Amazon EC2 for Windows Server Migration

Overview

Maintaining an on-site data center is costly and requires continuous upkeep. However, a transition to the cloud is not as easy as "lift and shift" for healthcare and public-sector organizations.

In this case study, we document how our dedicated team at T2Tech helped Mesa Water District complete a data center migration to the cloud using Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing insights you can apply to your health system or other large organization.

Mesa Water District (Mesa Water®), a key water provider in Southern California, chose T2Tech because of our long-standing reputation for expertise in data-center modernization. Their work is critical to the health and safety of more than 100,000 people. As they undertook their data-center refresh, our T2 consultants walked them through the relative benefits of on-site versus remote (cloud) data centers, the selection of an appropriate cloud solution, and the planning and execution of the migration itself.

Decision to Migrate to a Cloud Data Center

Traditional, on-site data centers have distinct advantages — more control and the ability to customize infrastructure, including hardware, applications, network connectivity, and databases. However, ownership brings substantial burdens: backup power, cooling, repairs, upgrades, physical security, and equipment replacement when end of life.

In contrast, cloud data centers offer several compelling benefits. Most notably, they offer lower capital expenditures (CapEx), improved scalability, and reduced operational needs. On-site data centers and their equipment can be costly to maintain and need to be replaced on average every five years. Cloud allows you to use only what you need, resulting in a significant reduction in overall costs. For Mesa Water®, these considerations made a cloud data center the obvious choice.

Selection of Amazon Web Services

The next challenge was helping Mesa Water® choose an appropriate cloud solution — one capable of scalability and security while minimizing cost. T2Tech recommended Amazon Web Services, which boasts a superior track record of migrating traditional IT, especially when it comes to compliance and ease of use. AWS cloud data center services make use of industry best practices for IT security and compliance, and AWS adopters gain a competitive edge through features including disaster recovery and easier long-term maintenance.

Importantly for Mesa Water®, AWS also costs less for more efficiency. T2Tech conducted an assessment to provide a total cost of ownership estimate and found that Mesa Water® would enjoy at least a 33% cost reduction in the first five years alone. As Mesa Water® uses a Windows server, T2Tech recommended they adopt Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) — a reliable, scalable, and secure web service that was a perfect fit for their needs.

Planned, Purposeful Migration

T2Tech's experience with modernizing data centers enabled us to plan and execute this large-scale migration using our proprietary project management methodology to keep the project on time and on budget. The migration process followed three phases adapted from Amazon Web Services: Assess, Mobilize, and Migrate.

Phase 1: Assess

• Identify security and compliance requirements
• Survey the functional needs and technical specifications
• Determine the available financial resources

Phase 2: Mobilize

• Engage T2Tech experts for specific needs
• Decide on procedures to minimize risk (e.g., data loss)
• Determine the AWS tools appropriate for migration

Phase 3: Migrate

• Execute migration with full-service redundancy
• Iterate tasks until the old system is modernized on the cloud
• Ensure normal operations during migration

Results

Mesa Water® has been able to move beyond the expensive cycle of replacing new infrastructure every 3 to 5 years. The Mesa Water® IT executives are pleased with the increased efficiency of their new cloud management software and security posture.

T2Tech is a leader in the practical application of technology for healthcare and a range of other industries. Since 2006, T2Tech has consistently delivered quality consulting and management advisory services to business executives and IT leaders. The T2Tech team balances business and IT needs, uses a proven agile methodology, oversees projects from assessment to post-implementation, and practices transparency in everything they do.