Decisiv Boosts Security to Align with AWS Best Practices

Challenge

Decisiv wanted to bring its cloud ecosystem up to par with AWS’ well-architected framework, which required updating legacy AWS Organizations deployments.

Solution

ClearScale helped Decisiv move away from flat-structure Organizations and document the process so that the client’s internal engineers could execute accordingly in the future.

Benefits

Thanks to its updated AWS infrastructure, Decisiv was able to leverage the latest security tools and configurations available and is now ready to upgrade its services even further on the cloud.

AWS Services

AWS Organizations

Executive Summary

Decisiv is a Virginia-based provider of asset service management solutions for the commercial vehicle industry. Today, over 74,000 fleet and asset owners use Decisiv’s platform to support more than 7 million assets. Overall, Decisiv helps facilitate 13,000+ repair and maintenance events every day and is the largest asset service management ecosystem in the industry.

Recently, Decisiv decided it was time to upgrade its Amazon Web Services (AWS) deployment. Having already worked with ClearScale on a machine learning project, the company felt confident approaching the AWS Premier Tier Services Partner again. ClearScale augmented Decisiv’s small, but potent engineering team to help the platform upgrade its cloud infrastructure for future growth.

The Challenge

Decisiv has a small engineering team with big goals. The chief engineer knew there was room for improvement with the company’s AWS infrastructure. However, the internal IT department had limited capacity to conduct the research associated with any major infrastructure changes, as well as the actual technical implementation. Decisiv’s platform was expansive and complex, so updating it with the latest AWS best practices would be a large undertaking.

The company hadn’t revisited its AWS resources in depth since 2008 and wanted to update its cloud infrastructure to be in line with AWS’ 6 pillars of a well-architected framework model. With outside help, Decisiv’s engineering team wanted to accomplish a few things in particular:

  • Migrate away from AWS Organizations that relied on a flat structure
  • Boost cloud security to align with AWS’ Security pillar best practices
  • Develop step-by-step documentation for the AWS Organizations migrations

ClearScale enabled Decisiv to solve each of these items over a six-month engagement.

"ClearScale not only provided us with the step-by-step instructions needed to accomplish our goals, but they were also heavily involved when we needed it most. Our resources were constrained, and we needed someone who could drive the project forward. ClearScale did just that and much more."
Allen Hewes
Distinguished Engineer, Decisiv

The ClearScale Solution

ClearScale worked closely alongside Decisiv to execute the AWS Organizations migrations and ensure the client’s engineering team knew what was happening every step of the way. ClearScale took leadership over creating test cases, validating success, and updating Decisiv on progress. ClearScale also documented its process and taught Decisiv’s internal IT staff how to manage its AWS Organizations going forward.

Throughout the engagement, ClearScale and Decisiv had two weekly meetings and longer working sessions when needed. ClearScale also provided demonstrations of key AWS tools and features, giving Decisiv engineers valuable knowledge about how to optimize its infrastructure.

The Benefits

As a result of this work, Decisiv was able to prioritize security and make crucial changes to bring its cloud environment up to par. Decisiv’s executives gained more confidence in the company’s IT operations and now feel more comfortable knowing there is step-by-step documentation available.

Furthermore, Decisiv is gearing up for another phase of work with ClearScale. This follow-up phase is crucial, as it will include Decisiv making the specific changes needed to revamp its AWS infrastructure for 2022 and beyond. The company will be able to start reconfiguring workloads according to the well-architected framework and improve security in a significant way.

Decisiv is also looking forward to updating how it moves and processes data. The client worked with ClearScale previously on a machine learning project. Now, Decisiv wants to explore the potential to use data lakes to accelerate data acquisition and support new product development. Pursuing these initiatives with ClearScale’s expert support will enable Decisiv to remain a leader in the asset service management space for a long time.