Avis Budget Group's Seamless AWS Migration: Revolutionizing EMEA E-Commerce with D3Clarity

CASE STUDY

10-MINUTE READ

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Our Client

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Avis Budget Group (ABG), a global mobility solutions leader with brands such as Avis, Budget, and Zipcar, has a footprint across approximately 180 countries with over 11,000 rental locations.

The Challenge at Hand

Introduction:

Avis Budget Group (ABG), a global leader in mobility solutions, was at a crossroads with its complex technical infrastructure. This mix of cutting-edge cloud-native applications and necessary yet-to-be-modernized legacy systems impeded ABG’s objective to lower operational costs while boosting its web and mobile applications’ performance, security, and reliability. To navigate this challenge, ABG turned to D3Clarity, an AWS Advanced Tier Partner with the AWS Migration Competency, celebrated for its acumen in transitioning legacy systems to the AWS cloud.

Customer Challenge: Navigating a Complex, Multi-Faceted Technical Landscape

ABG’s situation reflects a common dilemma among large, established enterprises: managing a diverse and intricate technical landscape. This landscape, a blend of advanced cloud-native applications and legacy systems awaiting modernization, posed a formidable barrier for ABG to reach its strategic goals. These objectives were twofold: enhance the company’s web and mobile applications’ performance, security, and reliability and reduce operational costs. By highlighting these strategic goals, the audience feels more aligned with ABG’s vision.

The core of ABG’s challenge was its European e-commerce system. This system, with over 150 unique web domains, each with specific requirements, rules, and configurations, was a complex web to untangle. Developed by various teams over more than a decade, these domains catered to a European customer base with distinct needs across multiple locations, languages, and countries. Each domain had its own compliance and operational necessities, and the reliance on third-party Content Delivery Network (CDN) and Web Application Firewall (WAF) products further complicated the scenario. The legacy CDN and WAF solutions were not only a financial burden due to high licensing and data transfer costs, but they also impeded application performance and were limited by outdated, rule-based WAF logic. Managing domain-specific security rules for this extensive array of domains added to the operational strain, rendering the process cumbersome and inefficient.

ABG’s goal was to create a robust, secure, and cost-effective system that would improve the user experience for its diverse European customer base and future-proof its technological infrastructure. The company sought to harness the full potential of cloud computing to enhance operational efficiency and agility, modernize applications to minimize technical debt, and reduce reliance on costly licenses from third-party vendors. This ambitious undertaking aimed to transform ABG’s technological framework into a more streamlined, responsive, and economically viable structure.

Why AWS and D3Clarity?

ABG chose AWS for its global infrastructure, providing the necessary security and scalability to deploy applications close to end-users, thus enhancing performance and reducing latency. D3Clarity was selected for its proven track record with Fortune 500 clients, particularly in data and cloud engineering services. Known for reliability in project management, D3Clarity’s expertise in database migration and web application security was crucial for this project. The urgency to decommission ABG’s on-premises system before license renewals made D3Clarity’s understanding of ABG’s legacy technology and AWS’s next-generation solutions invaluable.

Innovative Solutions Unleashed

ABG’s solution included secure, private network connections via AWS Direct Connect redundant links and a transit network. Application Load Balancers (ALB) were set up for each application and configured to accept requests only from CloudFront, with added security layers for request validation. Terraform and AWS CloudFormation automated the entire architecture for precision and efficiency.

ABG leveraged the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) for a seamless transition. This comprehensive program entailed an Assess Phase for thorough analysis, a Mobilize Phase for translating and validating existing WAF rules and CDN logic, and a Migrate & Modernize phase for the production deployment. Through this structured approach, ABG adeptly employed automated infrastructure-as-code techniques. This enabled the efficient configuration, validation, and migration of over 150 domains, each equipped with tailor-made AWS WAF rules, CloudFront Functions, and Lambda@Edge tasks, all achieved within a remarkably short timeline.

A comprehensive logging, troubleshooting, and alerting system was implemented to ensure real-time issue resolution. CloudFront, WAF, and ALB logged data securely to Amazon S3, with Amazon Athena for efficient data querying. Amazon QuickSight provided interactive dashboards for traffic data visualization, complemented by Amazon CloudWatch Alarms for real-time monitoring.

Transformative Results Achieved

The Process: Leveraging AWS MAP for a Successful Migration

D3Clarity’s approach to ABG’s migration project was methodically structured around the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), ensuring a comprehensive and efficient transition to the cloud. This multi-phased approach was critical in addressing ABG’s infrastructure’s unique complexities and scale, particularly the 150+ uniquely distinct domains and their associated ecosystems.
The use of MAP also opened substantial AWS partner co-funding, which D3Clarity passed on to substantially reduce ABG’s migration costs.

Assess Phase: Laying the Groundwork for Transformation

Business Case and Metrics: The initial phase involved developing a detailed business case, focusing on the strategic and financial metrics underpinning the migration. This assessment allowed for a clear understanding of the potential return on investment and set a benchmark for evaluating the project’s success.

In-Depth Analysis of Requirements: A thorough investigation of both business and technical requirements was conducted for each of the 150+ domains. This exhaustive analysis was crucial to understanding each domain’s unique characteristics, dependencies, and operational nuances. Mapping these elements was essential to design a migration strategy that would modernize and optimize each domain’s functionality and performance in the cloud environment.

Mobilize Phase: Preparing for the Transition

Translating and Validating Legacy WAF Rules and CDN Logic: A significant part of the Mobilize phase was dedicated to translating and validating the existing legacy WAF rules and CDN logic. This process ensured that the security and delivery mechanisms would be seamlessly adapted to the cloud infrastructure, maintaining the integrity and performance of each domain.

Automation: D3Clarity focused on automating these components, which was critical in streamlining the migration process and minimizing potential disruptions due to human errors or inconsistencies during the transition.

Migrate & Modernize Phase: Implementation and Empowerment

Production Operations Documentation and Training: As part of the move to AWS, comprehensive documentation of the new production operations was created. Training sessions were conducted for ABG’s production operations team, which equipped them with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage the new cloud environment effectively.

Assistance During and After Go-Live: D3Clarity provided extensive support during the migration’s go-live phase, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal operational impact. Following the go-live, ongoing assistance was offered to help ABG’s team adapt to the new systems, address any post-migration challenges, and optimize operations in the new cloud environment.

Through the structured and strategic use of AWS MAP, D3Clarity ensured that ABG’s migration project was about moving to the cloud and transforming the way ABG’s digital infrastructure supported its business goals. This careful, step-by-step process facilitated a successful migration, modernizing ABG’s technical landscape while aligning it with its broader efficiency, security, and scalability objectives.

DELIVERABLES	BUSINESS VALUE
Revenue Generation from Migrated Domains	The transition of domains from the on-premises system to AWS directly contributed to increased revenue.
Reduced Latency and Enhanced Network Efficiency	The project significantly reduced latency by optimizing the CDN solution.
Increased Security and Compliance	Increased Security and Compliance
Scalability and Flexibility	The cloud-based solution offered ABG the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand.
Operational Cost Savings	The move to AWS led to a significant reduction in operational costs.

Results and Benefits:

The successful completion of ABG’s migration project, facilitated by AWS and D3Clarity, brought about several notable improvements and advantages. These results met the initial project objectives and set a new standard for ABG’s operational efficiency and service quality.
Key outcomes include:

Revenue Generation from Migrated Domains: The transition of domains from the on-premises system to AWS directly contributed to increased revenue. This shift allowed ABG to leverage AWS’s advanced capabilities, leading to enhanced user experiences and potentially higher customer engagement and satisfaction.
Reduced Latency and Enhanced Network Efficiency: The project significantly reduced latency by optimizing the CDN solution. This speed and response time improvement translated to a better user experience, particularly in web and mobile applications, thus fostering more significant customer satisfaction and engagement.
Increased Security and Compliance: The new system’s security features, including AWS WAF and ALB integration with secret header validations, provided a more robust security posture. This enhancement protected sensitive customer data and ensured industry standards and regulations compliance.
Scalability and Flexibility: The cloud-based solution offered ABG the ability to scale resources up or down based on demand. This flexibility was crucial in managing peak traffic periods effectively, ensuring consistent service quality without requiring extensive infrastructure investments.
Operational Cost Savings: The move to AWS significantly reduced operational costs. ABG reduced its expenditure on infrastructure and software licenses by decommissioning the on-premises system and avoiding license renewals for third-party CDN solutions.
Improved Management and Monitoring: The integration of Amazon CloudWatch, Athena, and QuickSight provided ABG with sophisticated tools for real-time monitoring, logging, and data visualization. This improvement enabled quicker decision-making, more effective troubleshooting, and better strategic planning.
Streamlined Project Execution: The use of Terraform for infrastructure automation streamlined the migration process. This approach reduced manual errors, accelerated deployment times, and ensured a consistent and repeatable process across the project.
Enhanced User Experience: The overall system performance, reliability, and security improvements directly translate to a superior user experience. This change likely increased customer loyalty and a more substantial brand reputation for ABG.
Environmental Benefits: By moving to a cloud-based solution, ABG potentially reduced its carbon footprint, aligning with broader environmental and sustainability goals.
Knowledge Transfer and Empowerment: The project included aspects of knowledge transfer, empowering ABG’s in-house teams with the skills and understanding necessary to manage and optimize the new cloud-based environment in the future.

Conclusion:

In summary, ABG’s migration to AWS, executed with the expertise of D3Clarity, not only resolved immediate technical challenges but also positioned the company for future growth, cost savings, and enhanced customer experiences.

This case study demonstrates D3Clarity’s ability to navigate complex cloud migration challenges effectively. If you are looking for a partner to guide your digital transformation journey, visit d3clarity.com for more case studies, a complete description of our service, and an easy path to discuss how we can tailor a solution for your unique needs.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group (ABG), a global mobility solutions leader with brands such as Avis, Budget, and Zipcar, has a footprint across approximately 180 countries with over 11,000 rental locations. The company’s commitment to innovation and superior customer service drives it to offer diverse services — from hourly and one-way rentals to long-term vehicle rentals and car-sharing solutions — focusing on seamless digital and mobile technologies for enhanced customer experience.

About D3Clarity

Pioneers in Data-Driven Cloud Transformation

D3Clarity stands at the forefront of professional services as an AWS Advanced Tier Partner, distinguished by our AWS Migration Competency. Our expertise is deeply rooted in migrating legacy networks, databases, and applications to the AWS cloud. We don’t just facilitate technology shifts; we balance innovation with governance, ensuring a seamless transition into a data-driven, cloud-empowered era for our clients.

Our commitment is to elevate data and critical infrastructure quality and management, seamlessly integrating these elements with the essential human and process aspects. Our comprehensive and turnkey solutions focus on enhancing data quality and governance, mastering data management, and preparing data for reliable analytics. We specialize in modernizing cloud applications, prioritizing security, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

At D3Clarity, our passion for business modernization is fueled by the transformative power of data and cloud technology. We view data as the lifeblood of any organization—a powerful tool that, when leveraged correctly, can significantly boost profitability, inform strategic decisions, and guide businesses toward a future marked by assured success. Our role extends beyond service provision; we are dedicated data and cloud evangelists committed to empowering your organization with cutting-edge solutions and expertise.

AWS Services leveraged in this case study: