Modern Managed AWS Cloud Services

Akkodis offers a managed services approach in three ways: with our staff physically embedded at your site(s); centrally from the Akkodis Service Center closest to you; or from our Global Operations locations. On-site, On-shore, Near-shore, Off-shore.

It takes a lot of skill and attention to detail to keep the cloud simple, secure, scalable, and cosat effective over an extended period.

At Akkodis, we split cloud engagements into a few different areas:

  1. Traditional application managed services: operaing your (COTS) digital workload, across one or more AWS accounts.
  2. DevOps-powered application managed services: for bespoke applications
  3. Cloud Operations: providing the governance, security (SecOps), and financial control (FinOps) of your AWS Cloud estate
Not only does Akkodis Managed Services operate some of the largest digital systems for our enterprise commercial clients but is also responsible for the operational systems for multiple government agencies worldwide in law enforcement, lands industry, transport, education, health, and more. Akkodis patches, updates, maintains and modernizes these systems for the ongoing security and reliability of our clients.

Many clients run commercial off the shelf software (COTS) on vritual machines ina cloud provider environment. These dfeployments still require correct maintenance and updates, of both the applicaiton, the operating system, as well as any load balancing, encryption protocols and TLS certificates. These workloads also often have a relational database, some persistent storage, as well as tradtional backup routines. They’re exposed to either external public audiences over the internet, or possbly private audiences via VPNs and private fibre connectivity.

While the underlying cloud environment has its own Service Level Agreements (SLAs), they dontoperate a full service, leaving you with the option of running these workloads yourself, or handing the perational responsability to a managed services provider (MSP).

Of course, Akkodis likes to go slightly further than just leaving the lights on.

Where possible, we like to simplfy the human effort, by leveraging as much of the cloud managed services a possible to run your workload. Managed Databases, Managed Load Balancing, and templated deployments make the effort to run — and update — these worloads a lower human effort, thereby reducing your Total Cost of Operation (TCO). We’re also well aware of how legacy COTS packages may require legacy ways of operating, such as saving and sharing data, or authenticating users, which may be inflating your TCO becuase of these software limitations.

We also like to export logs from application servers to reliable log services, and strive to be leaving no data of value on the individual virtual machines. Our step beyond this is to deplo using AutoScale, providing the flexability to have zero downtime rolling updates where feasible. We also like to have workload health metrics, both technical and business level, defined with thresholds on alarms and escalations.

We offer this service either on-site from your location, on-shore from our in-country locations, near-short on the same continent, or off-shore.

For many organisations, if they have a bepoke application(s) deployed, then they are likely connected to their core business. Logistics, asset tracking, banking, patient data. These are the crticical systems, that require even more attention to detail. Their downtime can mean significant financial or reputational impact to the client.

This is where Akkodis applies deep DevOps capability, with automated pipelines for software build, testing, approval and deployment, with downtime minimised.

There’s a key area of AWS Cloud Administration that often gets forgotten. While digital workloads run in various segregated environments (shown above), there remains the administration of the overarching cloud estate. We consider this Cloud Operations (CloudOps) — shown above as the top layer.

CloudOps ranges from security testing and alerting, solution architecture and security governance, to financial operations (FinOps). Akkodis often takes a top-down and bottom-up approach to optimise all of these aspects: Cloud Ops managemnt is the top-down component (and DevOps teams is the bottom-up approach).

Akkodis started CloudOps in 2014, making a large government enteties Cloud AWS Cloud landscape, and we’re humnbled to still be trusted to optimise fr this client after more than ten years as their full Cloud Ops, DevOps and Traditional Managed Services provider in the AWS cloud.

AWS-Certified operations expertise

Akkodis Modern Managed AWS Cloud Services teams are staffed by engineers carrying the AWS SysOps Administrator — Associate certification, AWS DevOps Engineer — Professional certification, both, and more! With 10+ years of experience, and the distilled wisdom that comes from running mission-critical, high security, government and enterprise, authoritative system of record and line-of-business workloads, with minimal downtime and strict Service Level Agreements in place for availability, Akkodis is able to capably run and maintain client digital workloads running in the AWS Cloud.

All our managed services, across all Akkodis-supported hyperscalar cloud platforms, client co-lo and client data centres, have a common thread: read more about our Modern Managed Services (in general) here

When it comes to long-term operations, maintenance and security uplift, it is only long-term experience that give you the clarity to anticipate what comes next. Akkodis has been operating an supporting AWS Cloud Managed Services for enterprises and government since 2014.

Akkodis is the hands-on-keyboard curators of our client’s digital systems, and our client’s retain ownership of the workloads, data, and AWS accounts. While Akkodis can wrap up your Cloud costs into our invoice, we are happy to have full transparency: Akkodis manages and optimises the AWS Cloud costs for you, working with your procurement and IT operations teams, but you pay your AWS invoices directly to AWS.

Akkodis manages workloads under strict industry and government compliance requirements, including strong security of data in flight and at rest, and through the data lifecycle from creation and usage, to backups and destruction.

We work seamlessly with the [Akkodis] team – even though they are our service provider, our strong working relationships make us one team.

— Senior Manager, Landgate, Australia

[Akkodis] have a broad technical skill base to compliment high level strategic consultancy to advise their clients. They have been a critical part of Landgate’s strategic ICT Roadmap and a key stakeholder/driver.

— CIO, Landgate, Australia

The engagement we had was highly beneficial to not only the project but also the OT team in helping us grow our understanding of cloud design. No 10 for recommendations only because the service would need to be essentially free and be ground breaking, ie I pretty much never give 10.

— Senior Manager, Oil & Gas company, Australia

[Akkodis] have provided qualified and experienced [people] that have been extremely useful to our transition to cloud. I have been impressed with their knowledge and how they continuously upskill to ensure they are abreast of changes in the AWS landscape.

— Manager, Department of Transport, Australia

[Akkodis] are always happy and fast to respond to any queries we have had, and have the AWS expertise to always find a solution that meets our requirements

— Agricultural startup, Australia

I have interacted with [Akkodis] on many occasions since early 2020 to get AWS Security administration support. I have found all [Akkodis] staff to be responsive and helpful at all times. I would recommend them to others.

— Security Manager, Horizon Power, Australia

We can offer a full-service, on-site support and operations teams for your organization. Our experience in application development and application support means Akkodis has the understanding and capability to monitor, maintain and fix issues with IT systems.

Our on-site dedicated Modern AWS Cloud Managed Services often consists of:

  • Service Delivery Manager
  • AWS Cloud Lead
  • Optional: Cyber Security Analysts
  • Optional: Network Engineers
  • Optional: Enterprise Architects

Workload operations teams, who look after specific digital solutions, with any of:

  • DevOps Engineers
  • System Administrators
  • Database Administrators
  • Developers
  • UI/UX Engineers
  • Data Architects
  • Solution Architects
  • Project Managers
  • Change Managers
  • Business Analysts
  • Application Support Staff (3rd level)
  • Application specialists (geospatial, finance, IoT, Oracle, etc)

Your Akkodis Managed Services team can be fully responsible for:

  • AWS Infrastructure architecture and implementation
  • Advice for other business units on their architecture and implementation
  • AWS Account Management Structures design and implementation
  • Tagging policies for billing and cost allocation purposes
  • Framework for shadow IT to fall into governance review and observability
  • Digital workload architecture and technology stack governance and alignment
  • Advice and management of Direct Connect fibre connections, VPNs, DNS, Firewalls, WAFs, etc.
  • FinOps: cost management, cost savings strategies, Savings Plans, Reservations
  • Virtual machine patching, operating system upgrades
  • Deployment automation (scripting, templating and DevOps); CloudFormation for new, and retrofitted for older workloads
  • AWS Security Hub and AWS Inspector deployment and routine review
  • Technology deprecation management (TLS, runtime versions, database versions, OS versions, etc)
  • New AWS cloud service offering reviews: identify changes, deprecations, and new opportunities for innovation to the benefit of our client
  • Source code migrations from local solutions to Code Commit (or other Source Code Management (SCM) systems)
  • Full-stack development and deployment for bespoke systems. Java, .Net, and other languages supported
  • Full-stack operations of 3rd party COTS solutions, from small point solutions, to large ecosystem products (eg, ESRI ArcGIS)
  • Ongoing Cloud migration services

When engaged as a managed services provider to our clients, Akkodis undertakes the planning build and management of hybrid cloud environments. This is done with a view to continuous evolution of services over the span of the engagement, drawing on the experience of the past to try to avoid unnecessary downtime as services evolve.

From the very start of your first digital workload being deployed into the AWS Cloud, Akkodis takes strict architectural governance optimisation to validate Total Cost of Operation, while also paying very close attention to just the AWS cost component of that TCO.

With a regular cadence, Akkodis reviews ongoing costs, making incremental improvements to take both billing actions, deployment changes, and architectural changes to bring ongoing cost optimisation to our clients.

Data is key to understanding the current state of a workload; with all deployments, Akkodis looks for the technical and business metrics that can be derived to try and quantify the status and wrap these within alarm and escalation thresholds that notify assigned teams, who can triage and rectify issues before they become incidents.

Akkodis has previously worked with clients to undertake and hold compliance with ISO27001 for services deployed and operated by Akkodis within AWS. We work with auditors to understand the shared responsibility model, to understand existing AWS Artifact documents that help accelerate audits, and provide evidence such as deployment templates to further show security configuration and compliance.

Akkodis has long used DevOps approaches of CI/CD, templating, testing and repeatability, to power its AWS Cloud Managed Services; we provide this aligned to a clients IT Service Management levels, with Service Level Agreements, Service Level Objectives, and best intentions to provide excellence in AWS Cloud operations.

The Akkodis Service Center is a centralized virtual helpdesk, staffed out of the Akkodis offices across multiple timezones and countries.

Our team remotely assists clients with all manner of operational support enquiries, and by way of secured remote access to client environments, can mediate issues and work them to resolution, all under an ITIL process with ServiceNow issue management tracking.

Learn more about Managed Services from Akkodis.

Contact Akkodis to find out more⧉