Scale – AWS Well-Architected Framework Review (AWS WAFR)

About the Customer

Scale Management Limited is a Kenyan-owned technology startup that builds technology solutions aimed at facilitating safe, secure and quality trade in Africa.

Scale is an e-Procurement that connects buyers with pre-vetted suppliers of Goods and Services. Their solution help organizations transition from manual, paper and labour- intensive procurement activities to fully digitized and automated processes.

Through digitization, Scale enables businesses to drive cost savings, strengthen supplier relationships, improve turnaround times, bolster efficiency and effectiveness, and reduce the total cost of your procurement.

The Challenge

Scale faced the urgent challenge of improving the security and performance efficiency of their cloud infrastructure to enhance user experience and comply with AWS Best Practice standards and international certifications.

With AWS usage credits at their disposal, they needed to strategically optimize cloud workloads by enhancing operational efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing monitoring, alerting, and security.

Additionally, they had to ensure their systems remained robust and scalable, requiring a careful analysis and implementation of AWS services and best practices tailored to the specific demands of an e-procurement firm. Balancing these objectives posed a significant challenge.

The Solution

Silicon Overdrive implemented several key measures to address Scales’ requirements as part of the AWS Well-Architected Framework Review (AWS WAFR) project.

Amazon CloudWatch dashboards were set up to monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), offering real-time visibility into essential metrics and system performance. Alarms were also configured based on KPI thresholds, enabling proactive monitoring and swift response to any anomalies or deviations. By leveraging these native AWS tools, operational efficiency significantly improved, providing advantages such as automated responses and optimized performance.

Data control objectives were defined to ensure that data management practices adhered to industry standards and regulatory guidelines. Additionally, data retention policies were put in place to govern the entire data lifecycle, ensuring that sensitive information was either preserved or securely disposed of in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

Security improvements were a key priority. Access keys were rotated as needed to strengthen security and minimize the risk of compromised credentials. AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies were audited and updated to ensure that access permissions aligned with the principle of least privilege (PoLP). Additionally, Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) and Security Groups were reviewed and optimized to bolster network security, ensuring that only authorized traffic could access the organization’ s resources.

All Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) buckets were placed in private subnets to restrict access and prevent unauthorized entry. Additionally, VPC Flow Logs, AWS CloudTrail, and AWS Config were activated. VPC Flow Logs offered in-depth visibility into network traffic, aiding in the identification and troubleshooting of network issues. AWS CloudTrail provided extensive logging of API calls, essential for auditing and compliance. AWS Config continuously monitored, audited, and evaluated resource configurations to ensure they adhered to specified settings and compliance requirements.

These measures collectively enhanced Scale’s security posture, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance while maximizing the value of their AWS credits to optimize their cloud infrastructure.

The Outcome

Silicon Overdrive implemented best practices and proactive security measures, enabling Scale to operate in a highly available, fault-tolerant, and optimized environment. As a result, Scale can confidently run its operations within a secure, resilient, and efficient cloud infrastructure.

Additionally, a Trend Micro Cloud One – Conformity assessment was conducted to verify that AWS security controls upheld Scale’ s security and compliance posture.

Comark Maloba, CTO at Scale, said, “Going through the AWS Well-Architected Framework with Silicon Overdrive provided valuable insights into optimizing our cloud infrastructure for security, reliability as well as cost efficiency. Silicon Overdrive helped identify best practices and areas for improvement, ensuring Scale is well-aligned with industry standards which we will continue to adhere to as we improve our features and grow usage.”

If you liked this, you'll love these...