Organisations increasingly turn to the cloud as a strategic initiative to optimise operational efficiency, enhance scalability, bolster cybersecurity, and reduce costs. This shift is often driven by the necessity to modernise legacy systems that no longer meet evolving business demands. However, despite these benefits, migration to the cloud can be highly complex, requiring careful consideration and strategic planning.
The Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) effectively navigated these challenges when it embarked on a transformative journey and successfully migrated to the cloud, paving the way for enhanced agility and scalability.
As Singapore’s national internet registry and a subsidiary of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), SGNIC is tasked with the unique and massive task of providing internet registry and information services for the country, authorising and regulating the registration, administration and management of domain names ending with .SG.
With the internet being an essential component of business operations for organisations, there is an increasing demand for the number of internet domains, along with the rise of entrepreneurship and the gig economy. As the domain names volume continued to surge, SGNIC’s systems struggled to keep pace with the growing business demands.
The agency’s ageing on-premise systems, characterised by high operational and maintenance costs, presented significant operational hurdles. Faced with these hurdles, SGNIC recognised the critical need to future-proof its operations and transition to a robust and scalable infrastructure that could seamlessly support its expanding operations.
At the same time, a systems overhaul was needed to comply with the government's security-by-design framework and cater for business continuity without lag when unavoidable failures occur. Consequently, replacing the outdated on-premise systems with a cloud-based infrastructure was the most viable option to achieve operational excellence and meet business needs.
Comprehensive support, tailored solution
The 18-month-long project required multidisciplinary capabilities that included software development and cloud migration to cybersecurity. Amid these challenges, a trusted cloud migration partner proved invaluable, providing specialised expertise, experience, and resources to guide SGNIC through each phase of the migration journey.
ST Engineering’s comprehensive support and tailored solution started with implementing a tailored Registry-Registrar Domain Name Registration software for SGNIC, hosted on Amazon Web Services' (AWS) commercial cloud. We also provided 24/7 managed security and operations support to enhance SGNIC's cybersecurity posture while reducing their operational load.
As a result, SGNIC boasts a 100% cloud-native, scalable, and modernised system that can support more than 1 million domains to keep up with growing business demands. The cloud system is estimated to deliver 50% cost savings across its life cycle as compared to maintaining the previous on-premise system.
The adoption of a cloud-based infrastructure also yielded substantial cost savings for SGNIC. By eliminating the burden of maintaining and upgrading on-premise hardware, IT expenditure was optimised, allowing SGNIC to allocate resources more efficiently and redirect savings towards enhancing service delivery and digital initiatives.
Automation is a central feature in the cloud deployment. With continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD )pipelines and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) enabling the automatic delivery of software updates, it is 40% faster than manual updates and patching. This has streamlined SGNIC’s operations and significantly enhanced productivity. With automation built in, SGNIC now enjoys a 100% increase in productivity, freeing up valuable human resources for more strategic initiatives.
In addition to scalability and cost efficiency, ST Engineering’s best practices for cloud and managed services have fortified SGNIC’s system with the highest level of IT security, with robust cybersecurity measures and disaster recovery capabilities implemented. This proactive approach ensures data integrity and safeguards against cyber threats.
Our success in proposing and deploying cost-effective and operationally efficient solutions is a testament to the team's technical know-how and deep understanding of customers' requirements and challenges. This success underscores the commitment to rigorous processes and innovative solutions to drive customer success.
The migration of SGNIC to a cloud-based infrastructure has been instrumental in overcoming technology challenges and achieving operational excellence. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, cloud innovation remains a catalyst for delivering resilient, secure, and innovative internet services. Organisations that can harness the full potential of cloud computing are poised to drive business growth, enhance operational efficiency, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
Find out more: https://www.stengg.com/en/digital-tech/cloud-and-data-orchestration