Automating Cloud Operations and CI/CD for Life Sciences Platforms
Streamlining deployments and configuration management through AWS driven orchestration
Faster release cycles across environments
by automating CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure orchestration
Improved system reliability and consistency
with centralized configuration and AWS Systems Manager automation
About the Client
The client operates a cloud-based informatics platform, enabling research scientists to manage, analyze and share complex datasets using advanced visualization tools for deep data analysis with high performance and reliability. The organization operates in biotechnology research with a global presence.
Industry
Biotechnology Research
Years in business
90+ years
Employee count
3000+
Presence
Global
“Forgeahead helped us modernize our cloud infrastructure in a way that improved scalability, reliability, and overall efficiency for our research platform.”
Dr. Michael Harrington
Chief Information Officer
the need
The client, a leading life sciences organization, needed to optimize its Flow Cytometry platform to meet the scalability demands of pharmaceutical partners.
The existing setup created delays in deployments, limited automation in configuration management, and increased dependency on manual intervention. These constraints also introduced inconsistencies across environments and slowed research workflows.
The objective focused on faster deployments, automated configuration management, reduced human error, and a more reliable infrastructure for research operations.
the solution
Forgeahead implemented an automation-led architecture to simplify orchestration, standardize deployments, and accelerate release cycles across the platform.
AWS Systems Manager (SSM) was used to automate patching, deployments, and configuration management, eliminating manual effort and ensuring consistency across environments. This centralized approach streamlined infrastructure operations and improved overall system governance.
To further enhance release efficiency, AWS CodeBuild was implemented to power an automated CI/CD pipeline. This enabled seamless build and deployment processes, reduced build failures, and ensured consistent releases across environments. Together, these improvements created a more stable, efficient, and scalable operational framework.
The Impact
Faster Release Cycles
Shorter development-to-production timelines accelerated time to market
Reduced Deployment Time
Automation replaced manual processes across infrastructure operations
Higher System Reliability
Centralized management reduced downtime and stabilized environments
Role of AWS
AWS services played a central role in enabling automation and operational consistency. AWS Systems Manager and AWS CodeBuild supported infrastructure orchestration, patching, and deployment automation, significantly reducing manual intervention while improving consistency across environments.
The CI/CD pipeline powered by AWS CodeBuild streamlined build and release workflows, minimizing failures and improving deployment speed. AWS services also enabled centralized infrastructure management, ensuring standardized monitoring, compliance, and operational control. Additionally, consistent deployment practices ensured high availability across environments, improving overall system stability and uptime.
Tech Stack
The platform leveraged a comprehensive AWS-based cloud technology stack, including AWS CodeBuild, AWS Systems Manager, AWS Control Tower, AWS EC2, AWS S3, AWS EBS, Amazon RDS, Amazon VPC, and Amazon Route 53.
The DevOps stack included Docker, Puppet, Terraform, and Chef, enabling robust automation and configuration management. The technology layer was supported by programming languages such as Python, Ruby, Java, and Bash.