Transforming Big Data Operations: A Global Leader’s Successful On-Premises to Cloud Migration

Client

A Global Leader in Big Data and Risk Analytics Across Insurance and Energy

The client is a leading global provider of data-driven analytic insights and solutions, primarily serving the insurance and energy industries. Headquartered in the USA, the client leverages advanced technologies to process and analyze vast amounts of data, offering innovative solutions that enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. Committed to ethical practices and continuous innovation, the client plays a crucial role in helping organizations navigate complex risk landscapes and build resilience in an ever-evolving global environment.

Challenge

Legacy Infrastructure Struggled to Keep Pace with Big Data Growth and Operational Demands

The client’s Big Data operations were traditionally processed on-premises due to the need for high processing power. However, as the volume, velocity, and variety of data grew, the client faced significant challenges with its on-premises infrastructure, including:

• High Maintenance Costs: Maintaining and scaling physical infrastructure became increasingly expensive and resource-intensive.
• Speed and Power Limitations: The traditional systems struggled to process large datasets efficiently.
• Scalability Issues: On-premises solutions could not scale dynamically to handle growing workloads.
• Security Concerns: Ensuring data protection and compliance was challenging with legacy systems.

To address these issues, the client decided to migrate its Big Data workloads and operations to the AWS cloud, seeking a solution that offered scalability, flexibility, lower costs, and improved performance.

Solution

A Scalable, Cost-Efficient Cloud Migration Strategy Powered by AWS and Hexaware

Hexaware partnered with the client to design and implement a seamless cloud migration strategy. By leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hexaware enabled the client to migrate to cloud, while focusing on:

• Amazon EMR (Elastic MapReduce): Hexaware deployed Amazon EMR to process and analyze massive datasets quickly and cost-effectively. EMR’s per-second pricing, integration with Amazon S3, and elasticity made it an ideal choice for the client’s Big Data workloads.
• Decoupled Compute and Storage: The client’s compute and storage resources were decoupled, allowing for efficient scaling as data volumes grew.
• Seamless Integration: The solution utilized tools such as Spark, Hive, HBase, and Presto for data querying and analysis, along with Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for compute capacity and S3 for scalable storage.
• Advanced Cost Optimization: Hexaware implemented measures such as Spot instances, larger EC2 instance pricing, and automatic cluster termination to minimize costs further.
• On-Demand Resource Scaling: Hexaware ensured that the client only paid for the resources they consumed, reducing over- and under-provisioning.

Benefits

Improved Performance, Reduced Costs, and a Future-Ready Big Data Platform

Hexaware’s cloud migration solution delivered significant benefits to the client, including:

• 30% Improved Reliability: Application reliability increased by 30%, ensuring better access and performance with no technical disruptions.
• 60% Reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): By adopting AWS’s Savings Plan and Spot Instances, the client dramatically cut infrastructure costs compared to its on-premises setup.
• Enhanced Scalability and Flexibility: AWS’s elastic architecture enabled the client to scale resources dynamically based on workload demands.
• Improved Application Performance: With modernized infrastructure, the client experienced faster data processing and better application performance compared to the previous two years.
• Cost Efficiency: The client paid only for the resources used, optimizing costs with on-demand and appropriately sized compute instances.
• Streamlined Maintenance: By eliminating physical infrastructure, the client reduced maintenance overhead and freed up resources for strategic initiatives.

Summary

The Client’s Cloud Transformation Delivered 60% Cost Savings and 30% Greater Reliability

Through its partnership with Hexaware, the client successfully migrated its Big Data workloads to AWS Cloud, overcoming the limitations of its on-premises infrastructure. Hexaware’s solution leveraged Amazon EMR, decoupled compute and storage, and implemented advanced cost-saving measures, enabling the client to achieve:

• A 60% reduction in TCO,
• 30% improved application reliability, and
• A highly scalable, secure, and resilient infrastructure.

This workload migration empowered the client to modernize its operations, enhance performance, and future-proof its Big Data platform for continued growth and innovation.