On-Premises Migration to Azure and Managed Services

Company

busHive, Inc.

busHive® is an industry leader in transportation management software.

Location

Ballston Spa, NY

Industry

Transportation Software

Services

About busHive

Market Demand for Cloud Hosted Solutions

busHive, Inc. offers software tailored for school bus and motorcoach operators, enabling efficient tracking of maintenance, field trips, daily routes, and driver training and compliance. The transition from their original on-premise product, in use for 22 years, to a cloud-hosted SaaS solution took four years. This strategic shift was driven by the market demand for hosted solutions in transportation software and the advantages of an Azure cloud-hosted solution.

Dealing with updates posed significant challenges. With clients spanning 45 states and in 6 provinces of Canada each update rollout triggered a flurry of phone calls nationwide. Issues ranged from workstations not being unlocked by IT failing to update to various local problems hindering updates. Some clients chose to opt out of running updates locally, leading to the complexity of addressing issues on different software versions, sometimes two years apart—notably, the transition to the hosted product allowed busHive to command higher pricing.

Challenge

Evolving Challenges

The decision to move their software from on-premises to Azure was driven by the market demand for hosted solutions in transportation software and the advantages of an Azure cloud-hosted solution.

busHive, being a small software company, operated with only one senior and two junior software engineers. The senior engineer found himself assuming additional roles as the IT, performance, and security expert, diverting significant time from his primary responsibilities of software development and departmental growth. Addressing client issues entailed coordinating with local IT, resulting in inefficiencies. Dealing with virus scanners, firewalls, and other security measures that restricted workstations at various clients proved to be highly unproductive.

In a heavily regulated industry, busHive sells software to numerous school district transportation departments facing increasingly stringent requirements. Compliance with these regulation-intensive demands is crucial for both maintaining and expanding their market presence.

Michael Hinckley

CEO of busHive

At the time we selected Atmosera, they were one of 50 Azure Expert MSP vendors in the world rated as highly by Microsoft. After a few meetings, we felt very comfortable that we would have a good working relationship with Atmosera and we were right.

Solution

Customized Execution Plan

Atmosera partnered with busHive to migrate all of their Azure Resources to the cloud to a new subscription for Atmosera to manage.

As a Microsoft-oriented entity utilizing .NET, SQL Server, and Dynamics for CRM, busHive found seamless integration with Azure to be an obvious choice. In the pursuit of security, performance optimization, and efficient management of their hosted service, busHive once again consulted Microsoft for a roster of endorsed vendors, and Atmosera emerged as the preferred choice.

It was imperative for busHive to collaborate within their existing Azure environment. Opting for Azure App Services over VMs was a deliberate decision due to the heightened security features they offered. Some vendors exclusively dealt with VMs, while others exhibited a lack of familiarity with App Services, necessitating additional research to determine if they could provide support. This demonstrated a degree of unfamiliarity with busHive’s specific technological environment.

Outcome

Delivering Business Results

The presence of security experts overseeing and evaluating busHive’s security measures stands out as a crucial factor. Devoid of such expertise, securing their environment would have entailed a substantial investment of time and personnel resources, a challenge alleviated through Atmosera’s assistance.

Atmosera played a pivotal role in alleviating the burden placed on the senior engineer so he could focus on critical updates, new staff recruitment and training, and enhancing the skills of existing personnel. As a result, busHive expanded its team to five software engineers, enhancing its capabilities to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. The time savings realized not only translated into cost savings but also facilitated new business opportunities through improved efficiency.

In a recent development, busHive, in collaboration with Atmosera, smoothly transitioned to opening a data center with Microsoft in Canada to host data locally for their extensive Canadian client base. The transition involved relocating numerous large client databases from East Coast and West Coast servers to the new Canadian server, with many clients unaware of the change.

The infrastructural benefits, including the smooth data center transition and the absence of data breaches attributed to unsophisticated or unprofessional hosting, are challenging to quantify in monetary terms but remain invaluable for busHive. The avoidance of potential expenses associated with data breaches underscores the importance of their partnership with Atmosera in maintaining a secure hosting environment.