Resources / Case Studies
Minimizing the Risk of Downtime
We built a relationship with OnTheClock over the course of a year before migrating and modernizing their Windows workloads on AWS.
The Customer
OnTheClock provides time-tracking software to over 15,000 customers. Their software allows employees to digitally clock in and out on employer-approved devices. It also makes payroll easier by integrating with third-party payroll systems like PayChex and Quickbooks. OnTheClock is a small business that operates out of the Detroit area.
The Challenge
OnTheClock customers require 24/7 software access, without interruption. On their previous hosting service, OnTheClock regularly experienced random outages or downtime, disrupting customers’ access to their software. The hosting service never provided an explanation or any notice of the steps they would take to prevent future outages.
Why AWS?
OnTheClock chose AWS for a few key reasons. First, AWS has the longest-running experience on the cloud. AWS runs more than double the number of Windows workloads than any other cloud provider. The OnTheClock team wanted a cloud provider with a track record of satisfied customers. AWS’ history of quickly resolving issues and its commitment to innovation really stood out. After engaging with the AWS sales team, they were very impressed with the customer experience and follow-through.
Why JetSweep?
The biggest factor in their decision was the working relationship that JetSweep and OnTheClock established early on. They were looking for a trustworthy partner to serve as a guide throughout the migration process. JetSweep stayed connected with OnTheClock for two years during their decision process and ensured all their questions were answered. OnTheClock spoke with other JetSweep customers to hear about their experience. AWS directly recommended JetSweep, and our ability to focus on their project before we were officially working together impressed the OnTheClock team.
The Solution
At the start, we identified the goals, existing challenges, migration concerns, and resource availability for the OnTheClock migration. JetSweep performed a discovery of their existing infrastructures and applications to design an appropriate solution that would meet all business requirements. The environment was conducive to a modernization migration, where OnTheClock would leverage RDS instead of a SQL dedicated server.
JetSweep built the infrastructure and worked with OnTheClock application specialists to complete the application migration and migrate their web server. Throughout the migration, there was a total of 15 minutes of downtime. The minor issues that arose throughout the migration were addressed and resolved promptly. After the migration, a period of one month was spent testing. After approvaal, there was a knowledge transfer and handoff of the environment to the OnTheClock IT team.
The Benefits
The benefits of their migration were immediately clear. They experienced a significant performance increase, noted by internal staff and customers. Since migrating, they have not experienced any unplanned downtime. They get so much more value out of their environment in AWS.
AWS Services
The overall design was based on the customer’s network and security requirements. The following AWS services were included in the build:
AWS VPC
Subnets
Internet Gateway
Route Tables
Security Groups
NAT Gateway(s)
AWS Application Load Balancer
AWS EC2Instances
AWS RDS
AWS Backup