Comunet Case Study: South Australian Environment Protection Authority (EPA)

The South Australian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is undertaking a strategic initiative to modernise its application landscape and transition IT services to the cloud, in alignment with its digital strategy.

With the existing hosting arrangement for EPA DMZ applications scheduled to conclude at the end of FY25, the EPA had a short four-month timeline to assess and implement a transition to a contemporary cloud-based platform that supported fortnightly showcase support scalability, resilience, and future innovation.

To meet the strategic drivers and the short timeline the EPA engaged Comunet to migrate the DMZ and public-facing applications from the current on-premises infrastructure to the AWS cloud platform. The challenge was not only technical but also operational – requiring the full migration to be completed within an ambitious twelve-week delivery window.

Comunet lead the cloud migration initiative, applying their proven Cloud Migration & Modernisation Methodology as a trusted AWS Partner. Working collaboratively with EPA stakeholders and third-party application specialists, Comunet orchestrated a tailored migration strategy that transitioned all DMZ and public-facing applications to a secure, scalable AWS environment.

The project began with a two-week planning phase, during which the team assessed the existing environment, validated the AWS Landing Zone, prepared the target infrastructure, and developed a tailored migration strategy. This was followed by an accelerated migration, where all four applications were transitioned in parallel. Each application underwent deep technical discovery, baseline testing, environment setup, and validation to ensure functionality and minimal disruption. The final cutovers were executed with precision, supported by post-migration go-live assistance to ensure a smooth transition to AWS operations.

As part of the EPA’s cloud migration initiative, Comunet embedded DevOps best practices to ensure scalable, repeatable, and secure infrastructure deployment. Leveraging Infrastructure as Code (IaC), all AWS resources – including networking, compute, storage, and security configurations – were provisioned using automated templates, enabling consistent environments across development, test, and production.

The engagement was delivered within a twelve-week timeframe, demonstrating Comunet’s capability to execute complex migrations under tight deadlines while maintaining operational continuity and alignment with EPA’s strategic goals.

The migration was completed on schedule, with all applications successfully transitioned to AWS. EPA now operates in a modern, secure, and scalable cloud environment that supports its public-facing services and regulatory functions.

The project delivered improved operational control, enhanced security posture, and alignment with government network standards. It also demonstrated the effectiveness of a collaborative delivery model, where internal teams, third-party stakeholders, and Comunet worked together to achieve a complex migration within a challenging timeframe. The success of this initiative sets a strong precedent for future cloud transformation efforts within EPA.

For over 30 years Comunet has been designing and implementing IT strategies that leverage technology to achieve business objectives for small businesses, through to enterprise organisations. With expertise across all areas of IT including strategic consulting, cloud technology, cyber security, and software, we help clients on their digital transformation journey. Through our partnerships with leading global vendors, we deliver the best technology solutions effectively and efficiently.

To learn more about how Comunet can assist your organisation with cloud migration, please contact us.