About the Client

Association of Optometrists (AOP) is a UK membership organisation supporting optometrists and students with professional services, clinical guidance, and member engagement. Digital services are central to AOP’s mission, from member self-service portals to CRM-driven communications..

Client Challenge

AOP’s Windows-based platform – Active Directory, Internet Information Services (IIS), Dynamics CRM, and SQL Server -needed stronger resilience and consistent security controls without increasing operational burden. Manual patching and ad-hoc server access slowed change, observability was fragmented, and the team wanted confidence that the platform could scale and recover quickly under peak demand or failure..

Partner Solution

Dudobi designed and implemented a multi-AZ architecture on Amazon EC2 for Microsoft Windows Server. Member-facing applications run on IIS behind an Application Load Balancer with Auto Scaling for elastic capacity and health-check-driven resilience, while Dynamics CRM integrates with a highly available SQL Server backend on encrypted Amazon EBS volumes. Active Directory domain controllers provide identity services to the application and data tiers using least-privilege security groups.

Operations were standardised with AWS Systems Manager—Patch Manager, State Manager, Inventory/Compliance, Run Command, and Session Manager—enabling automated patching, configuration drift control, and RDP-less administration. Observability and governance were implemented with Amazon CloudWatch dashboards and alarms and AWS CloudTrail for audit, with Amazon GuardDuty and Amazon Inspector providing continuous threat and vulnerability detection. Backups and cross-Region snapshot copies support disaster recovery, and all infrastructure is defined and promoted as code using AWS CDK and AWS CloudFormation across development, staging, and production.

Results and Benefits

AOP’s member-facing services are now protected by an edge-to-origin path that enforces encryption and controlled ingress, while the ALB and multi-AZ EC2 pairs keep applications available through instance or AZ failure. SQL and Active Directory redundancy safeguard critical data and identity, and redundant NAT Gateways ensure reliable outbound connectivity. Systems Manager automation has shortened patch windows and removed the need for inbound admin ports, improving both security and operational tempo. With a dedicated server for dev and testing, changes are safer and more predictable, and Amazon SES provides dependable transactional email delivery that supports core CRM processes.

About the Partner

Dudobi is a forward-thinking technology solutions provider specialising in cloud-based solutions for businesses across various industries. With expertise in AWS services, Dudobi helps clients automate and optimise their infrastructure and workflows, delivering scalable, secure, and cost-efficient solutions. Our team of AWS-certified experts works closely with clients to drive innovation and improve operational efficiency, empowering them to achieve their business goals and improve customer experiences.