Stack Sports turned to Thinksys to leave legacy software behind—in just 6 months

Today, we’ll share how we helped Stack Sports, a sporting event organization and management company, modernize its legacy software into a scalable, efficient system.

Stack Sports’ platform, serving 19,000 to 26,000 monthly active users, needed a seamless upgrade to ensure no disruption to their day-to-day operations. In less than six months, ThinkSys restructured their infrastructure, improved their overall performance, and ensured compatibility with the latest technologies.

As a result, Stack Sports now have a modernized ecosystem that meets the demands of their growing user base while positioning them for future growth.

Meet Stack Sports

Stack Sports, a recognized name in the sporting event industry, relied on an outdated software system for the entirety of their operations. It became clear that their legacy platform couldn’t keep up with the fast-changing demands of their industry.

The initial challenges were complex:

• Migrating multiple types of databases seamlessly.
• Addressing compatibility issues with obsolete PHP versions.
• Mapping and consolidating large volumes of data for a unified application.
• Ensuring a smooth integration with an AWS-hosted infrastructure.

This task demanded in-depth expertise in the application’s architecture, database management, and the implementation of modern CI/CD pipelines. The project required technical skills and a clear understanding of how to modernize legacy systems while minimizing disruptions.

The legacy system faced the following challenges:

1. Obsolete Technology: The platform relied on outdated PHP versions and functions that required updates to work in modern environments.
2. Complex Database Migration: The system operated with 3-4 different types of databases, each needing careful filtering and mapping to integrate into a unified application.
3. AWS Hosting: Migrating to a modern AWS infrastructure required sophisticated networking, enhanced security measures, and meticulous server configurations.
4. High User Base: With 25K+ active monthly users, ensuring zero downtime and preventing errors during migration was critical.

Each challenge demanded precise planning and execution to ensure a successful transformation while maintaining user trust and system stability.

We Proposed a Solution

The ThinkSys team implemented a detailed migration strategy using advanced technologies and precise execution. The solution included:

• Architecture Migration: Transitioned from a monolithic legacy setup to a modern microservices architecture for greater flexibility and scalability.
• Database Optimization: Unified diverse databases into an optimized format on AWS RDS for improved performance and maintenance.
• CI/CD Pipelines: Automated deployments and testing using GitLab for faster and more reliable releases.
• Containerization: Updated and rebuilt all Docker configurations to streamline application deployment and enhance compatibility.
• Infrastructure on AWS: Deployed secure environments on AWS with EC2 instances, VPC networking, and notification systems using SES, SNS, and SQS.

This approach modernized the infrastructure and created a foundation for sustainable growth and innovation.

Within Six Months, Stack Sports Delivered Impressive Outcomes:

• Successfully transitioned legacy software to a modern microservices-based architecture, ensuring a more flexible and scalable system.
• Improved security and minimized downtime by implementing a private cloud setup with VPC and security groups.
• Enhanced application performance and scalability to meet higher demand using Docker and EKS clusters.
• Terraform was introduced to automate infrastructure management operations and reduce manual effort.
• The deployment process was modernized with CI/CD pipelines that helped to push faster and more reliable updates

Here’s How We Did It Step-By-Step

• Step 1: Data Backup and Initial Setup: The migration began with a comprehensive backup of the legacy system. AWS EC2 was used to restore AMI images, which provided a reliable foundation for the transition.
  Detailed infrastructure diagrams were created to map out the new architecture. It ensured they had a clear roadmap before the process started. As you can see, this approach established a solid base for the updated system.
• Step 2: Networking and Environment Setup: To enhance security and scalability, we built a centralized private cloud using a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). This approach offered controlled networking and security through carefully configured security groups. The result was a secure and scalable environment ready to host the new application ecosystem.
  
• Step 3: New Server Creation: New servers were deployed in the updated environment after replicating the legacy databases with identical configurations. To improve communication and reliability, we integrated SES (Simple Email Service), SNS (Simple Notification Service), and SQS (Simple Queue Service). These additions ensured stable communication and boosted the system's operational efficiency.
• Step 4: Transition to Microservices Architecture: The legacy monolithic application was upgraded to a modern microservices-based architecture hosted on Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) clusters. This required creating Docker files from the ground up to replace outdated configurations. Deployment, services, and ingress configurations were rebuilt to align with current standards. Automation was integrated into the deployment process using GitLab CI/CD pipelines to roll out faster updates.
• Step 5: Database Creation and Optimization: Databases from the legacy system were migrated to AWS RDS (Relational Database Service), optimized for compatibility and improved performance. Terraform was used to automate the creation of database groups and directory structures, which also helped in speeding up the migration process.
• Step 6: Continuous Deployment: A dedicated repository for CI/CD pipelines was built to support ongoing updates and deployments. Docker images were pushed to the registry, and configurations were updated to meet modern requirements. Deployment automation was implemented using Docker Compose files to create a repeatable process for future upgrades.
  

Conclusion

That’s how Stack Sports transitioned its legacy software to a modern, scalable ecosystem in just six months. By combining expert planning, microservices architecture, and advanced AWS infrastructure, the migration became easy. Later, resulted in better performance and an improved user experience.

The best part is that these results can be achieved for your business too. If you’re dealing with outdated systems or thinking about modernizing your software, we can help.

Get in touch with us to overcome these challenges and improve your business operations.