A team of four Keyhole Software consultants partnered with a global B2B payments and credit solutions provider to modernize a 15-year-old legacy platform into a scalable, multi-tenant, cloud-native application. The engagement focused on improving system maintainability, accelerating feature delivery, and enabling the client to support multiple customers securely from a single platform.
The modernization effort replaced tightly coupled legacy components with a microservices-based architecture and introduced modern DevOps practices to support long-term scalability and operational stability.
Technology Overview
The modernized platform was built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using a combination of containerized services and serverless components.
Frontend:
- Vue.js single-page application
- Hosted on AWS S3 with CloudFront for global content delivery and performance
Backend:
- Node.js microservices deployed on AWS
- Services designed to scale independently and evolve without impacting the broader system
Cloud & Infrastructure:
- AWS (Lambda, Step Functions, Cognito)
- Kubernetes for container orchestration
- Docker for containerized workloads
This architecture enabled horizontal scalability, improved fault isolation, and faster iteration compared to the legacy monolithic system.
Consulting Areas of Note
Cloud-Native Architecture & Platform Engineering
Keyhole consultants played a lead role in designing the microservices and serverless architecture, balancing containerized services with AWS-managed offerings such as Lambda, Step Functions, and Cognito. This hybrid approach allowed the client to optimize for scalability, security, and operational simplicity while avoiding unnecessary infrastructure overhead.
DevOps & Automation Enablement
To ensure the new architecture remained manageable over time, the team established a fully automated software delivery platform supporting development, testing, and production environments.
Key initiatives included:
- CI/CD pipelines using GitLab CI
- Infrastructure as Code with Terraform, enabling developers to spin up full, production-equivalent environments on demand
- Build automation using GNU Make, significantly reducing manual effort and improving developer productivity
- Version control and deployment orchestration aligned across teams to support consistent, repeatable releases
This automation reduced deployment risk, shortened feedback cycles, and prevented the microservices architecture from becoming operationally fragmented.
Infrastructure Design & Kubernetes Integration
Keyhole consultants were deeply involved in AWS infrastructure design, implementing Kubernetes-based microservices that integrated seamlessly with AWS serverless services. This approach provided the flexibility of containers alongside the operational benefits of managed AWS services.
UI/UX Design & Frontend Enablement
From a user experience perspective, Keyhole consultants designed and prototyped 40+ portal pages for an international user base. Work included:
- UI mockups using Sketch, Photoshop, and Illustrator
- Prototyping and collaboration via InVision
- Extending the client’s existing design system while introducing new reusable patterns for modern workflows
- This ensured visual consistency across the platform while supporting new functionality introduced during modernization.
Outcome
The engagement delivered a modern, multi-tenant platform capable of supporting global users with improved scalability, faster deployment cycles, and significantly reduced operational risk.
By combining senior-led architecture, DevOps automation, and cloud-native design, the client gained a foundation that supports ongoing growth without reintroducing the limitations of the legacy system.
