Systems integration specialist Smart421, based at the Felaw Maltings in Ipswich, has helped another local firm to migrate a key platform which is now hosted in the “cloud” on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Haven Power’s Energy Retail Suite (ERS), its core billing and registration system, previously ran on internally managed systems.

The migration means that Haven, which is a specialist retailer of energy to the business sector and based on Ransomes Europark, Ipswich, is now able to benefit from the flexibility and resilience offered by AWS.

Hosting is across several Amazon Availability Zones, providing a robust platform for the vital system, with the re-platform and migration process having been fully designed by Smart421.

The project involved a team of around 20 people and ran from March to May 2014, following a proof of concept phase started in 2013.

Paul Armstrong, business systems manager at Haven Power, said: “Our ERS billing platform, developed by EDW Technology, is truly business critical for us.

“This has been a complicated technical project. The involvement of the Smart421 team from the original conception last October through to the actual implementation illustrates how Smart421 can work as a trusted partner committed to the success of a project for their customers.

“The feedback internally here has been totally positive about the way the system has gone live with improved user performance.”

Neil Miles, managing director at Smart421, said: “As Haven Power continues its phenomenal and successful growth, their need for flexibility and business agility is a perfect use case for cloud computing.

“Their confidence in Amazon Web Services has been evidenced since 2011 when they first adopted AWS for hosting other applications in their IT estate.

“Smart421 is extremely pleased to have smoothly delivered yet another successful Cloud migration, particularly considering the complexity and mission critical nature of this platform. Smart421 is delighted to continue its association with Haven Power as it goes from strength to strength.”