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CI&T + AWS:

Transforming Automotive Auctions Through Rapid Cloud Migration

A leading enterprise software provider supporting more than 200 distributed operational sites across North America sought to modernize its mission-critical platform. Their on-premise, event-driven system manages high-volume transactions, extensive operational workflows, and data-intensive processing for a broad network of commercial clients and institutional partners.

THE CHALLENGE

The organization faced a pivotal moment in its market. With a competitor’s exit creating a surge in incoming demand, scaling rapidly became essential. Their existing architecture — individual servers deployed across each customer site — could not support the growth ahead. With a 12–15 month window to prepare before the anticipated market shift, the company needed a fast, validated approach to cloud migration.

The legacy platform relied on a client–server model built on a complex Java-based architecture with deep interdependencies. While the team recognized the urgency of cloud migration, they needed clarity on:

Determining the most appropriate migration strategy for each system component.

Validating AWS architecture for auction-specific workloads.

Building organizational confidence in cloud transformation.

Creating a realistic migration roadmap with minimal business disruption.

Ensuring knowledge transfer to internal teams for long-term success.

The client needed a rapid, low-risk approach to prove cloud viability and build organizational momentum for their migration journey.

THE APPROACH

CI&T proposed an Experience-Based Acceleration (EBA) Migration Party for AWS - a focused proof-of-concept initiative designed to validate migration patterns and build cloud capabilities:

Strategic Assessment

  • Conducted a preliminary migration assessment of the current architecture.
  • Identified candidate applications and components for the POC.
  • Established clear business and technical goals for the accelerator.
  • Aligned executive stakeholders on expected outcomes.

EBA Migration Party Design

  • Planned a 3-day, sprint-based interactive event.
  • Assembled cross-functional teams from CI&T, AWS, and the client.
  • Defined specific migration patterns to validate:
    • Rehost for quick migration
    • Replatform for strategic enhancements
    • Relocate for minimal disruption transfers
  • Created a structured learn-by-doing approach with four phases:
    • Executive Alignment
    • Cloud Readiness
    • Acceleration
    • Transformation at Scale

Breakthrough: End-to-End AI-Driven Development

This initiative marked CI&T’s first fully AI-accelerated migration experience. Generative AI played a central role throughout:

  • AI-driven architecture analysis to map legacy components
  • AI pair programming that reduced development time by ~70%
  • AI-generated Infrastructure as Code for rapid environment setup
  • Automated test creation yielding 5× more coverage
  • Continuous AI-assisted refactoring for performance and quality
  • Real-time, AI-generated technical documentation
  • AI-powered simulation modeling to compare migration pathways

The result was a fundamentally new, accelerated approach to modernization — compressing months of work into days while reducing risk and elevating quality.

POC Implementation

  • Created a prototype CloudAMS environment with two core services:
    • Sale Event Service for auction configuration
    • Offer Handling Service for processing bids
  • Developed a simplified React frontend demonstrating administrative functions
  • Implemented representative AWS services to validate the architecture
  • Conducted real-time problem-solving with AWS specialists
  • Documented migration patterns and lessons learned

TECHNOLOGIES USED

  • AWS Services: ECS, API Gateway, EventBridge, SQS, S3, CloudFormation
  • Frontend: React, TypeScript
  • Backend: Go
  • DevOps: Docker, AWS CloudFormation
  • AI Development: Roo Code, Claude 3.7
  • Database: DynamoDB
  • Monitoring: CloudWatch
  • Security: AWS WAF, AWS Shield

RESULTS

The EBA Migration Party POC delivered valuable insights and concrete outcomes:

Technical Validation

  • Successfully validated cloud migration patterns specific to auction management systems
  • Demonstrated AWS architecture viability for auction workloads
  • Created reusable templates for future migration activities
  • Identified specific integration points requiring special attention
  • Established baseline performance metrics for cloud-based operations

Organizational Alignment

  • Removed organizational silos between business and technical teams
  • Built hands-on cloud experience for key staff
  • Created a shared understanding of migration challenges and approaches
  • Developed consensus on migration priorities and roadmap
  • Established a common language for cloud transformation

Business Case Development

  • Generated data-driven insights on expected cloud cost structures
  • Identified specific operational efficiencies from cloud migration
  • Quantified potential performance improvements for key workflows
  • Created realistic timeline estimates for full migration
  • Developed a metrics framework for measuring migration success

Financial Impact

  • Validated a significant AWS opportunity with $1.3 million total Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
  • Confirmed Monthly Recurring Revenue (MMR) of $109,000
  • Supported implementation of Cross-Service Private Pricing Agreement for $4.7 million over three years
  • Established foundation for two-phase revenue approach:
    • Assessment Phase: $42,000 MRR
    • Migration Phase: $67,000 MRR (follow-on opportunity)

Strategic Partnership

  • Strengthened CI&T-AWS-client collaboration
  • Built a foundation for continued joint execution
  • Demonstrated CI&T's expertise in the automotive auction domain
  • Created a clear path for AWS consumption growth
  • Established momentum for the full migration project