Enterprise Application Modernization in the Cloud Era: A Case Study of Ticket Management System Migration

Abstract

The migration and modernization of enterprise applications from on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments presents significant technical and organizational challenges. This article documents the transformation journey of a large-scale ticket management system from a monolithic architecture on VMware to a cloud-native implementation using containerization and microservices. Through a strategic two-phase process, the project first established baseline operations via lift-and-shift migration to Google Compute Engine before evolving to a fully containerized architecture on Google Kubernetes Engine. The transformation included database migration from Oracle to PostgreSQL, implementation of advanced network security policies, comprehensive disaster recovery mechanisms, and modern observability solutions. The resultant architecture demonstrated marked improvements in system reliability, performance, security posture, and operational efficiency. The documented strategies, challenges, and outcomes provide valuable insights for organizations undertaking similar modernization initiatives in enterprise environments.