Client Overview

A global investor specialising in buying and managing an extensive portfolio of assets for institutional investors. Known for its innovative approach, the company executes complex transactions across a range of industries and serves a diverse clientele, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors.

The Challenge

Our client selected Microsoft Azure as the cornerstone of its strategy to deliver new digital services and boost operational resilience.

Faced with ever increasing demand for its services and increased regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions, our client recognised the need for a skilled and specialised Azure partner to deliver a new fully automated cloud platform capable of supporting global scale.

The Solution

Drawing from over a decade of experience in building Azure platforms, the BlakYaks squad worked in partnership with the client's architecture and operations teams to deliver our enterprise-grade Azure Landing Zone Accelerator Pack and DevOps Accelerator Pack.

By optimising the structure, design, and automation methods, BlakYaks new Azure Landing Zone & DevOps solution has provided the client with enhanced cloud security, resilience, performance, recoverability, and cost efficiency.

Deliverables

Our DevOps Accelerator Pack deliverables included:

• Robust, scalable Azure DevOps and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Setup
  A high-quality, production-ready Azure DevOps environment paired with IaC principles, ensuring consistency, scalability, and ease of management.

• Foundation for full automation across Azure services
  Established a fully automated framework for Azure services, enabling rapid scaling, reducing manual errors, and increasing operational efficiency.

• End-to-End Build & Deployment pipelines with governance
  Provided automated build and deployment pipelines, complete with controlled governance and pre-configured build agents, ensuring compliance and streamlined deployments.

• Comprehensive Identity and Access Management (IAM)
  Implemented strict IAM policies and controls, ensuring secure and role-based access to critical systems and data.

• Flexible and modular codebase in IaC and YAML
  A highly modular approach to IaC and YAML coding, offering customers the flexibility to scale or modify their platform as business needs evolve.

• Code-Based Azure DevOps (ADO) Project & Repository Management
  Full code-driven management of ADO projects and repositories, promoting a consistent, version-controlled environment that enhances efficiency and reduces manual workload.

• Secure, pre-configured Terraform and IaC bootstrapping
  Delivers a secure foundation for Terraform and IaC, accelerating deployment while ensuring compliance with best practices.

• Detailed documentation for self-sufficiency
  Comprehensive, well-structured documentation, empowering customer teams with the knowledge and clarity needed to manage and evolve their DevOps environment independently.

• Complete IaC Codebase and Smooth Handover Process
  A thorough IaC codebase and documentation package, enabling seamless transition to customer teams or BlakYaks Specialist Operations, ensuring sustained value post-deployment.
  
  
  

Our Azure Landing Zone Accelerator Pack delivered:

• Enterprise-grade, proven Azure Landing Zone deployment
  A battle-tested Azure landing zone, architected to host mission-critical business services reliably and securely.

• Secure, policy-driven environment
  Implemented rigorous policies and governance, ensuring a highly secure environment that meets regulatory and organisational compliance standards.

• Fully automated, modular IaC framework
  Fully automated deployments with a modular IaC structure, reducing setup time and facilitating rapid scaling while ensuring consistency.

• Enterprise-level security, resilience, and observability
  Built with enterprise-grade characteristics—security, resilience, observability, and recoverability—ensuring business continuity and operational transparency.

• Comprehensive networking and security for production readiness
  Configured Azure networking, firewalls, network security, DNS, and secrets management, creating a fully production-ready environment.

• Integrated monitoring, logging, and alerting
  Pre-configured logging, monitoring, and alerting conditions, providing actionable insights and enabling proactive management of system health.

• Backup and recovery solutions in place
  Provided robust backup and recovery mechanisms, ensuring data protection and quick recovery in case of incidents.

• Extensive documentation for operational independence
  Complete documentation set, providing operational teams with clear, actionable guidance to maintain and manage the platform effectively.

• Handover of IaC codebase and documentation for ongoing management
  A complete IaC codebase and documentation transfer to customer teams or BlakYaks Specialist Operations, ensuring long-term maintainability and scalability of the platform.
  
  
  

Outcomes

10 WEEKS

Delivery timeframe of the new
production-grade Azure Landing Zone

35%

Increase in application deployment efficiency

93%

CIS security compliance achieved for Azure Landing Zone

The collaboration with BlakYaks was hugely successful, accelerating the launch of a new business-critical platform and shielding the business from the challenges of end-of-life scenarios encountered in traditional data centre / legacy cloud environments.

BlakYaks delivered the production-grade Azure Landing Zone (built and managed with code) in 10 weeks saving the client’s team months of design and engineering effort.

The client’s investment in end-to-end automation leveraging the power and functionality of Azure DevOps has delivered a consistent and reliable lifecycle management of both Azure cloud infrastructure and application architecture – a perfect foundation for future application migration and modernisation initiatives for this highly-regulated business.

For more information about our Accelerator Packs please see the links below or fill out the form and we will get in touch:

▶ DevOps Accelerator Pack: More information / Datasheet

▶ Azure Landing Zone Accelerator Pack: More information / Datasheet

Got a question?