Partnering With SoftServe for a Reliable Migration

Genius Sports chose SoftServe because we understood how applications, infrastructure, and databases connect — and what breaks when you move them.

Lift-and-shift was not an option.

Moving workloads without modernizing them would have transferred the technical debt to a new environment. The migration needed to stay within budget and comply with the approved technology standards of the wider organization. Modernization had to be built into the migration itself, not treated as a follow-on project.

Genius Sport's AWS Migration Requirements

Genius Sports' infrastructure ran on a virtualised Microsoft Windows 2008 environment with .NET Framework 4.6 applications. Monolithic proprietary databases restricted their ability to scale and innovate. To move forward without investing in new hardware, Genius Sports needed to:

• Modernise .NET Framework applications to run as Linux containers on .NET Core, hosted on Amazon EKS.
• Migrate from self-managed RabbitMQ to the AWS-managed service AmazonMQ for RabbitMQ.
• Transition from proprietary databases to open-source engines to reduce licence fees.
• Develop a comprehensive migration and communication plan for their customers.
• Transition existing Jenkins pipelines to GitLab CI.
• Strengthen their security posture.

The migration approach

A migration this big — with many applications, databases, and a system still running — needed a plan that could be tested first.

The solution: a reusable migration tool.

Instead of moving each application one by one, the team created a tool they could use again and again. This made the process more consistent and partly automated.

The tool helped with:

• Setting up workloads
• Creating database structures
• Moving data and checking if it was ready
• Managing the final switch (cutover)
• Tracking progress in the project

The team updated and improved the applications at the same time as the migration.

Application dependencies were prepared ahead of schedule, allowing direct testing on final platforms without intermediary stages. The approach included:

• Amazon Aurora for PostgreSQL, the new database they moved to
• Amazon Database Migration Service to move data safely
• Schema Conversion Tool to convert old database formats to the new one
• GitLab CI on Amazon EKS replaced the old system (Jenkins) with the new cloud-based pipeline.

Problems can go unnoticed until users report them.

To avoid this, the team ran both systems at the same time, and compared their results. Before switching over, they confirmed everything worked the same.

Genius Sports completed the migration on time, with controlled costs, stronger security, and more reliable systems.

They also fully modernized their applications and simplified processes.

To reduce risk, the team was ready early — they prepared for the final switch a month in advance and exited the data center on schedule, even finishing two months ahead of their original deadline.

Results included:

• Controlled costs — cloud costs increased by only 15%, avoiding unexpected spikes
• Simpler processes, while still meeting all security and compliance requirements
• Fully modernized applications and systems (technical debt cleared)
• Better security and reliability

Mike Patel, CTO of Genius Sports, credited our co-ownership mindset and consistent flexibility as central to hitting the deadline.