Centralized deployment platform for a top grocery retailer

The challenge

Being an FTSE100 organization, our client is processing thousands of transactions per second, supports the delivery of more than one billion items annually, and has a growing user base with an average of four new registrations per minute. The retailer’s growing size of operations called for a more efficient deployment platform. 

Our client lacked the manpower and expertise to build a centralized deployment platform by themselves and drive their cloud transformation. They needed a technological partner to guide them through the process. They chose VirtusLab, given our successful track record with cloud-related projects.

The solution

VirtusLab started with an initial proof of concept for self-hosted Kubernetes and the infrastructure of CI/CD around it. This led us to build a centralized deployment platform for production and non-production environments. The solution is highly accessible, scalable, and secure.

The complete platform saves engineers from typical tasks necessary at the beginning of development, such as setting up infrastructure and integration with enterprise tooling. It also includes a variety of functionalities, such as:

• Tools that provide automation and infrastructure, such as AWS CloudFormation, CoreOS Container Linux, and Cloud-init.
• A custom version of Kubernetes, dedicated for use within the client's Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment.
• Automated management of the infrastructure’s lifecycle.
• Networking capability, including Software Defined Networks, such as container-level networking (CNI). The new deployment platform also has an entire AWS network architecture like IP Address Management (IPAM) or VPN connectivity.
• A system to manage user access and security in a unified way across both Kubernetes clusters and the AWS cloud infrastructure.
• A set of features within the platform that are focused on maintaining system health and responding to potential issues

VirtusLab also helped the retailer with the onboarding process, which included introducing the new deployment platform to dozens of teams and hundreds of developers.

The results

VirtusLab’s work for the client translated to measurable business benefits, namely:

• Monthly savings of about £100,000, thanks to the new deployment platform and stable infrastructure.
• 90% reduction of the time required for the kickoff of a new project. This translated to shortening the delivery times of an average project by 10 working weeks or more.
• Solid performance with minimal downtimes, even during periods of increased demand in retail, such as Black Friday.
• Smooth transition to the new platform thanks to comprehensive onboarding for our client’s engineering teams.