Supporting EE to future-proof its systems with a full technical refresh, improving availability, security, performance, and reliability.
CLIENT
EE Limited
INDUSTRY
Retail
SERVICE
Cloud
PARTNER
aws
The client
Additionally, EE provides mobiles, tablets, broadband and fixed communications services to both consumers and businesses.
The challenges
It first started being used in 2003, before migrating to AWS Cloud in 2013. As a legacy product, the M2M Connect service was fully reviewed, and EE outlined the following key challenges:
Availability
Legacy AWS instance types were running on old Amazon hardware, resulting in frequent Amazon maintenance alerts. With no support for high availability, downtime had to be arranged on a regular basis.
Performance
Performance bottlenecks were apparent during peak load.
Reliability
Inherent design decisions and insufficient consideration given to high availability exposed the platform to several single points of failure.
Security
The platform was non-compliant with Amazon’s standards for secure application hosting.
Management
The platform was not deployed through Infrastructure as Code (IaC) but relied on manual configuration, prone to human error.
Our goal
In November 2021 EE turned to Nasstar to find a viable solution that would mitigate these risks.
The outcome
The solution has seen a significant improvement in service availability with no downtime required for Amazon maintenance alerts. This is reflected in Nasstar’s service level reporting where this is a key metric.
The solution has addressed key single points of failure, further minimising unplanned downtime.
The solution supports a 100% increase in throughput, meaning the platform can process peak loads with no adverse effect on performance.
The re-architected solution meets Amazon’s standards for secure application hosting. Moreover, the rapid and agile Blue-Green deployment model has facilitated regular patching of the platform reducing the risk of cyber-attack.
The solution supports rapid and seamless code build and deployment using AWS CodeBuild and CodeDeploy, enabling minimal downtime for planned maintenance windows.
Leveraging AWS-native services EE has unlocked an unprecedented level of end-to-end infrastructure observability from a single solution.
"My personal experience of working with the Nasstar team was fantastic. A professional and knowledgeable team with excellent technical and communication skills. They provided me with any details I needed throughout the process and kept me updated regularly. Always very flexible with regards to meetings and I know they spent many hours working on this project. Great support."
Darren Lazenby
M2M & IoT Customer Experience Manager
•BT Networks
