Empowering Wadhwani AI with Seamless Cloud Migration

Business Opportunity

Saving Costs by Migrating to GCP

Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence, an independent nonprofit, leverages advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle challenges in public health, agriculture, education, and infrastructure. To increase the scale of their initiatives, they required a secure and efficient cloud infrastructure. Since they are a non-profit organization, optimizing costs is crucial.

Niveus Solutions identified an opportunity to assist in their mammoth migration journey by offering a seamless transition to Google Cloud. With a deep understanding of Google’s native tools, Niveus provided a future-proof solution that minimized operational disruptions, ensuring the client’s AI-driven efforts could scale globally with confidence.

The Challenge

The client faced a critical challenge in migrating almost 40 different applications from across their 7 Organizational Units (OU) hosted across multiple accounts to Google Cloud. The migration needed to be executed with precision, ensuring that the new cloud infrastructure maintained the highest standards of security and compliance. 

A primary concern was establishing a robust cloud landing zone that adhered to GCP’s best practices, and aligned with the client’s existing security protocols and policies. Ensuring a smooth migration without compromising data integrity or operational continuity was essential, as was meeting the stringent regulatory requirements relevant to their global partnerships. The complexity of transitioning these critical applications, coupled with the need to maintain alignment with existing landing zone policies, added another layer of challenge to the process. 

Overcoming these challenges required expertise in cloud architecture, deep knowledge of both cloud environments, and a comprehensive approach to risk mitigation and compliance assurance.

Our Solution

We successfully migrated 7 OU accounts into a single GCP organization, within 3 months. This included the migration of 39 applications, utilizing GCP’s folder structure and project hierarchy for streamlined resource management, permissions assignment, and cost monitoring. To implement the cloud landing zone, we employed Terraform for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automated deployments using Jenkins pipelines. 

Security was enhanced through Identity and Access Management (IAM), VPC firewall rules, Cloud Armor for DDoS protection, and the Security Command Center (SCC) for real-time threat monitoring. Additionally, we implemented Twingate’s Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) for secure, restricted remote access, replacing traditional VPNs.

For the migration process, we performed a comprehensive assessment, migrating data using services like Velostrata and Storage Transfer, while validating and testing the new environment for performance and security. Monitoring and logging were handled through Stackdriver, with custom alerts set up for key metrics. We also established cost controls through GCP’s billing tools, with budget alerts to prevent overages, and deployed custom scripts to ensure automated backups across VMs. The migration ensured scalability, security, and operational efficiency for the client’s AI-driven initiatives.

Benefits of Migrating with Niveus

• Efficient Migration Process: Niveus ensures a smooth and efficient migration process with minimal disruption to operations, leveraging deep expertise in cloud platforms.
• Automated Infrastructure Management: By implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions, Niveus enables easy, scalable, and automated management of cloud environments.
• Enhanced Security: Niveus applies industry-leading security best practices, tailored to each client’s specific needs, ensuring a secure and compliant cloud infrastructure.
• Cost Optimization: Through detailed cost control strategies and cloud-native billing tools, Niveus helps clients manage budgets effectively and prevent unexpected expenses.
• Future-Proof Scalability: Niveus designs cloud environments that are scalable and adaptable, enabling clients to easily grow and evolve with their business needs.
• Custom Solutions: Niveus delivers personalized cloud solutions that address unique challenges, from security to operational efficiency, ensuring optimal performance. 

Results

• 20% Reduction in Cloud Costs: Our migration delivered almost 20% reduction in cloud costs.
• ~40 Apps Migrated within 3 Months: Our large-scale migration was completed at a relatively faster pace, moving almost 40 applications in just 3 months.
• Improved Operational Efficiency: The infrastructure setup was fully automated, resulting in streamlined processes and reduced manual intervention.
• Enhanced Security: Google Cloud security best practices were implemented, along with additional security measures tailored to the specific requirements of the Wadhwani AI team.
• Automated Infrastructure Setup: The landing zone, including staging and production environments, was set up using Terraform, enabling easier infrastructure management through code instead of manual processes.

Power of Partnership

Migrating to the cloud is a complex journey that demands extensive technical expertise, meticulous planning, and precise execution. Niveus Solutions, as a seasoned cloud partner, offers the critical support needed for a successful migration. Our deep understanding of cloud platforms, combined with our proven methodologies, enabled us to guide Wadhwani AI through every phase of the migration process. By leveraging our expertise, they benefited from a seamless transition, minimizing downtime and avoiding common pitfalls. 

Niveus tailors solutions to address specific business requirements, ensuring optimal scalability, security, and efficiency. Our partnership helps accelerate time to value and reduces risk, making Niveus the ideal ally for navigating the intricacies of cloud migration.