A hybrid infrastructure for a food company together with Jump Computer

When a company must ensure secure access to data and business continuity even with users distributed throughout the territory, the IT infrastructure ceases to be just a technical support and enters directly into the way in which the company works.

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This is where the project developed by Jump Computer together with CloudFire for a reality in the food sector. The goal was not to move everything to the cloud, but to find a solution that would integrate well with the existing on-premise, without stopping operations and without making management more complex.

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It is also an interesting case for MSPs, system integrators and software houses who find themselves managing critical applications and must understand where the cloud really brings value and where, instead, it should be integrated.

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Who is Jump Computer?

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Jump Computer is a Paduan system integrator with over ten years of experience in the design and management of IT infrastructures, cybersecurity and managed services.

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It's a reality ISO certified who works with a consultative approach, starting from the customer's needs and from how the projects fit into their daily operations. This can also be seen in the way in which it deals with infrastructure evolution: not by applying rigid models, but by building solutions suitable for what is really needed.

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The collaboration with CloudFire has been growing for several years also for this reason. At the base there are complementary skills, attention to the quality of the service And a Common vision: to propose useful solutions to the real needs of customers.

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The context: business continuity and access to food sector systems

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The end customer of this case study operates in food sector, where even brief interruptions in information systems can have concrete effects on production, logistics and warehouse management.

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This is a structured reality, with about a hundreds of clients distributed between offices, factories and warehouses, in addition to a network of agents active throughout the country. In such a situation, being able to quickly and reliably access documents, data and management applications is a daily necessity.

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The project was born from a specific need: to make the management system work better, avoiding friction between internal users, sales force and systems already present in the company. Therefore, a solution was needed that could:

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• support business processes without interruption;
• ensure reliable remote access to users distributed throughout the territory;
• integrate with on-premise systems already present;
• make it easier to manage resources.

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The initial situation: a configuration that no longer met operational needs

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The company started from an infrastructure in which both a cloud component and on-premise systems were already present. Over time, however, this configuration had started to show some limitations.

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• On the one hand, theThe cloud environment did not always guarantee the required level of scalability and continuity at times of greatest load;
• On the other hand, theon-premise remained indispensable for some systems related to production processes and could therefore not simply be replaced;
• Complicating the picture were then theaccess to applications by the sales force distributed throughout the territory and a management that is not always linear of the integration between cloud resources and local systems.

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The theme, therefore, was not to choose between cloud and on premise. It was to make the whole thing work better.

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It is in this passage that thehybrid approach has assumed a central role, not as a compromise, but as a concrete response to the starting situation.

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The infrastructure choice: why OpenStack as a Service and CloudFire?

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In this scenario, Jump Computer has identified OpenStack as a Service the most suitable infrastructure base for the project.

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The need was not to move everything to the cloud, but to introduce an IaaS model capable of integrating with the existing environment and responding more precisely to customer needs.

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OpenStack as a Service allowed Add processing capacity, better manage access to applications and maintain continuity with existing on-premise systems. For Jump Computer, it made sense precisely because it added resources where they were needed, without disconnecting the new environment from the one the company was already using.

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The point, for Jump Computer, was to evolve the infrastructure without creating new silos and without pushing the customer towards a single model. In this direction, the collaboration with CloudFire played a clear role as it helped to build a solid, governable hybrid architecture adapted to the way the customer was already working.

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On this aspect, Jump Computer also highlights the value of the work done together with CloudFire:

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“CloudFire didn't just provide a service, but it worked with us as a real project partner. The willingness to compare, the speed in support and the ability to integrate into our way of working have made the difference.” - Giorgio

Giorgio Dal Bello - CEO and Management System Manager @ Jump Computer

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From design to implementation

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The project started from a detailed analysis of the existing environment.

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They evaluated the workloads, the application dependencies, the business continuity requirements And the role of different systems in business processes. On this basis, Jump Computer and CloudFire have defined ahybrid architecture capable of integrate the new OpenStack as a Service environment with theon-premise infrastructure already operational.

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The implementation phase included:

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• preparation of the cloud environment;
• configuration of networks and interconnections;
• sizing of resources for management;
• progressive migration of components;
• stability, security and performance tests;
• activation of replication mechanisms and fallback procedures.

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La migration has been managed gradually, starting from the least critical components and then arriving at the most central ones. This has made it possible to deal carefully with the most delicate steps, in particular the synchronization between the cloud environment and local systems, always keeping the continuity of the service under control.

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The result was a orderly passage, without operational interruptions and without perceptible impacts from users.

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The results for the customer and for Jump Computer

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The new hybrid architecture has brought concrete benefits both for the end customer and for Jump Computer, which follows its management.

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SCHEME

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For the customer, The management system has become more stable in daily use, both in internal activities Both in theaccess by agents on the ground. The integration between cloud and on premise has reduced some bottlenecks present in the previous configuration and it made themore linear environment to use.

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The most obvious changes concerned:

• greater business continuity, even in critical conditions;
• more regular access to application performance for internal users and mobile agents
• a more orderly management of the infrastructure;
• easier to adapt resources to operational needs

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The project also had a positive impact for Jump Computer. Being able to work on a more coherent and better integrated environment has simplified the work of the technical team, both in monitoring activities Both in interventions. This has made easier to support the customer effectively, without adding unnecessary complexity.

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A project that also speaks to other IT partners

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One of the most interesting aspects of this project is that its value goes beyond the individual case.

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Many companies are in a similar situation: they have central business applications, an on-premise component that cannot be discontinued in the short term and, at the same time, the need to make access to resources and infrastructure management more flexible.

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For MSPs, system integrators and software houses, this means dealing more and more often with scenarios in which it is not enough to choose between cloud and on premise. In some cases, full cloud is the right path. In others, it makes more sense to build a hybrid infrastructure that values what's already there and integrates it consistently.

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This is precisely where the collaboration between Jump Computer and CloudFire takes on greater value. This project shows that it is possible to build a solution adapted to the customer's real context, without forcing standard models and without transforming the technological choice into a position of principle. In this specific case, OpenStack as a Service has made this evolution possible, offering an IaaS base on which to build a more balanced, manageable and replicable structure even in similar situations.