Case Study
Cloud Refactoring & Modernization
on AWS
From legacy silos to secure, event-driven services and analytics on Amazon Redshift – aligned to federal guidance.
24 services
Microservices delivered
AWS + Redshift
Target data platform
CI/CD gated
Quality & security checks
Parallel run
Phased cutover approach
Snapshot
Client
Selective Service System (SSS)
Industry
Federal – National Service & Readiness
Compliance
NIST 800-53 R5 • EO 14028 • FedRAMP
Mission & Challenge
Modernize the Registration, Compliance & Verification (RCV) system by transitioning from legacy components to an AWS-native approach – refactoring into microservices, implementing secure automated pipelines, and enabling analytics on Amazon Redshift – without disrupting ongoing operations.
What We Did
Refactor
- Decomposed legacy functions into 24 microservices
- Standardized REST APIs and contracts
- Dockerized workloads (ECS/EKS or equivalent)
Replatform
- Established the data platform on Amazon Redshift
- Built event-driven ingestion via S3 + Lambda
- Executed a parallel run to de-risk cutover
Operationalize
- Implemented CI/CD with security/quality gates
- Adopted IaC (Terraform/CloudFormation) for repeatable deploys
- Centralized logging and alerting with CloudWatch
24
Services
AWS + Redshift
Platform
CI/CD gated
Gated Pipelines
Parallel
Cutover
Impact to Date
- Reusable integration pattern for partner file ingestion (S3 → event processing)
- Repeatable deployments through gated CI/CD and IaC
- Improved test discipline: structured UAT cycles with defect triage and evidence
- Analytics-ready data on Redshift to support compliance and reporting
- Lower operational risk via parallel run and phased migrations
Tools & Platforms
Amazon S3
File ingress, staging
Amazon Redshift
Analytics & reporting
API Gateway
Compute & Integration
SQS/EventBridge
Messaging & Events
Defender for Cloud
Cloud Posture & Alerts
CodePipeline/
CodeBuild
CI/CD with gates
IAM, Secrets Manager
Identity & Secrets
CloudWatch
Logs, metrics, alerts
Controls Mapping
- EO 14028: Supply-chain checks in CI/CD, artifact provenance, automated gates
- NIST 800-53 R5:
- AC (Access Control): IAM roles/least privilege
- CM (Configuration Management): IaC, pipeline-enforced changes
- CP (Contingency Planning): DR playbooks and parallel run procedures
- AU (Audit & Accountability): Centralized logs, exportable evidence
- FedRAMP: Inheritance leveraged where applicable; controls tied to runbooks/evidence
Delivery Details
- Pipelines: CodePipeline/CodeBuild with ZAP & SonarQube checks
- IaC: Terraform/CloudFormation; per-environment promotion & drift detection
- Observability: CloudWatch dashboards/alerts; audit evidence exports
- Runbooks: UAT/production deploys, data backfill, DR tests