Project Overview
The Cisco Shipped program aimed to revolutionize the software development lifecycle by introducing a robust platform that manages every aspect of development. Akava played a crucial role in building core microservices, including the web front-end and CI/CD pipeline while ensuring the solution’s analytical potential was harnessed.
The Challenge
Cisco faced the challenge of orchestrating the entire software development lifecycle while ensuring high availability, seamless integration, and effective project management. This necessitated creating a platform that allowed users to deploy Kubernetes and Mesosphere DCOS on their infrastructure with ease, without requiring extensive coding efforts. Furthermore, Cisco aimed to provide comprehensive insights into computing usage and costs to enhance its appeal within the software development community.
Our Approach
We came up with a thorough plan to deal with the problems at hand.
Architecture Design
01We used a thorough strategy to handle the Cisco Shipped project’s complexity. A microservices architecture was created when building the project’s framework with a primary focus on using Golang. This decision guaranteed a modular and scalable structure, enabling expansion and adaptability in the future. Due to its reputation for dependability and performance advantages, Cassandra was strategically chosen as the primary database to strengthen data management, further supporting the project’s robust architecture.
Application Development
02The user-facing web front-end was carefully crafted using tools like HTML5 and AngularJS, among others. Utilizing OAuth2 for strong security, authentication, and access control, the front-end functionality was created to work in unison with a back-end microservice API. This strategy followed best practices for web development and guaranteed a seamless user experience.
Agile Velocity
03Agile methodologies were adopted for effective project estimation, iterative development, and collaborative workflows. Throughout the course of the project, JIRA served as the main ticketing system, enabling efficient task tracking and progress monitoring. In addition, the project followed the 12-factor app guidelines, resulting in a standardized and maintainable application architecture.
Quality Assurance
04Automated testing procedures with broad coverage were used to integrate new features in a methodical manner, ultimately improving the reliability and maintainability of the software. The project’s success in addressing the challenges of the Cisco Shipped initiative was largely due to our thorough approach.
Tools & Tech Selection
To deliver the Cisco Shipped project effectively, a range of tools and technologies were employed:
Golang
Efficient and performant microservices development.
HTML 5
Responsive, multimedia-rich web content, and improved semantics.
Angular JS
Efficient front-end development with dynamic, modular features.
Cassandra
Used as the primary database for its scalability and fault tolerance.
GraphQL
Efficient data querying and manipulation.
OAuth2
Secure front-end access and authentication.
Docker
Consistent, portable, and isolated software deployment environment.
Kubernetes
Scalability, orchestration, and management of containerized applications.
Mesos
Efficient resource management and scalability for distributed applications.
Consul
Service discovery and configuration management.
jFrog Artifactory
Artifact management and version control.
Terraform
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to provision resources.
Ansible
Automated provisioning and configuration management.
Kafka
Real-time data streaming and processing.
Traefik
Used as a reverse proxy and load balancer.
drone.io
Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).
AWS
Cloud platform for hosting and scalability.
Results & Outcomes
Infrastructure Automation
The Cisco Shipped program’s results produced significant gains in a number of areas. This solution significantly improved users’ operational skills by enabling them to quickly deploy Mesosphere DCOS and Kubernetes on their infrastructure. These deployments greater dependability and simplicity played a key role in improving Cisco’s overall infrastructure management.
Cost & Consumption Insights
The program’s platform also offered priceless insights about computing usage and related costs. This data-driven strategy improved resource allocation while also improving Cisco’s appeal to the software development community. Cisco was in a better position to draw developers and companies searching for effective and affordable solutions by providing transparency and control over computing resources.
End-to-End Efficiency Gains
The program’s end-to-end development platform also made the software development lifecycle more efficient. This improvement promoted teamwork amongst development teams, speeding up project completion. The platform’s all-encompassing capabilities, from deployment to monitoring, increased the effectiveness of software development while also boosting Cisco’s operations overall agility. The Cisco Shipped initiative had significant results, including improved data-driven decision making, increased infrastructure empowerment and a more productive and cooperative software development environment.
It took us 2 months of working with another firm to get to where we got on day one of our project with Akava. Their technical expertise and understanding of all potential edge cases saved so much time while improving our overall platform. Our collaboration resulted in the creation of a comprehensive software development platform that addressed complex challenges while enhancing our overall development capabilities.
Ken O.
VP, Cloud-Native Solutions