos where any potential vulnerabilities are identified and resolved at the earliest possible stage.

Self-service Capabilities 
The platform was further enhanced with self-service capabilities, empowering developer teams to work independently within the limits of the guardrails. With this approach, developers can focus their efforts on innovation and the time taken to release software changes is greatly reduced. Amdocs implemented this using a co-delivery model which enabled us to upskill the internal operations team as the project progressed.  

Azure Container Apps
With the above foundational measures in place, Amdocs introduced more sophisticated approaches, optimizing the insurer’s cloud infrastructure to accommodate future growth. The new Azure Container Apps service for the build and deployment of modern applications at scale was central to this phase of work. It allows users to leverage the power of open-source container orchestration system Kubernetes without having to handle the configuration and management of complex container infrastructures. We designed and implemented a solution which enabled existing microservices applications to be containerized then managed centrally on Azure Container Apps. The outcome is automated scaling, fault tolerance, and orchestration, with a low management overhead.

Change Management
The success of this project hinged on internal developer and platform teams accepting and embracing the changes. We were sensitive to their needs, taking time to understand each team’s priorities and processes from the outset. This enabled us to strike an effective balance between flexibility and control with a self-service model that gives developers freedom to innovate within the guardrails of the centralized platform. Our engineers were readily available for mentoring and knowledge transfer throughout the project, easing the transition to this new way of working. 

Outcome: Changes Aid Cost-efficient Growth and Secure Innovation
The insurer’s strategic goals center on innovation and profitable growth. Cloud improvements delivered by Amdocs support these business ambitions on multiple levels.

Cloud costs are now more transparent and predictable which makes it easier to forecast spend as new applications are developed and the cloud environment scales. The implementation of Azure Container Apps takes this one step further, reducing management costs and eliminating the need to invest further resources in container management as their use increases. Together, these developments contribute to profitability and enable more informed business planning.

Our solution has facilitated an empowering balance between decentralized development and centralized policies. Developers can still innovate at speed, working independently in response to evolving market conditions and customer needs. However, organizational policies are automatically enforced to maintain consistent standards and high levels of security. This model drives further efficiencies too, ensuring updates and upgrades can be rolled out across all elements of the cloud estate simultaneously.

Partnering with Amdocs allowed the insurer to successfully navigate the complexities of centralizing its cloud platform and standardizing resource management. The insurer now benefits from a more streamlined presence on Azure, giving business leaders greater assurance on costs, security, and capacity for growth.