Arq’s successful RFT submission provides a Managed AWS Infrastructure solution (IaaS).
The solution is a hosting platform for ACECQA’s National Quality Agenda IT System (NQAITS) – an online tool for educators and providers:
The platform consists of three environments:
- Test (UAT)
- Development
- Production
Development and production are segregated at VPC level (each environment has its own VPC).
Core service components in the platform are:
- SharePoint
- Dynamics CRM
- SQL
- Active Directory / Domain Controller
- Dedicated SMTP outbound service (Prod only)
- Zap
Since initial onboarding, the platform has been maintained with a focus on cost optimisation, security – and more recently – continuous value delivery (CVD).
Cost Optimisations
Monthly operational review meetings allowed Arq to continually assess resource utilisation. Potential saving opportunities were identified and flagged for implementation. At the time of writing, this included:
- Scheduled uptime for non-production environments
- Reserved instances for fixed workloads
- Regular rightsizing activities
- Regular cutover to newer available services (e.g. m4 -> m5 classes, ebs gp2 -> gp3)
Security
To meet the evolving security requirements of ACECQA and the education sector in general, Arq implemented enhanced security services to ensure platform integrity is continually improved. This was achieved through the installation of proactive endpoint monitoring agents, a platform-wide Web Application Firewall (WAF), and continually scanning and remediating vulnerability findings coupled with an annual comprehensive penetration test.
Continuous Value Delivery (CVD)
The latest iteration of our Managed Service Agreement had an inclusion for CVD, enabling Arq’s support team the ability to develop a backlog of platform improvement tasks in partnership with ACECQA and implement these changes by drawing down on support hours rather than distinct fixed price engagements.