Case Studies

The Challenge

Increasing efficiency without added overhead cost

Alex Sadovsky, VP of Artificial Intelligence at SurePrep, pushed to move toward cloud computing (specifically AWS) as a means to increase overall operational efficiency. The main challenges he wanted to solve included:

How do we ensure that computer resources are allocated correctly to meet minimum system requirements as efficiently as possible? How do we maintain this efficiency as SurePrep continues to scale and experience new technological changes?

How do we leverage AWS to its full potential while securing sensitive customer data against insider and outsider threats?

As a PE-backed company, SurePrep also wanted a solution that would remain cost competitive. This proved to be a key differentiator. They rejected many potential partners that had unclear cost structures.

The Solution

Goal-aligned AWS architectural review

To expedite digital adoption and learn how to best operate on the AWS platform, SurePrep partnered with Cloudnexa. Unlike many of the other options that Alex considered, Cloudnexa offered a customized engagement as opposed to an à la carte setup. Cloudnexa also committed to a specific cost structure that fit SurePrep’s budget with no surprise fees.

Cloudnexa performed a Well-Architectured Framework Review (WAFR) for SurePrep. During the review, Cloudnexa leveraged AWS funding to understand SurePrep’s long-term vision for their environment. Cloudnexa then ranked SurePrep’s progress on each of the five pillars that comprise a Well-Architectured Framework:

1. Operational excellence
2. Security
3. Reliability
4. Performance efficiency
5. Cost optimization

Next, Cloudnexa generated a list of action items that SurePrep could apply to align their infrastructure with AWS best practices. They also helped uncover immediate opportunities for improvement and long-term ways to optimize SurePrep’s AWS platform use.

“Engaging Cloudnexa was a huge value-add when we hired a full-time senior architect. Not only did we get immediate paths for improvement but we also built a multi-year plan of how to constantly improve our architecture long-term, which supports our growth goals. It really set us off on the right foot.”

Results

A faster, more secure infrastructure that costs less

Alex says that the cost-benefit analysis of working with Cloudnexa is easy to understand. Partnering with Cloudnexa cost a fraction of what it would take to hire a full-time engineer. Furthermore, Cloudnexa provides insight into SurePrep’s resource readiness and outlines how many dedicated roles SurePrep needs to maximize ongoing AWS efficiency. This foresight enables Alex to be budget-conscious while strategically growing his team.

More importantly, the Well-Architectured Framework Review addresses all of SurePrep’s needs and sets them up for success as they continue to scale. The WAFR’s action items enable Alex to optimize workloads, making them faster and more cost-effective. And its comprehensive risk assessments and mitigation strategies ensure that SurePrep can continue to offer a secure environment to current and future customers.

“Cloudnexa set us up in a way where we can customize the engagement to maximize our company’s ROI. By investing in a stable platform—and infrastructure and Cloud development that isn’t going to be outdated in a few months’ time—we’re ready for continued growth.”

About Cloudnexa and AWS

Cloudnexa represents limitless potential with the power to transform small businesses into industry leaders and scale global organizations into agile innovators. At Cloudnexa, we help you harness that potential and leverage it to achieve any goal you can imagine. We engineer solutions for success on your terms.

Next steps

To learn more about how AWS and Cloudnexa can help your business, visit www.cloudnexa.com