The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode Reduces Downtime to 0 ms & Achieves 20% Cost-Optimization with AWS Deployment

Executive Summary

The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) deployed Amazon Web Services (AWS) to overcome networking and security barriers for thousands of users, enhancing their experience and being a step ahead to prepare future leaders. The institute was unable to meet the distributed workloads and connectivity requirements while security and accessibility issues also prevailed. IIMK collaborated with Netcon Technologies, an AWS partner, to migrate to AWS. Netcon proposed Amazon CloudFront, Multi-A-Z hosting & cross-replication of database along with other AWS services. As a result, the institute attained higher throughput by auto-patching, better security, higher cost-optimization during off-peak hours, and a seamless network for the 2000+ concurrent users.

Seeking A Balanced Solution for Workload Requirements

Today's academic sector includes digitally-native students desiring a more intuitive experience and faculty expecting a research-oriented digital workplace that allows global networking.

Acknowledging the demands, the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode wanted a balanced solution to meet the connectivity and workload requirements. The on-premise infrastructure was unable to cater to 2000+ concurrent users. As the end users spread across geographical areas, data and network security were one of the primary concerns.

Also, the customer was looking for a solution that would scale up and continue upgrading in the future with zero to no downtime.

“Everything is working smoothly and appreciate Netcon's openness and detailed knowledge sharing sessions to help us understand the setup and give us a holistic view on the new cloud infrastructure.”

- Ashok Pathak, Chief Systems Manager, IIMK

Exploring Cost-effective & Customized Solutions

With the responsibility of preparing the leaders for tomorrow on its campus, the institute deeply understands and acknowledges the need for a seamless, highly secured, and accessible network with a multi-dimension capability of fulfilling the requirements of several hundred users spreading across the campus and globally.

IIMK was quick to understand the challenging and dynamic demands and opted for AWS to fill in the gaps and enhance the overall experience. With more than 15 edge locations ready to serve the end-users and lend excellent user experience, AWS proved to be a cost-effective and customized solution package for IIMK. 
 
One of the best advantages of choosing AWS was that similar use cases existed in the education sector, building a natural trust and creating an environment of mutual understanding and cooperation. In addition, great response to queries, quick TAT, and support with apt solutions from the team of certified and highly skilled AWS engineers created a long-lasting impression.

Strategizing a Comprehensive Route with the an AWS Partner

IIMK chose Netcon Technologies, an AWS Partner through an RFP tender, even though cloud solutions was a relatively recent (+3 years) offering of Netcon. Netcon has been a part of IIMK’s technical consultant team for a long time as a data center consultant, designer, builder, and manager.

The institute was fully aware and believed in the competency showed by Netcon on the Datacenter and Networking fronts, and hence trusted them with the cloud offerings as well. Netcon demonstrated to IIMK that cloud enviroments has the potential to fully cater to the requirements. The partner also assured relevant Low-Level Design (LLD) and High-Level Design (HLD) by describing the overall and detailed architecture of the solutions. It took a comprehensive approach while addressing the challenges and successfully enabled AWS through various services.

In addition, the partnership with Redington Limited allowed Netcon to leverage and convert AWS-related strategies quickly and seamlessly.

Deploying AWS services to Improve UX, Security, and Reduce Latency

For better connectivity, Netcon proposed Amazon CloudFront to serve the static file from the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket and Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) with auto-scaling. The ELB instance as a single point of contact enables higher cost optimization during off-peak (typically non-class hours). The purpose was to bring the data as close as possible to the thousands of users, taking off the load from the backend servers and reducing latency. This approach created a seamless network for the 2000+ concurrent users and distributed the workloads for smooth transmissions. Moreover, Multi-AZ hosting and cross-replication of the Database allowed higher resilience. 

Netcon considered Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) - a collection of managed services that makes it simple to set up, operate, and scale databases in the cloud due to its high durability. As a fully managed DB server, it brought added advantage of better security and higher throughput by auto-patching. 

The queries raised had a quick response. Redington Limited also provided timely assistance and expert support as and when required. 

User Experience Improves by 95% and Less Than 54% Latency

Netcon achieved the expectations results for IIMK and addressed the challenges faced by the institute in a way that enhanced the user experience and built a secure, agile, dependable, and cost-effective ecosystem.

Netcon’s approach towards the project and support provided gave them satisfactory results. The stats give detailed insight into the benefits after the deployment of AWS by Netcon:

  • 20% Cost optimization. 
  • 0 ms downtime in the entire operations from the time of deployment (excluding scheduled maintenance).
  • < 54 ms latency for end-users on average; regardless of their geo-location. 
  • 95% increased user satisfaction with service – (calculated by the number of complaints received).
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode

About the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode

Located in Calicut, Kerala. The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, set up in 1996 by the Government of India in collaboration with the State Government of Kerala, is one of the 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Equipped with the modern technologies to enhance digital learning and advanced network connectivity, IIM Kozhikode offers an explorative and innovative horizon for academics, with programs and a curriculum of international level.

About Netcon

Netcon Technologies offers IT infrastructure solutions to industries. Netcon with Redington Limited has captured numerous opportunities by developing customer-centric AWS solutions. Redington Limited offers transparency on billing and rebate activities and streamlines the financial process, allowing Netcon to keep its resources targeted at developing economical solutions for customers.

Published November 2022