InLoop, the creators of FlexiSchools, and Bulletproof take a honest look at their technical and strategic journey into AWS. Chris from InLoop, presents alongside Bjorn and Mark from Bulletproof, to share InLoop’s experience in rearchitecting the FlexiSchools software application for the Cloud, all while laying down the foundations for a DevOps culture.

2. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
Presenters
Chris Simon
Chief Technology Officer
InLoop
Bjorn Schliebitz
Director Professional Services
Bulletproof
Mark Randall
Director of Sales & Marketing
Bulletproof

3. The trials and triumphs of
re-architecting for AWS and
implementing DevOps
The InLoop Story

4. @bulletproofnet
What can you expect today?
• Quick overview of DevOps
• The InLoop Story
The trials and triumphs of re-architecting for AWS and implementing DevOps
• What you can do now

5. @bulletproofnet
Who are we?
• Founded 2000
• Leader in mission critical
end-to-end Cloud services
• ASX Listed (ASX:BPF)
• AWS Premier Consulting Partner
• Dedicated to helping the market’s
challengers and disruptors gain that
competitive edge

6. @bulletproofnet
Who are we?
• Founded 2005
• Leader in defined loop transactional systems
• Award winning customer service
• BRW Fast 100 in 2013 & 2014
• Committed to continuous innovation:
– “Our overriding mission is to find new ways to use technology to solve
problems, deliver value and make life easier for our customers.”

7. Why is everyone
still talking DevOps?

8. 3 most common
misconceptions…

9. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
1. You can hire a DevOps Engineer
to “own” DevOps.
Not
DevOps
Not
DevOps

10. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
2. You can purchase a DevOps Product that
“makes you” DevOps

11. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
3. You “can do” DevOps.

12. So what is DevOps?

13. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
DevOps Approach
Development IT
Operations

14. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
DevOps Approach
Development IT
Operations
Collaboration,
Tools
chain,
Processes

15. Why businesses want
DevOps?

16. @bulletproofnet
1. Improve ROI
“Now
we
can
do
more
stuff!”

17. @bulletproofnet
2. Reliability & Quality

18. @bulletproofnet
3. Innovation

19. @bulletproofnet
4. Get ahead of the game

20. @bulletproofnet
Becoming a DevOps Organisation
• It’s a journey
• Ability to ideate, develop and release at the speed you need
• Fast recovery from unexpected events
• A start: right practices and chain of tools from Dev to Ops
• Has to involve a combination of philosophies: Lean, Agile & DevOps
• Nirvana: On time, budget and expectations

21. @bulletproofnet
The reality…
• Re-architecting and reviewing
current processes
• Project roadblocks
• Curve-ball considerations
• Resource constraints
• Complex
• Not as straight forward as first anticipated
✓
REALITY
CHECK

22. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
Keep striving
for new heights

23. The InLoop Story

24. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
Background
“Simplify your School Life”
500,000+ transactions / week
– Online (e-commerce)
– Integrated Point-of-Sale

25. @bulletproofnet
Migration Drivers – Load Profile
“Living in the Now”
– Friday Morning 08:00-08:10
“Planning Ahead”
– Thursday Night 20:00-21:00

26. @bulletproofnet
Migration Drivers – Growth
2009
-­‐
2015
20142013201220112010
4
Terms
/
Year

27. @bulletproofnet
DevOps Drivers
Enhance Customer
Experience
Continuous Change
• Software & Infrastructure
• Quality/Reliability
• Agility

28. @bulletproofnet
Challenges
• Legacy Applications
(pre-Cloud-Ready)
- ASP.NET, SQL Server
• Limited in-house AWS
or Cloud Experience

29. @bulletproofnet
Advantages
• In-house Architecture
and Dev team
• Agility
Once architecture defined, ability to:
– Identify necessary system changes
– Implement changes

30. @bulletproofnet
What we did
• Solution architecture defined in collaboration with Bulletproof
• Key AWS technologies:
Cloudformation
Infrastructure
As
Code
Elasticache
Persistent
cache
S3
Persistent
storage
ELB
&
ASG
Timed
&
CPU-­‐based
scaling
DynamoDB
Session
Storage
RDS
(for
QA/UAT
environments)

31. Solution

32. @bulletproofnet
Solution
Everything in CloudFormation
– Stacks of Stacks (and sub-stacks)
– Cloud often mean Servers become a fungible resource
– Our entire environment has become a fungible resource

33. @bulletproofnet
Solution
Main application changes:
– Persistent storage to S3 – ‘generic
persistence layer’
– Shift from ‘in-memory’ session to
DynamoDB
– Shift from ‘in-memory’ cache to
redis/Elasticache

34. @bulletproofnet
Solution
Hybrid Architecture:
– Database remains in existing
environment (VMware)
– Simplify scope of migration

35. @bulletproofnet
Outcomes, Learnings & Considerations
The Trials
Complex application of
AWS products, e.g.
• DynamoDB + .NET Session Handler
– Understanding throttling risk/impact/
recovery
– Understanding sharding/partitioning

36. @bulletproofnet
Outcomes, Learnings & Considerations
The Triumphs
• Cost Effective – Auto-scaling minimizes
provisions capacity
• Scalability – Apdex high even through peak
• Growth – continued on target, and meeting
demands
• Innovation – Custom auto-scaling of
DynamoDB to suit

37. @bulletproofnet
Cost Effective
Orange
=
Provisioned
CPU
Blue
=
Consumed
CPU

38. @bulletproofnet
Cost Effective
Orange
=
Provisioned
CPU
Blue
=
Consumed
CPU

39. @bulletproofnet
Cost Effective
Wasted
CPU
Orange
=
Provisioned
CPU
Blue
=
Consumed
CPU

40. @bulletproofnet
Migration Drivers – Growth
20142013201220112010

41. @bulletproofnet
Migration Drivers – Growth
20142013201220112010
Migration
Project
Kickoff

42. @bulletproofnet
Migration Drivers – Growth
20142013201220112010
Migration
Project
Kickoff
Migration
Go-­‐Live
Mid-­‐Project
Growth

43. @bulletproofnet
Migration Drivers – Growth
20142013201220112010
Migration
Project
Kickoff
Migration
Go-­‐Live
Mid-­‐Project
Growth
Post
Go-­‐Live

44. @bulletproofnet
Outcomes, Learnings & Considerations
Considerations
• Complex application changes → availability issues
• Maintaining BAU change concurrent with migration

45. @bulletproofnet
Current Plans
Complete migration
Database to AWS

46. @bulletproofnet
Continuous Enhancements to the Customer Experience
• Continuous Change Requests on the Technology
• Software Changes, Infrastructure Changes
• Demand to Maintain and improve Quality & Reliability
Future Plans
Implementing a DevOps Culture

47. @bulletproofnet
Future Plans
Implementing a DevOps Culture
Our Plan – Strive for Agility & Automation
• Auto-scaling - agile response to business growth
• Configuration Management – agile infrastructure changes
• Continuous Deployment – agile software changes
• Ad-hoc Stack Creation – agile testing & quality

48. @bulletproofnet
InLoop Experience Summary
• AWS is Powerful but Complex
• We realised improvements
on key goals:
– Scalability
– Performance
• AWS is an Enabler – when used
wisely
• Leveraging Bulletproof experience
was invaluable

49. How to get a piece of the pie…

50. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
Key to InLoop Success
• Agility and culture
• Innovators
• Striving for success
• Leveraged partnerships &
relationships

51. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
Why Bulletproof?
• End-to-end Cloud Services provider
• AWS’ leading premier consulting partner in A/NZ
• Enable challengers and disruptors to innovate and get
ahead of the game
• Partners for long-term growth and success

52. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
What you can do today!
• Complete the online DevOps self-assessment
www.bulletproof.net.au/awssummit15
• Visit us at stand: G9
• Contact us to discuss your requirements
sales@bulletproof.net | 02 9663 9033
• Enter our draw to win a : Parrot Wi-Fi quadricopter

53. @bulletproofnet@bulletproofnet
Thank you
Visit us at stand G9 to ask questions