EstablishingaLandingZoneforAucklandUniversity
Dynamo6 partnered with the University of Auckland to design and implement a secure and scalable Google Cloud landing zone. This enabled the university to centralise management, enhance security, optimise resources, and empower its users to drive innovation and research.
About the client
The University of Auckland, New Zealand's largest university, is renowned for its world-class research and teaching. The organisation sought to establish a Google Cloud landing zone to support its research, teaching, and administrative capabilities. To achieve this, the university partnered with Dynamo6 to establish a secure and scalable landing zone and migrate existing workloads into the new environment.
About landing zones
A cloud landing zone is a foundational framework that establishes a secure, scalable, and compliant environment for deploying and managing enterprise cloud workloads by defining security standards, identity and access management policies, networking configurations, and governance guidelines. Landing zones help organisations streamline cloud adoption and reduce risk by establishing a consistent foundation for their cloud environments, ensuring that new workloads are deployed efficiently and securely.
Our approach
Dynamo6, a trusted Google Cloud Partner, provided expert guidance and technical expertise to help the University of Auckland achieve its goals. We collaborated with the University of Auckland to design and implement a robust Google Cloud landing zone, completed in three phases.
Phase 1: Discovery and Planning
First, we comprehensively assessed the university's existing IT infrastructure, cloud adoption goals, and specific requirements. This involved collaborative workshops to align expectations and identify key focus areas.
Phase 2: Requirements Gathering and Prioritisation
Next, we captured and documented detailed requirements, including security, compliance, and performance considerations. Workshops with key stakeholders ensured thorough understanding and alignment.
Phase 3: Design and Implementation
Finally, we designed and deployed the Google Cloud landing zone, configuring core Google Cloud services like networking, security, identity and access management, and compute resources. We migrated existing servers (storage and compute) and database infrastructure from non-Auckland.ac.nz domains, integrated network access, and implemented network security for corporate and private (offsite) access. We also implemented monitoring and optimisation for the platform's performance and security.
Continued Support
To ensure ongoing success, a retainer-based managed support agreement was established for its Google Cloud environment. This provides the university's technical team with continuous improvement guidance, troubleshooting support, and access to Dynamo6's expert technology advisory and cloud engineering resources.
The results
The University of Auckland aimed to establish a secure and efficient Google Cloud environment that could support its diverse research and teaching needs. By implementing a robust cloud foundation, the university was able to:
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Centralise management of Google Cloud resources, streamlining operations and reducing costs.
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Enhance security posture by implementing stringent security controls and compliance measures, such as NZISM and FedRAMP, to protect sensitive data.
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Optimise resource utilisation by efficiently allocating and utilising cloud resources, reducing costs and improving performance.
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Empower users by providing a reliable and scalable platform for students, faculty, and technical teams to support innovative research and teaching initiatives.