Migrating a Swiss Digital Bank from OpenShift to Kubernetes

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DevOps

Kubernetes Enablement

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Our end customer is a Swiss digital bank for anti-money laundering built for crypto transactions. They are in the market to transform the way people do banking and incorporate digital assets into regulated institutions. They aim to give people control and freedom when managing their own finances while using protocols that enable the secure functioning of a decentralized digital database.

About the End Customer

As a fintech solution, their main concern was regulations, governance, and frequent audits. They needed a team of experts to migrate their solution from Openshift to Kubernetes. So they were on the hunt for a DevOps team to support their migration while improving their existing pipelines.

The digital asset bank wanted to build an easily scalable, more responsive platform to quickly transfer data to the customer and provide an exceptional experience to end users.

What They Needed Help With

As we continued to work together, we became an integral part of their product and SRE teams. We automated the provisioning of AWS infrastructure resources using Terraform, and utilized Kubernetes for workload orchestration. We also used Calico to enhance security, and provide isolation. Overall, our efforts played a key role in helping our end customer achieve their desired outcomes.

A Secure Cloud Infrastructure: Implementing Terraform, Kubernetes, and Calico

We implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevOps practices to automate the provisioning and management of the infrastructure and deployments, improving productivity, increasing quality, and decreasing delivery time. The entire execution of the project followed an IaC approach using Terraform, and Atlantis for automating Terraform via pull requests.

We provisioned and maintained AWS resources and improved existing Gitlab pipeline templates based on their needs. Running on AWS EKS as a multitenant solution, we've set up dynamic resource provisioning based on available tenants (B2B clients). Creating a multitenant architecture makes the product available for many customers, white-labeling it, and selling it as a company-branded service.

Terraform: Maximizing Efficiency and Streamlining Infrastructure Management

Container orchestration technologies provide the foundation for managing microservices and architecture at scale. Kubernetes is the best open-source container orchestration platform for Fintech companies to facilitate developer agility, modernization, and operational efficiency. 

Containers allow Fintechs such as our end customer to develop an executable bundle of software that is abstracted away from (not connected to or dependent on) the host operating system so that it can execute uniformly and reliably across any platform or cloud.

Kubernetes: Facilitating Agility, Modernization, and Efficiency

To build workload isolation in multi-tenant environment we turned to [Tigera](https://www.tigera.io/)’s Calico for microsegmentation. [Calico](https://www.tigera.io/project-calico/) is an open-source networking and security solution for containers, virtual machines, and baremetal host-based workloads.

Its comprehensive networking and security policy architecture made it simple to restrict communication and control the traffic flow between workloads inside the cluster and to the external parties outside the cluster. Its security policy engine applied the same policy model at the host networking and service mesh layers, safeguarding client’s infrastructure from compromised workloads and client’s workloads from compromised infrastructure.

This allowed client to build and manage container clusters with Kubernetes while securing their containerized workloads with Calico.

Calico: Our Approach to Kubernetes Networking and Security

How DevOps Helps Fintech Organizations Like Our Client

Our team's expertise in [Kubernetes enablement](https://appstellar.io/kubernetes-enablement) made us the perfect choice to help our end customer build a secure, scalable, and reliable platform. 

As a [Kubernetes Certified Service Provider](https://appstellar.io/insights/updates/cncf-member-kcsp-announcement) and Tigera partner, we have the knowledge and advanced expertise in consulting and providing professional services for organizations embarking on their Kubernetes journey.

Although it is increasingly easy to spin-up a Kubernetes cluster, it can be challenging to implement Kubernetes in a way that aligns with your company's needs. Many applications may not be ready for containerization, making it difficult to take the first steps towards a cloud native environment. We help guide you through the process, providing the necessary services, software, and support to run a production-grade Kubernetes infrastructure in a secure, reliable, scalable, and efficient manner.

Why Us?

What They Have to Say About Us

In the ever-changing Fintech industry, selecting the correct container technology and container orchestration platform can be challenging. You need a trusted technology partner to take advantage of opportunities to increase revenue and customer expectations. Appstellar's expertise in leveraging cloud technology and DevOps solutions help Fintechs to achieve agility, scalability, and delivery of large-scale apps at speed. Check our [Kubernetes Enablement](https://appstellar.io/kubernetes-enablement) page for more information.

How we automated the provisioning and management of the infrastructure for a Swiss Digital Bank using IaC, Terraform, and DevOps practices.

Containerized Solutions

DevOps Solutions

Migrating a Swiss Digital Bank from OpenShift to AWS EKS

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Cloud

AWS Consulting

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[Iron Horse Logistics Group](https://www.ihlogistics.com/) provides comprehensive rail/barge logistics services, including shipment management, fleet management, repair management, and rate/pricing management.

They navigate the complexities of rail and the benefits and limitations of barge to make things simpler for their clients, manage hands-on logistics functions to streamline processes and create cost-effective solutions, and so much more. Aiming to ease the process of reporting taxes for rail transportation within the United States, they came to us with the idea to build AdVal.

## About the Solution
AdVal is a product designed to streamline the tax reporting process for rail transportation businesses in the United States. It is an ideal solution for companies with large fleets of railcars that operate across multiple states, as it allows them to easily report their state taxes digitally and track the payment status of their taxes. By automating the tax reporting process and providing clear, detailed insights into the process, AdVal makes it easier for businesses in the rail industry to manage their tax obligations and ensure compliance with state regulations.

### Core features of AdVal

Our development team worked tirelessly to create a product that fulfilled the client's requests but also had extra features we believed would make the product better. The main features include the following:
- saving state reports in the application
- saving state mileage reporting by carrier
- accepting or rejecting assessments
- recording tax payments issued to the states
- automatic creation of tax reports

The functionality that sets the application apart from others is the automatic filling of reports from the data contained in the application.

 About the Client – IHL

Did We Deliver?

IHL's goals were to simplify the taxation process, reduce the time required to do taxes, and have a data repository for easy analysis and reference.

The challenge was creating an intuitive interface that helps users understand and manage their dues in real time by giving them access to more than 50 different tax forms (for 50 U.S. states), including personal income statements, corporate tax returns, and more.

However, we managed to do it, and these were the client's answers when we asked him about their satisfaction:

To ensure a smooth and efficient development process, we created an architecture and infrastructure diagram outlining the application and its deployment strategy, including the build and deploy processes. By implementing Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment pipelines from the start, we were able to deliver the solution to the client in incremental stages, allowing for a faster development pace and frequent product releases. This approach also allowed the client to provide early feedback as they saw the product take shape.

The solution was designed using a microservices architecture and, with scalability in mind, broken down into a number of smaller, independent microservices, each deployed independently without affecting the overall integrity of the platform. We chose microservices architecture due to its many advantages.

### Microservices architecture benefits

1. **Improved fault isolation**

If one microservice fails, the others can continue to function, which helps to minimize the impact of failures on the overall system.

2. **Flexibility in language choice**

Different services can be implemented in different programming languages, allowing developers to choose the best language for each service.

3. **Ease of understanding and modification**

Microservices are designed to represent a small piece of functionality, which makes them easy to understand and modify.

4. **Improved team productivity**

The modular nature of microservices allows developers to work on different services independently, which can help to improve team productivity.

5. **Enhanced scalability**

Microservices can be independently scaled, allowing more flexibility in resource allocation and the ability to scale individual services as needed.

6. **Improved deployment and testing**

Microservices can be deployed and tested independently, making the overall deployment process more efficient and reducing the risk of errors.

While the development team started building the product's foundation, our DevOps Engineers were also busy laying out the initial infrastructure. We used Terraform to define, provision, and manage all the resources that made up the AWS infrastructure.

We stored our Terraform configuration files in a GitHub repository, enabling us to track and version changes and improve traceability. The DevOps team followed the same development lifecycle as our development team, and updates to the infrastructure went through a formal code review process. By reviewing the plan, code reviewers can understand the impact of the proposed changes and identify any potential issues before they apply the changes to the infrastructure.

Working in parallel with the development team helped us quickly set up the necessary infrastructure and get the application up and running. The infrastructure continued to evolve in tandem with the product.

Architecture, Infrastructure, and Tech Stack

Our unique combination of cloud software development and DevOps services makes us the perfect partner for companies looking to build their products in the cloud.
When IHL contacted us with their idea, we were excited to take on the challenge. From the United States to Kosovo, we worked closely with IHL to develop the best solution for reducing the pain of taxation.

IHL has been a leader in the rail transportation industry since 2002. Their focus has always been on making this industry more efficient, and with our help, they will be able to take advantage of new solutions and ensure they are following the best industry standards.

Working closely with IHL, we developed a solution that leveraged the latest cloud technologies to streamline the tax reporting process for rail transportation businesses in the United States. We are committed to supporting IHL's mission of making the rail industry more efficient and ensuring they adhere to the highest industry standards.


Why Us

How we built AdVal, a tax management software and data platform with multiple functions for rail transportation.

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Cloud Solutions

DevOps Consulting and Implementation

AWS CLOUD CONSULTING

How Appstellar Built AdVal to Move Rail Taxes to the Cloud

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Serverless Solutions

You give us the requirements of what you need, we deliver the solution.

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What it means for you?

Want your product built – no questions asked?

## Solution Based
## Engagement

We build you a team of professionals you need for your project, but let you have full control over them.

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Need a whole new team?

## Dedicated Teams

We’ll share profiles of who we think fits your project, and you get to pick and choose. After you pick someone suitable, they will be onboarded on your project and act as one of your in-house team members.

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Need to lend a few resources?

## Extended Teams

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DevOps Services

AWS Cloud Consulting

## Need to scale up your dev team or build a new one? Or maybe you simply want your project delivered, with your full trust in us.  

# How we can work together

We're quite flexible when it comes to collaboration models.

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Need to scale up your dev team or build a new one? Or maybe you simply want your project delivered, with your full trust in us.

We're quite flexible when it comes to collaboration models.

Let's find the right one for you!

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View case studies

Migrating a Swiss Digital Bank from OpenShift to AWS EKS

How Appstellar Built AdVal to Move Rail Taxes to the Cloud