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SoftwareOne case study
Migrate & modernize Akshaya Patra’s infrastructure on AWS
Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest NGO-led school lunch program, faced aging infrastructure, rising operational overhead, and difficulty scaling mission-critical systems such as Microsoft Dynamics AX and Active Directory. With SoftwareOne (formerly Crayon) and AWS, they embarked on a strategic cloud migration to achieve greater agility, security, cost efficiency, and reliability. The transformation helped modernize operations, improve uptime, and build a scalable foundation that supports their nationwide impact.
Challenges
- Aging datacenter hardware causes rising maintenance costs and performance degradation
- Limited agility and inability to scale Microsoft Dynamics AX workloads
- Manual, complex patching, monitoring, and security processes
- Weak disaster recovery capabilities and high downtime risk
- Increasing security and compliance requirements which were difficult to meet on-premises
Project summary
- Conducted full dependency and licensing assessment for AX, AD, and SQL workloads
- Designed secure AWS foundation with VPC segmentation and hybrid VPN connectivity
- Used AWS MGN to rehost workloads to Windows EC2 and Multi-AZ AD environment
- Implemented AWS-native security, monitoring, and automation tooling
- Enabled AWS Systems Manager, Backup, and CloudWatch for operational efficiency
- Delivered runbooks, documentation, and handover to Akshaya Patra's IT team
Business benefits
- 30–40% reduction in infrastructure and datacenter overhead
- Improved uptime and resilience through multi-AZ architecture
- Automated patching, monitoring, and backups reducing manual workload by 60%
- Stronger security posture with encryption, IAM controls, and centralized governance
- Scalable environment ready for future modernization and analytics initiatives
The Akshaya Patra Foundation, known globally for operating the world’s largest NGO-run Mid-Day Meal Scheme, depends heavily on its technology ecosystem to manage logistics, operations, finance, and coordination across hundreds of locations. As the organization scaled to feed over two million children daily, its legacy on-premises infrastructure—particularly Microsoft Dynamics AX, Active Directory (AD), and the Additional Domain Controller (ADC)—began showing signs of strain. Ageing servers, increasing downtime, manual operational processes, and high maintenance costs were threatening the consistency of their operations and limiting their ability to innovate.
Recognizing the need for modernization, Akshaya Patra partnered with SoftwareOne to develop a cloud-first strategy leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS). The objective was to rehost mission-critical workloads with minimal disruption while improving agility, security, scalability, and operational efficiency.
- Client
- Akshaya Patra
- Industry
- Nonprofit
- Platform
- AWS Cloud
- Services
- Cloud migration & IT modernization
- Country
- India
Assessment and planning: establishing the cloud roadmap
SoftwareOne began with a detailed assessment of the existing infrastructure, including sizing metrics, dependency mapping, and a licensing review for Microsoft workloads. The analysis confirmed that a lift-and-shift migration using AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) would provide the fastest, safest, and most cost-efficient route with near-zero changes to application behavior.
Cloud foundation: building a secure, scalable AWS environment
SoftwareOne designed a multi-tier VPC architecture with segmented subnets and secure routing policies. A Site-to-Site VPN enabled hybrid connectivity, allowing testing, replication, and cutover while keeping the existing on-prem environment operational.
Identity and access controls were configured using AWS IAM with least-privilege principles. Foundational security and governance tools such as AWS Config, CloudTrail, and KMS were implemented to ensure continuous compliance and secure data handling.
Migration execution: rehosting critical workloads
Using AWS MGN, SoftwareOne migrated Dynamics AX servers, domain controllers, and supporting workloads to EC2 instances with AWS-provided Windows Server licensing, reducing OPEX. The existing SQL Server licenses were reused through License Mobility, optimizing cost further.
AD and ADC servers were deployed in a multi-AZ configuration, significantly improving resilience. Automated backups were configured using AWS Backup and CloudWatch dashboards were created for real-time observability.
AWS Systems Manager automated patching, inventory tracking, and configuration enforcement—reducing manual IT workload by an estimated 60% annually.
Operational transformation: improved efficiency and reduced costs
Post-migration, the foundation saw immediate benefits. The pay-as-you-go cloud model replaced costly hardware refresh cycles, saving an estimated 30–40% in total infrastructure and maintenance costs annually.
SoftwareOne and AWS enabled us to modernize our core systems with minimal disruption. Migration significantly improved reliability and freed our team to focus on mission-driven innovation.
Automated operations improved reliability, reduced administrative overhead, and lowered downtime risk.
SoftwareOne’s managed services team provided 24/7 monitoring, SLA-backed support, automated maintenance, and centralized visibility—ensuring continued stability while freeing the organization’s internal teams to focus on innovation.
About Akshaya Patra
The Akshaya Patra Foundation, established in 2000, operates the world’s largest NGO-run school lunch program, serving over 2 million children daily across India. With more than 60 kitchens and extensive logistics operations, its technology landscape supports large-scale supply chain, finance, and administration workflows. SoftwareOne was engaged to support approximately 600+ IT users who rely on core infrastructure such as Microsoft Dynamics AX, Active Directory, and mission-critical backend systems essential for national operations.
Why SoftwareOne
SoftwareOne was selected for its deep expertise in cloud migrations, licensing optimization, and managed services supporting complex Microsoft workloads. With extensive experience in digital transformation, SoftwareOne brought a structured, risk-mitigated migration methodology that aligned with Akshaya Patra’s mission-critical systems and operational constraints. SoftwareOne’s approach combined thorough assessment, optimized cloud architecture, and seamless execution using AWS MGN to minimize downtime. Their strong capabilities in Windows workloads, governance, security baselining, and cost optimization ensured a compliant, scalable, and future-ready environment. Post-migration, SoftwareOne’s managed services provided 24/7 monitoring, proactive maintenance, automated patching, and SLA-backed support, enabling Akshaya Patra’s IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than infrastructure management.
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