Federal Government Agency Achieves Cloud-Smart Compliance

A Canadian federal agency needed to migrate legacy on-premises systems to the cloud while meeting the Government of Canada's Cloud-Smart strategy and stringent Protected B security requirements. The agency operated 40+ applications serving 8,000 employees, with strict data residency requirements mandating all data remain within Canadian borders. Previous migration attempts had stalled due to the complexity of meeting ITSG-33 security controls.

Zaha developed a comprehensive cloud migration roadmap that categorized all 40+ applications by migration suitability (rehost, refactor, rebuild, or retire). We established a Protected B-compliant landing zone on AWS GovCloud Canada region, implementing all required ITSG-33 security controls including encryption at rest and in transit, network segmentation, and comprehensive logging. Our team migrated applications in waves, starting with lower-risk workloads to build confidence and refine processes. We implemented infrastructure as code using Terraform modules pre-configured for Government of Canada compliance requirements, and established a Cloud Centre of Excellence within the agency.