August 3, 2017

Kickstart for AWS: Cutting Tech Adoption Time In Half

By Kiril Kirilov

Cloud Kickstart for AWS

Cloud Technology Partners (CTP) have unveiled a new solution for moving to the cloud which should interest anyone needing to deploy Amazon Web Services rapidly across an organisation.

Cloud Kickstart for Amazon Web Services enables organisations to deploy secure AWS cloud environments in just six weeks. This compares to other solutions which can take up to a year to adopt. Time being scarce in a fast paced and virtually completely digitized economy, Cloud Kickstart for AWS might prove to be a solution worth trying.

What exactly is on offer? Cloud Kickstart for AWS is an enterprise grade AWS environment with all the features to run a secure cloud solution. Those include automation, security, governance, and compliance controls.

More particularly, users get:

  • CTP’s recommended tagging standards
  • AWS account standards
  • IPSec VPN connectivity to AWS
  • Platform common services VPC (both production and nonproduction)
  • Active Directory integration for controlling access to tooling and environment
  • Automated creation of Windows and Linux AMIs
  • AMI snapshot management
  • Creation of custom IAM Roles
  • SDLC toolchain using best-of-breed automation tools

The list is comprehensive: the new platform provides all the controls to securely deploy and manage a cloud solution across an entire organisation.

Regardless of whether clients are looking at one workload, multiple workloads, or an entire portfolio, transforming from on-premise to cloud-based IT requires a deep understanding of the best technologies, tools, and vendors to build the right end-to-end solution,” says Robert Christiansen, Vice President and Cloud Adoption Practice Lead at Cloud Technology Partners. “Cloud Kickstart for AWS takes the guesswork out of standing up an enterprise-grade AWS environment and includes all the processes and tools you need to enable your team to safely and securely start provisioning cloud resources.

Migrating to the cloud can be a highly complex, very technical process. It requires a deep understanding of the tools and technology necessary to successfully adopt a cloud-based architecture. Through Cloud Kickstart for AWS, we’re helping enterprises do just that – in only six weeks. Our new offering provides enterprises with the ability to leverage an enterprise-grade secure cloud environment. We’ve automated the best-of-breed partner ecosystem, with expertise in all areas essential for migration, including: automation, security, governance, and compliance controls. Combined with our robust reference architecture, Cloud Kickstart ensures companies are equipped to build, migrate, and run on the cloud.”

Safe and secure cloud implementations are becoming more than a required alternative to unstructured data stored in files. The recent HBO hack is the latest example that traditional file storage and file management systems do lack the protective mechanism against massive hacks.

As SailPoint President and co-founder Kevin Cunningham explains: “The cyberattack that targeted HBO, which included a remarkable 1.5 terabytes of data stolen, also involved email correspondence that could be leaked. While HBO took a very proactive approach to notify employees before news of the hack broke, this breach is another example of how unstructured data stored in files, creates significant risks for organizations as it relates to exposing sensitive data. Even though that data runs rampant through a typical organization, 71 percent of businesses aren’t sure how to manage and protect data from theft…

Moving to the cloud using a solution like CTP’s is a possible solution for such enterprise nightmares. Pre-built continuous integrations and continuous testing capabilities providing immense efficiency gains to devops teams are of utmost value, for example. To top it all, Cloud Kickstart for AWS features a reference architecture enabling organisations to create a simple package for rapid AWS adoption at scale.

This includes integrations with Chef, Trend Micro, Dome9, Arc, Vault, and Sumo Logic. Any cloud deployment team can take advantage of these platforms that cover configuration management, data security, operational analytics, and compliance issues.

Below is a list of pre-built integrations for managing critical components of an organisation’s cloud solution:

  • Host-based anti-malware, intrusion prevention and detection, integrity monitoring and application control (Trend Micro)
  • network security and IAM monitoring and enforcement (Dome9 Arc)
  • Secrets store, temporary access leases (Vault)
  • Encryption for EBS volumes (AWS)
  • Monitoring (AWS Cloudwatch)
  • Consolidated logging including CloudTrail, Build, Automation, and security events across all accounts (Sumo Logic)
  • Configuration management (Chef)
  • Orchestration (Jenkins)
  • Binary repository (Artifactory)
  • Code repository (Git)
  • Managed Cloud Controls for Continuous Compliance and Continuous Cost Control (CTP)

Cloud Kickstart is designed to provide a public cloud environment on AWS or Azure: great for those who prefer one environment over another. The new solution has yet to be tested in the wild but the initial offer and features look promising, especially as regards halving the time for deployment without cutting any corners on security across an entire organisation.

By Kirilov V. Kirilov

Kiril Kirilov

Kiril V. Kirilov is a content strategist and writer who is analyzing the intersection of business and IT for nearly two decades. Some of the topics he covers include SaaS, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IT startup funding, autonomous vehicles and all things technology. He is also an author of a book about the future of AI and Big Data in marketing.
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