Executive Summary 

 

Precision Farming, a New Zealand-based SaaS vendor specialising in high-tech geospatial mapping for agriculture, partnered with CyberCX to assist with a critical cloud migration project in 2023. Together we shifted Precision Farming’s operations from a local data centre to a modern, serverless cloud environment on AWS, addressing challenges of scalability, speed of deployment, and access to advanced technologies. 

 

Client Background: Precision Farming’s Pre-Migration State  

 

Before engaging with CyberCX, Precision Farming’s operations were dependent on a legacy data centre. The existing environment was characterised by:

• Limited Scalability: The infrastructure could not effectively scale to meet growing data demands and customer base expansion.

• Slow Infrastructure Deployment: The deployment of new services and updates was time-consuming, impeding rapid response to market changes. 

• Outdated Technology: The lack of advanced, serverless technologies hindered operational efficiency and innovation. 

Challenges and Objectives 

 

Precision Farming faced limitations in expansion, slow infrastructure deployment and a lack of serverless technology capabilities. The primary objectives were: 

• Migrating to a scalable, serverless AWS environment. 

• Enhancing developer agility and global reach. 

• Implementing containerised services, managed databases, modern CI/CD pipelines, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC). 

 

Solution Implementation 

 

CyberCX executed a comprehensive migration and modernisation strategy which included: 

• Infrastructure Deployment: Utilising Terraform for building and deploying their new cloud infrastructure. 

• Service Containerisation: Containerising over 30 backend services into AWS ECS Fargate. 

• Database Migration: Migrating complex geospatial databases into Postgres RDS. 

• Web Hosting: Utilising S3 for reliable hosting of external sites.

• Developer Pipelines: Implementing new CI/CD pipelines for continuous deployment in a replicated test environment. 

 

Key Achievements 

 

• Serverless Architecture: A complete cloud-native and serverless deployment was implemented, eliminating the need for ongoing server management. 

• Auto-Scaling and Performance: Services can now auto-scale to meet demand, handling larger data volumes with real-time data ingestion. 

• Global Expansion Capability: Service infrastructure can be rapidly redeployed worldwide, aiding business growth.

• Operational Efficiency: By leveraging AWS serverless solutions, Precision Farming achieved significant improvements in reliability, scalability, and deployment ease. 

 

Challenges Overcome 

 

• Complex Migration: The migration involved completely re-architecting the application environment into a full serverless architecture, directly from on-premises physical hardware. 

• Streamlined Data Processing: CyberCX transformed three critical applications by rearchitecting them from a single instance to parallel containers that could scale on demand. Backlogs of over a million records were quickly eliminated with the implementation of parallel processing. 

• Database Replication and Upgrade: CyberCX successfully replicated Precision Farming’s databases in RDS, while performing an in-place upgrade from Postgres 9.6 to 12.5, a challenging task given the complexity of Precision Farming’s geospatial data. 

• Strategic Migration Execution: A strategic plan was implemented to avoid business interruption during the migration to AWS Serverless. 

 

Client Testimonial 

 

Willis Ritchie, Head of Technology at Precision Farming had the following to say:
 

“CyberCX went above and beyond to ensure that this migration was a success. We can now confidently take our products to the next level utilising the power of AWS cloud.”
 

Conclusion 

 

By collaborating with CyberCX, Precision Farming has not only achieved a best standards architecture in AWS but also unlocked significant business potential. This state-of-the-art technological foundation now positions Precision Farming to escalate their service offerings to new heights. Key business benefits include: 

 

• Enhanced Competitive Edge: The high availability and reliability of their AWS infrastructure allows Precision Farming to stay ahead in the competitive AgTech industry by rapidly deploying innovative features and services. 

• Scalability for Business Growth: The ease of scalability in their new serverless environment means Precision Farming can now efficiently handle increasing volumes of data and a growing customer base without compromising performance.

• Operational Efficiency: The move to a cloud-native setup drastically reduces the time and resources spent on infrastructure management, allowing Precision Farming to allocate more focus and investment towards core business activities and innovation. 

• Global Market Expansion: With the capability to rapidly deploy their infrastructure in new regions, Precision Farming is well-equipped to expand their market reach globally, tapping into new customer segments and opportunities. 

• Cost-Effective Operations: The modernised, pay-as-you-go model of AWS ensures that Precision Farming can optimise their operational costs, paying only for the resources they use and scaling them according to business needs. 

• Increased Customer Satisfaction: The enhanced performance, reliability, and deployment speed of their services lead to improved customer experiences, fostering stronger customer loyalty and attracting new clients. 

 

In summary, the partnership with CyberCX and the transition to AWS have not only technologically revolutionised Precision Farming but have also opened avenues for substantial business growth, market expansion, and increased operational efficiency. Precision Farming is now poised to confidently explore new horizons and cement its position as a leader in the AgTech industry.