Modernization for High-Traffic Promotions Platform

Project background 

Overview

The client, a large-scale promotions and advertising platform handling over 100 requests per second, faced several challenges in maintaining operational efficiency. Their existing deployment system was inconsistent, the architecture was overly complicated (especially concerning billing components), and there was no version control in place, severely impacting collaboration and scalability. The client required a scalable infrastructure to streamline their workflows, support their growing traffic, and reduce operational overhead.

Our team joined the project as part of a staff augmentation model, working closely with the client’s internal team to introduce modern DevOps practices, containerize applications, and implement an optimized deployment pipeline.

Project Goals

• Standardize deployment processes to improve reliability and efficiency.
• Simplify and optimize the platform’s architecture for better scalability and maintainability.
• Establish proper version control and a streamlined workflow using Git-based solutions.
• Containerize applications and deploy them in a managed Kubernetes environment.
• Build CI/CD pipelines to automate deployment and infrastructure provisioning.

Challenges

• The absence of Git on the project made collaboration and versioning inefficient.
• The existing billing architecture was overly complex, leading to unnecessary delays and complications.
• The deployment process lacked standardization, resulting in inconsistencies across environments.

Our approach

Solution

Our team started by migrating the project and the client’s team to a centralized Git repository hosted on Bitbucket, building a clear Git flow for version control and collaboration. We containerized all applications for consistency across environments and implemented a new architecture leveraging Kubernetes and DigitalOcean.

Using Terraform, we provisioned infrastructure as code to streamline scalability and repeatability. CI/CD pipelines were designed and implemented using Bitbucket Pipelines and FluxCD, ensuring automated builds, testing, and deployments. These solutions reduced manual errors and made the system more agile.

Throughout the process, we collaborated closely with the client’s team, providing documentation, training, and support for a smooth transition to the new workflow.

Team

A small yet efficient team of two experts: one DevOps engineer and infrastructure architect collaborated to overhaul the system and deliver high-quality results.

Results

The project successfully modernized the DevOps infrastructure, significantly improving the platform’s performance and operational workflow. By implementing Git Flow and migrating the project to a centralized Bitbucket repository, the team enabled seamless collaboration and efficient version control. The deployment process was streamlined with the introduction of automated CI/CD pipelines using Bitbucket Pipelines and FluxCD, ensuring reliable and consistent deployments across all environments.

Additionally, the infrastructure was transitioned to DigitalOcean Managed Kubernetes and DigitalOcean Container Registry, simplifying application deployment and management. Terraform was used to provision infrastructure, making it scalable and consistent while reducing manual effort. The overall architecture was simplified, addressing previous complexities and improving system maintainability, resulting in a robust foundation for future scalability and growth.