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Deutsche Flugsicherung

Deutsche Flugsicherung

Secure, Stable, Scalable: Cloud Migration and DevOps Empowerment

Flight security is a sovereign duty – that's what it says in the Air Traffic Act that is the legal basis for the Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), the German air navigation service provider. DFS stands for security in German airspace. Guaranteeing security requires qualified employees and a dedicated flight security infrastructure that is operated independently by DFS.

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Outcomes

Excellent IT Performance

thanks to cloud migration and the introduction of DevOps practices to the operation of the cloud infrastructure

Cost efficiency

thanks to improved predictability due to cloud-first strategy & cost shift to operational expenditures (opex)

Maximum security

thanks to enhancement of identity and access management (IAM), zero trust, secret management, etc.

Challenge

To make internal development projects more flexible and fit for the future and to make costs more predictable and environments for applications more scalable, the task was to migrate development-relevant tools to the cloud. In the past, individual applications had already been moved from on-premise to the cloud. Now the goal was to advise DFS on the complete migration of its development platform and to help with implementation; that is, to establish a state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure – and of course also to help design the appropriate cloud security concepts. DFS’s software development team also needed practical assistance to use the new cloud services and DevOps practices efficiently and effectively in its development process.

Solution

Cloud advising, cloud development & migration support

For the complete migration of the development platform to the cloud, first AOE analyzed the status quo and planned the necessary conversions in a structured fashion.

  1. Migration support for the infrastructure from on-premise to the cloud
  2. Advising and assistance of the DFS software development team during the migration to the cloud

Cloud infrastructure & DevOps empowerment

To be able to optimally exploit the potential of the cloud in the future, AOE created the cloud infrastructure according to cloud best practices and advised the DFS teams on the application of DevOps practices.

  1. Refactoring and expansion of the existing Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) with Terraform and Terragrunt, as well as the design and establishment of the associated CI/CD pipeline for the entire cloud infrastructure
  2. Introduction of and support for the operation of state-of-the-art software version control, plus migration support for the applications to ensure efficient, agile work
  3. Support for the operation of an artifact repository
  4. Support for the operation of a container infrastructure based on 
Linux systems in the cloud for optimal DevOps practices
  5. Application management through the set-up and management of the observability infrastructure (monitoring, logging, alerting) for the entire development infrastructure
  6. User and operating documentation

Cloud security

In order to guarantee the security, integrity, and availability of the data and applications in the cloud and fulfill compliance requirements, various security measures were introduced and implemented.

  1. Introduction of an identity access management (IAM) solution
  2. Security hardening: Implementation of zero trust approaches within the cloud infrastructure, security-relevant optimizations, and improvements
  3. DNS and certificate management
  4. Introduction and support for the operation of a central secret 
management solution for DFS software development
  5. Introduction and support for the management of a back-up and disaster recovery strategy

Transfer of experience & learnings

As part of the RTL+ development team at RTL Deutschland, the members from AOE played a significant role due to their experience in both complex software development projects and agile working methods. Their meticulous approach, proactive thinking, and collaboration at an equal level were crucial. They also supported the production of RTL+ with input and feedback on the project and its short-term strategy.

What our customers say

Management summary

Reaching destinations safely – this is the motto of the Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), not only in airspace, but also with regard to the implementation of technological innovations. That's why the company relied on AOE's agile cloud and DevOps experts for the cloud migration of its development platform. This way, a cost-efficient, stable, and secure cloud infrastructure could be set up according to state-of-the-art security standards.

Business benefits

Scalable, fit for the future & flexible

Excellent IT performance thanks to introduction of DevOps practices

Greater security thanks to enhancement of IAM, zero trust, secret management