Overview
A regional banking network operating 45 branches across three states was running critical applications on aging on-premises infrastructure. Hardware refresh cycles were becoming increasingly expensive, and the bank struggled to meet growing customer expectations for digital services.
Koyal Tech Solutions was engaged to design and execute a comprehensive cloud migration strategy that would modernize the bank's technology foundation while ensuring zero disruption to banking operations and maintaining strict compliance with financial regulations.
The Challenge
The migration presented several complex challenges unique to the banking industry:
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Legacy System Dependencies
Core banking applications were built on COBOL systems running on IBM mainframes, with complex integrations to modern applications.
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Regulatory Compliance
Strict requirements from FDIC, OCC, and state regulators regarding data residency, encryption, audit trails, and disaster recovery.
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Zero Downtime Requirement
Banking operations could not be interrupted—ATM networks, online banking, and branch operations needed to function continuously throughout migration.
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Data Security Concerns
Board-level concerns about cloud security for sensitive financial data, requiring extensive education and proof-of-concept demonstrations.
Our Solution
We developed a phased migration approach that minimized risk while delivering quick wins to build organizational confidence:
Security-First Architecture
Designed a landing zone on AWS that exceeded regulatory requirements, with dedicated VPCs, transit gateways, and defense-in-depth security controls. Implemented AWS GovCloud for workloads requiring enhanced compliance.
Hybrid Integration Layer
Built a secure integration layer using AWS Direct Connect that allowed cloud applications to communicate with on-premises mainframes during the transition period, enabling gradual migration without big-bang cutover risk.
Database Modernization
Migrated 15 Oracle databases to Amazon Aurora with near-zero downtime using AWS Database Migration Service. Implemented read replicas across multiple availability zones for enhanced resilience.
Infrastructure as Code
All infrastructure was defined using Terraform, enabling consistent, repeatable deployments and complete audit trails of infrastructure changes—a key regulatory requirement.
Implementation Approach
Assessment & Planning (8 weeks)
Comprehensive inventory of 200+ applications, dependency mapping, compliance gap analysis, and detailed migration planning with regulatory review.
Foundation Build (6 weeks)
Established secure AWS landing zone, Direct Connect circuits, identity federation with Active Directory, and security monitoring tools.
Wave 1: Non-Critical Apps (8 weeks)
Migrated development environments, internal tools, and non-customer-facing applications to build team expertise and prove out patterns.
Wave 2: Customer Applications (10 weeks)
Migrated online banking, mobile banking, and customer-facing APIs with extensive testing and gradual traffic shifting.
Results & Impact
99.99% Uptime
Exceeded the previous 99.5% uptime with multi-AZ deployments and automated failover capabilities.
60% Cost Reduction
Eliminated $3.2M in planned hardware refresh costs and reduced ongoing infrastructure spend through right-sizing and reserved instances.
10x Faster Deployments
New feature releases reduced from quarterly to weekly cycles with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure as code.
Enhanced Security
Passed all regulatory audits with zero findings and achieved SOC 2 Type II certification for cloud operations.
"The migration was the smoothest major technology initiative in our bank's history. Koyal's team understood our regulatory constraints and designed a solution that not only met compliance requirements but actually improved our security posture."
