How Cloudnexa Helped Management Computer Systems Migrate to Amazon WorkSpaces and Save 50% of Migration Costs

CASE STUDY
“Cloudnexa provides secure, scalable, and affordable services. They are experts with vast experience in multiple disciplines, as a result, they are able to help with multiple problems. If MCS were to implement this migration in-house, it would be at at least twice the expense.”
David Walsh
President, Management Computer Systems
Management Computer Systems
Results
50%
cost savings as compared to performing the migration in-house
Cloudnexa Helped:
  • Migrate to Amazon WorkSpaces
  • Install AWS Client VPN
  • Leverage AWS FSx for Windows File Server
  • Install AWS EC2
  • Set up Trend Micro Cloud One
  • Implement Sophos UTM
  • Leverage DUO Multifactor Authentication

The Client

Management Computer Systems

Management Computer Systems (MCS) was founded in 1975 by David Walsh. The company sells a turnkey software system (MCSSQL) to food and consumer product sales organizations. MCS customers can host their systems locally or on the Amazon Cloud.

The Challenges

Migrating to a secure environment and reducing attack surface area

David Walsh, the President of Management Computer Systems (MCS), understood that internal data is the lifeblood of his company and he wanted to secure it from external threats. David wanted to improve MCS’ overall security posture, reduce possible attack surface area, improve visibility into possible attacks, and prevent attacks. To achieve this goal, MCS needed to:

  • Migrate to a centrally-governed Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and client-side VPN with MFA.
  • Install an Enterprise Malware Protection and Intrusion Prevention software.
  • Set up a highly available and resilient central file repository to support end-users and applications.

Luckily, MCS was already hosting its cloud-based customers on Cloudnexa’s servers.

David knew that Cloudnexa was perfectly suited for the task of securing MCS’ internal data and mitigating against breaches.

The Solution

Seamless Amazon WorkSpaces migration

As an AWS Premier Partner, Cloudnexa helped David and the MCS team migrate to a modern and secure environment. Cloudnexa implemented a mix of AWS services and third-party applications. The AWS services included:

  • Amazon WorkSpaces: A Virtual Desktop Infrastructure that gives MCS employees access to a more secure and reliable environment, with a reduced attack surface and more security controls in place at different layers.
  • AWS Client VPN: VPN infrastructure for authenticated access into the MCS AWS environment.
  • AWS FSx for Windows File Server: Shared storage for users and applications which modernizes the environment and reduces the administrative overhead required to manage multiple file servers.
  • AWS EC2: Virtual servers for remote access to specific users requiring more than an Amazon WorkSpaces. EC2 allows MCS to optimize resource efficiency, increase operational resilience, improve data security and offload Windows license management, all while lowering infrastructure costs.

The third-party applications included:

  • Trend Micro Cloud One: All-in-one cloud-native security platform that ensures that all of MCS’ activities on the Cloud are secure.
  • Sophos UTM: Dedicated VPN solution for specific customers.
  • DUO Multifactor Authentication: Multifactor authentication solution for all employees accessing the production environment which has enhanced MCS’ security posture significantly.

David is impressed by the expertise of the Cloudnexa team and how seamless the entire process was.

“The Cloudnexa team was very knowledgeable and they did a great job shepherding us through the entire migration process. They gave us excellent advice which increased our confidence and trust in them.”

Results

50% cost savings compared to in-house migration

Thanks to Cloudnexa’s help, MCS has successfully migrated to a modern and secure environment. As a result, MCS has a standard experience for all users, secure access to resources with multi-factor authentication, and simplified management and governance.

David estimates that this migration has resulted in a 4% reduction in overall expenses because MCS doesn’t have to pay rent for physical servers or salaries to technical systems staff anymore.

Additionally, MCS has seen 50% cost savings by using Cloudnexa as compared to doing the migration in-house.

The MCS team reports that they find MCS’ cloud installation to be much more secure, reliable, and accessible as compared to its old local installation.

David is happy that the migration has made it easier for MCS to support its cloud customers and troubleshoot their issues faster.

“With Amazon WorkSpaces and two-step authentication, our team can work securely from anywhere. It works great and we’re all happy that we made the change.”

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