Independent Living Centre WA
The National Equipment Database, used by the public to find tens of thousands of assistive-technology products, was stranded with a vendor that was no longer viable.
The problem
The previous developer and host could no longer support the database. Uncontrolled releases were disrupting users. Without proper test environments, libraries had fallen dangerously out of date. With no help from the outgoing vendor, more than a dozen servers, two database platforms, the websites and the bespoke catalogue had to move.
What we did
Moved everything to AWS first, to keep the database running. Then re-architected it: CI/CD, immutable images, a staging environment that exists only while a test is running, high availability at every layer, separate accounts per environment, least-privilege access with MFA, and audit logging. Added alerting into the team's chat.
What's simpler now
- Releases to production within minutes, at any time of day.
- Near-100% uptime since go-live.
- Lower running costs, because environments only exist while in use.
- No direct access to production, and a platform any competent team could support.
I have had occasion to work with a number of software companies over the last 18 years. I cannot express what a breath of fresh air working with KZN has been. Their responsiveness and customer service is second to none. I would have no hesitation in recommending their services to anyone.