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Lightstream reduces company’s long-term expenses by designing customized cloud strategy

Leaning into our longstanding relationship with AWS, optimizes the environment, to secure a favorable agreement and ensure maximum cost savings

Business Challenges

For over 25 years, companies have relied on this global software development company for solutions to effectively manage quality events and processes. Users depend on them to save time, maximize efficiency, and reduce the occurrence of errors, through their Quality Management System and Manufacturing Excellence products. This organization needed an expert cloud services program perfectly tailored to fit its needs.

Overpaying for Services
Our client grew increasingly concerned it was overpaying for services under a prior agreement and missing out on strategic cost-saving opportunities.

Overwhelming Options
The company was faced with an overwhelming combination of services and applications to learn about and sort through for the best deal to fit its specific needs. It needed a plan with terms customized to its unique needs.

Need for Guidance
An expert in the space was needed to help gather data and calculate relevant and reliable forecasting models on future cloud usage needs.

The Lightstream Solution

Through Lightstream’s extensive expertise and longstanding relationship with cloud solutions partners, we were able to design our operations to better leverage AWS solutions and services, saving time and costs.

Extensive Expertise
Lightstream relied on its extensive expertise to gather data for their client. This helped the organization’s leaders, alongside Lightstream’s experts, decide on key services and terms that could optimize cloud costs. Lightstream also initiated an in-depth analysis of the company’s systems and technical operations. Data-driven figures were also used to better flesh out the essential resources, platforms and other tools it needed to efficiently operate its business.

Long-Term Projections
Lightstream prepared five-year projections, forecasting the company’s future compute and usage demands. The projections accounted for industry trends, the company’s growth plan and other variables. Lightstream processed this data and designed the most comprehensive and cost-effective plan for the company.

Reaching Full Potential
Lightstream discovered some areas of the company’s current solutions were not being used to their full potential or weren’t being used at all. Lightstream was able to better educate the team on the technology and ecosystem, which maximized future use.

Higher Discount Rate
Lightstream designed a plan with terms customized to the company’s needs, engaged available yet underutilized technology and negotiated better AWS EDP agreement terms with a higher discount rate.

Cost-Saving Consulting
The company asked Lightstream to source quotes from possible new solutions partners. Because of Lightstream’s expertise with cloud services EDPs, it confirmed the best outcome for the client’s unique circumstances would be to remain with Amazon Web Services. It encouraged the client to continue with its current ecosystem, ultimately saving time and money, had a switch occurred.

Business Outcomes

Steep Savings
Lightstream’s negotiation of more attractive EDP terms resulted in an increase in savings. This was possible because of Lightstream’s long standing relationship with AWS and their deep understanding of the client’s needs. Lightstream facilitated mutually beneficial negotiations.

Consistent Partnership
Instead of parting ways, AWS and the company entered a longer-term agreement, which in time, saves costs and increases efficiencies.

Leveraging Solutions
The company was able to design its operations to better leverage AWS solutions and services, saving time and costs.

Secure Long-Term Savings with Lightstream

If your company needs an expert to help analyze your business needs to create secure and interconnected cloud and network foundations, Lightstream is the partner of choice. With our in-depth industry expertise and longstanding relationships with some of the most innovative cloud solutions partners in the marketplace, we can make recommendations on next steps, contract terms and partnerships that save your organization time and costs. Contact us today to get started!

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Lightstream Helps Major Software Provider Achieve Business Growth with AWS Even During Pandemic

Industry:  Technology

Cloud Managed Services Empower MasterControl through Business Optimization, Cost Control and Enhanced Security within AWS

Business Challenge

As a leading provider of Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS), MasterControl prides itself on maintaining the highest standards of quality and operational excellence. In fact, the organization’s cloud-based QMS system is titled MasterControl Quality Excellence™. With some of the largest regulatory agencies and life-science companies in the world depending on MasterControl to help them expedite the process of providing people with life-changing products, they can’t afford to leave quality and compliance to chance.

MasterControl is an innovator in the use of cloud technology and started down the path of public cloud with AWS in 2010. They eventually became overwhelmed with the day-to-day contractual management of AWS and sought out a technology provider that could help them streamline processes, fine-tune security and contain costs. They found that partner in Lightstream, an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner that offers a variety of services to assist organizations in assessing, designing and managing their AWS environment.

Over the years, Lightstream has helped MasterControl to find better ways to grow their business with AWS while controlling costs. Lightstream’s assistance with onboarding new accounts and achieving savings discounts has enabled the company to overcome obstacles as they bolstered software development initiatives. AWS and Lightstream supported MasterControl as the company expanded into Europe and Asia Pacific, which expansion was made much faster and more seamless due to the cloud.

As most business leaders know, this magnitude of expansion is almost always accompanied by growing pains. MasterControl’s IT team found that it was being stretched thin and no longer had time or sufficient resources for the ongoing monitoring needed to detect potential cloud security issues. They had to find ways to manage security and reduce cloud spending as they worked to establish a strong global presence. Travis Ruiz, Director of Cloud Services at MasterControl, once again collaborated with long-time partner Lightstream to come up with a solution.

Solution

Lightstream knew that its Cloud Managed Services offering could provide MasterControl with enhanced financial optimization along with the security oversight that is critical in order for the company to prosper even during times of crisis. Cloud Managed Services helps companies to improve the day-to-day administration and management of their cloud infrastructure through a flexible mix of consulting, integration and managed services. Lightstream’s gold level service package identifies changes that must be made in MasterControl’s cloud environment for security, technical and financial optimization. Lightstream then implements the changes necessary to remediate the financial aspects of those optimizations, while MasterControl’s in-house team is able to remediate any security and technical issues Lightstream detects.

Lightstream negotiated an Enterprise Discount Plan (EDP) with AWS on behalf of MasterControl in order to achieve a considerable expense reduction. Cost optimization measures have been amped up with additional savings plans and in-depth reviews and revisions to its Reserved Instances contracts. Extensive tagging features and Lightstream Connect customized reporting were established to help the company save time and gain greater visibility while analyzing expenditures and appropriately allocating costs.

Business Outcomes

Since Lightstream began providing Cloud Managed Services to the company in 2017, MasterControl has been able to meet their stringent budget constraints, even during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. Like most organizations, MasterControl faced many challenges in 2020 as customers weren’t as active as they once were, which was negatively impacting the company’s revenue stream.

Financial Optimization

Despite this, they’ve managed to stay on track with the help of an eight percent discount on AWS costs along with additional savings. A dedicated team at Lightstream has ongoing interaction with MasterControl’s executive officers, regularly delivering detailed reports and savings summaries that demonstrate how Lightstream is helping the company reduce expenses.

Enhanced Security

MasterControl’s internal IT team is able to focus on keeping its cloud environment safe and secure with the help of Lightstream’s ongoing monitoring, analysis and reports that give insight into potential technical and security threats and concerns that must be remediated.

Business Growth

While MasterControl’s cloud journey with AWS propelled the company’s international growth, Lightstream has ensured business optimization and significant ROI along the way. Lightstream has helped MasterControl to scale down spending without lowering their high standards for quality, compliance and security. The company has managed not only to remain viable during this tumultuous time, but it’s starting to grow again even in the face of an economic downturn.

As MasterControl continues its steady expansion, Lightstream is unwavering in its promise to add value and foster growth within the AWS cloud environment. Lightstream stands ready to support MasterControl well into the future, with ever-broadening service offerings that can continue to help it succeed in its quest to maintain the highest standards of quality, safety and operational excellence.

What MasterConrol had to say:

“We appreciate that Lightstream goes above and beyond to enrich our AWS cloud environment. Our long-term partnership with them has allowed us to keep customer success and innovation at the core of our operating philosophy without compromising on the cost and efficiency of our cloud infrastructure. We’re on track for continued growth with cloud technology firmly at the center of our product and services map.”

-Travis Ruiz, director of cloud services at MasterControl