Cloud Solution Extends Portfolio

Background

Premier cloud services and software are crucial for enterprises looking to migrate to leading cloud platforms. HPE GreenLake understands this and has partnered with Symphony Solutions to develop its most prominent services, such as Continuous Compliance and Continuous Cost Control. Initially, the client had implemented Compliance 1.0, which relied heavily on third-party libraries for its functionality, leading to significant expenses and a dependence on the third-party service. To address these issues, Symphony Solutions was brought in to assist with the maintenance of Version 1.0. However, Symphony Solutions went beyond just maintenance and worked closely with the client to create a completely new Version 2.0 architecture, eliminating the third-party vendor and reducing costs.

Client

Among other services, HPE is offering premier cloud services and software for enterprises migrating to leading cloud platforms. Their architects are designing, building and implementing IT solutions for Fortune 500 clients across industries and have completed almost 500 cloud transformation projects. HPE also manages cloud services such as regulatory compliance and automating the reconciliation of actual cloud spend back to the projected savings.

Symphony Solutions has been actively involved in helping HPE GreenLake develop their most prominent services. GreenLake is an essential part of HPE that solves the challenges with managing compliance and overspending that a company might face in its cloud transformation journey. The services offered are:

• Continuous Compliance. The service provides continuous monitoring of GRC compliance information and up-to-date regulatory policies. It provides alerting and remediation for out-of-compliance situations, accommodates audit preparation and gives the client enterprise-level visibility of compliance.

• Continuous Cost Control. The service addresses the issues with cost allocation and optimization specific to the cloud. It provides highly accurate financial data reports and insights that facilitate better ongoing decision-making and long-term planning.

Challenges

A solution that has already been in production (Compliance 1.0), was developed by another vendor and relied on third-party libraries for much of its functionality. This amounted to a big expense on the side of the client and made them dependent on this third-party service for many of its core functions. The original solution also had major issues when it came to maintainability and scalability. At a certain point, the client decided to implement version 2.0 of this product to replace the third-party service with their own implementation that was modern, scalable, secure and easy to maintain.

THE CLIENT COLLABORATES WITH SYMPHONY SOLUTIONS 

The client initially came to Symphony Solutions seeking help with Version 1.0 Continuous Compliance tool maintenance. Soon enough, the team’s excellent performance and contribution lead the client to the realization that a new solution is needed. It was decided to eliminate dependence on the 3rd party vendor and work exclusively with Symphony Solutions on developing a completely new Version 2.0 architecture.

The Managed Teams at Symphony Solutions worked with the client to determine a staged process to achieve this: 

• Conduct a set of automated tests to assess the current state of the product. 
• Develop a completely new solution to allow for cost-effective, timely and secure development. 
• Plan and develop Version 2.0 architecture. 
• Conduct research to determine the best ways to implement necessary functionality. 

In 2020 Symphony Solutions was chosen to substitute another vendor in delivering one more service to HPE GreenLake that was Continuous Cost Control. Having shown great diligence and high quality of delivery, once again Symphony Solutions was chosen to take over the project replacing the other vendor’s team. 

Solution

• Symphony Solutions integrated with the previous vendor’s team to build a set of automated tests to reduce regression for version 1.0 of Compliance Analytics. 

• Symphony Solutions kept the original concept and came up with a new solution, with improved algorithms and leveraged best practices to create new microservice architecture. 

• Symphony Solutions took over the development and support of version 2.0 of Compliance Analytics tool, including building a completely new product from the ground up. 

• Symphony Solutions set up the development process diversifying the roles for frontend, backend, QA, AQA, instead of previously embraced full-stack. 

• Symphony Solutions significantly improved delivery processes such as development and quality assurance allowing to deliver a higher quality product. 

• Symphony Solutions cloud architecture team prepared and guided scenarios for compliance gap analysis, and remediation steps. 

• Symphony Solutions team successfully integrated into HPE GreenLake architecture team and other development teams. 

Result

The end results of our cloud native development and cloud managed services allowed HPE to: 

• Provide quality service to its customers, properly supporting and occasionally developing new features for version 1.0 of the solution. 
• Successfully upgrade to version 2.0 Continuous Compliance tool. 
• Introduce Continuous Cost Control. 
• Eliminate dependency on third-party services and reduce associated costs. 
• Evaluate and monitor compliance to GRC requirements in real-time. 
• Alert of out-of-compliance situations and provide on-the-spot remediation. 
• Increase customer satisfaction, secure loyalty from existing clients, and generate new interest.