Craftwork

Client: A leading utilities company serving industrial, commercial, and residential clients, specializing in energy distribution, infrastructure management, and data-driven solutions.

Overview

The utilities company was undergoing a digital transformation to optimize its cloud infrastructure. Managing multiple AWS accounts was becoming increasingly complex, especially as the company began onboarding clients who required their own dedicated AWS environments. To streamline infrastructure management, the company partnered with Craftwork to implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform across their AWS accounts. The goal was to ensure consistent, scalable, and secure deployments while reducing the manual overhead of managing infrastructure.

Challenges

1. Complex Multi-Account Architecture: The company managed five separate AWS accounts internally and also had to manage client-specific AWS accounts. This setup introduced complexities in ensuring security, consistency, and cost efficiency across all environments.
2. Manual and Inconsistent Infrastructure Management: Prior to Terraform, infrastructure provisioning was done manually through the AWS Management Console, leading to inconsistencies, misconfigurations, and longer deployment times. The lack of automation also increased the risk of human error.
3. Scalability and Growth: With plans to onboard more clients, the company needed a scalable infrastructure solution that could handle rapid deployments and infrastructure modifications without interrupting services or sacrificing security.
4. Compliance and Security: As a utilities company dealing with sensitive data, it was crucial to maintain strict compliance with industry standards, ensuring proper access controls, encryption, and logging were consistently applied across all AWS accounts.

Solution

Craftwork developed a comprehensive IaC strategy using Terraform to automate the deployment and management of AWS infrastructure for the client’s internal and external environments. The solution encompassed:

1. Modular Terraform Architecture: We implemented a modular Terraform codebase that could be reused across different AWS accounts. This included modules for setting up Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), EC2 instances, RDS databases, S3 buckets, IAM roles, and security groups. The modular approach allowed the utilities company to quickly provision and customize infrastructure for both internal projects and client accounts without duplicating effort.
2. Multi-Account Management with AWS Organizations: Using AWS Organizations, we structured the environment into five distinct accounts: Development, Staging, Production, Shared Services, and Security. This separation ensured that sensitive workloads were isolated and managed securely. Terraform was used to set up the Organization Units (OUs), Service Control Policies (SCPs), and cross-account access, providing centralized control while maintaining the flexibility needed for each account.
3. Automated Client Account Onboarding: Craftwork created a Terraform template specifically for new client accounts. This template included all necessary infrastructure components, security policies, and networking configurations to rapidly spin up new environments. By using Terraform workspaces, each client environment was isolated, while still leveraging shared modules for consistent infrastructure.
4. Infrastructure Security and Compliance: Security was a top priority, and we utilized Terraform to enforce best practices: • IAM Roles & Policies: Implemented strict role-based access controls and policies, ensuring the principle of least privilege. • Encryption by Default: Enabled encryption at rest for RDS, S3, and EBS volumes, as well as encryption in transit using SSL/TLS. • CloudTrail & GuardDuty: Configured logging and monitoring for all AWS accounts using Terraform, ensuring compliance with industry standards and enabling rapid incident response.
5. CI/CD Integration for Infrastructure: To enable continuous integration and deployment, we integrated Terraform with GitLab CI/CD pipelines. This allowed the company to version control infrastructure changes, run automated tests, and deploy updates seamlessly. Pull requests were used to review changes, ensuring code quality and reducing the risk of breaking production environments.

Impact

The implementation of Terraform transformed the company’s approach to infrastructure management. Key outcomes included: 1. Increased Deployment Speed and Efficiency:

• The time required to provision new infrastructure was reduced by 70%, enabling faster project kickoffs and more responsive client onboarding.
• By automating manual tasks, the company’s cloud team could focus on higher-value initiatives, such as optimizing infrastructure and improving performance. 2. Scalability and Flexibility:
• The modular Terraform codebase allowed the company to easily scale its infrastructure to accommodate new clients and projects. The reusable modules ensured consistency across environments while allowing customization where needed.
• The solution also empowered the client to independently manage their AWS environments using pre-built Terraform templates. 3. Cost Optimization:
• By implementing Terraform Cloud for remote state management and cost estimation, the company gained better visibility into cloud spending, leading to a 15% reduction in AWS costs through optimizations like rightsizing and automated resource cleanup. 4. Enhanced Security and Compliance:
• The automated setup of logging, monitoring, and encryption policies ensured compliance with regulatory standards in the utilities sector. This reduced the risk of non-compliance penalties and data breaches.
• The multi-account strategy, combined with AWS Organizations and Terraform, provided enhanced visibility and control over security configurations across accounts. 5. Reduced Operational Overhead:
• The adoption of CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure management reduced the time spent on deployments by over 50%. The company could now roll out updates and changes with confidence, knowing that they were thoroughly tested and reviewed.

Client Testimonial

“Partnering with Craftwork to implement Terraform has been a game-changer for us. What used to take days or even weeks to deploy now takes hours. The automation, security, and scalability provided by Craftwork’s solution have set us up for success as we expand our client offerings. Their expertise in cloud infrastructure has been invaluable.” — Chief Technology Officer, Utilities Company

Conclusion

By leveraging Terraform and AWS, Craftwork enabled the utilities company to automate their infrastructure management, streamline operations, and scale rapidly as they grew their client base. The shift to Infrastructure as Code provided consistency, security, and efficiency, positioning the company to focus on delivering innovative solutions to their customers.

Craftwork continues to support the company through ongoing management, optimization, and consultation as they expand their cloud capabilities, ensuring they stay ahead in an ever-evolving digital landscape.