Army Futures
Overview.
The Challenge.
Delivery required the demonstration and embodiment of infrastructure-as-code, Behaviour Driven Development and Domain Driven Design principles. The project also required the use of automated deployment approaches to enable the deployment of a software stack of open source tools and software. The aim was that this software stack could then automatically run high-quality infrastructure to multiple cloud environments (e.g. AWS, Azure, Raspberry Pi) while maximising automation, re-use and data sovereignty.
The Solution
Digi2al established a 7-person team to provide this capability, consisting of DevOps engineers, developers and a technical lead. We have worked closely with Army staff and the Product Owner to deliver the desired outcomes in a ‘one team’ approach.
Our team faced a number of challenges during development, conducting research and reporting on issues including air-gapped package management in resource constrained environments and privacy concerns with cloud encryption. In response, we developed a solution using open source software. Our DevOps engineers created a proof-of-concept prototype using a vendor agnostic deployment approach. The team used a wide range of Cloud Native open source software to provision virtual infrastructure and deploy platforms and application services to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Raspberry Pi.
We also used daily stand-ups throughout project delivery to communicate progress and blockers; show and gather stakeholder feedback; and share results.
The Results.
Digi2al’s team has successfully developed vendor-agnostic software and infrastructure pipelines that enable automatic provisioning of infrastructure to a range of cloud environments. This now allows the client to dynamically provision physical and cloud infrastructure in a low-cost, easy-to-use, and secure way. To date, the project has upskilled the client team in agile and user-centred design. It has also fostered an engaged delivery team and increased client confidence in service design.
Project highlights.
