Cloud-native corporate portal

[Architecture · Grupo Diveco]

Serverless architecture with costs tied to adoption. Each module of the portal, from Sales and Travel Expenses to the SAP and RPA integration and the HR digital suite, was prioritized by its own cost-benefit case and has its savings measured.

Results

$125K[Result]Saved by the first modules in four months (about $375K annualized)
$90K[Result]Operating savings of the SAP and RPA module in its first six months
$120K[Result]Saved by the HR digital suite in three months

The problem

Digital transformation blocked by resistance to change and high financial risk. A traditional architecture implied high fixed costs without adoption guarantees. Success needed to be demonstrated early with a strategy that tied costs to growth.

The solution

I designed a pure Serverless architecture (Lambda, DynamoDB, Aurora) with a Headless frontend in Nuxt.js deployed with AWS Amplify. 'Pay-per-Adoption' model where elastic infrastructure keeps costs minimal in the initial phase and scales only with project success. Modular delivery, with each module prioritized by its own cost-benefit analysis.

The challenge

Resistance to change and high investment cost

Slow adoption: Technology needed to be a showcase to evangelize other areas, making initial success and quickly delivered value critical.
Financial risk: A traditional architecture implied high fixed infrastructure costs from the start, without guarantees of full adoption. A strategy that tied costs to adoption growth (ROI) was needed.

The approach

Serverless as a business strategy

Pure serverless architecture: I designed a portal based on a Headless and modular architecture, using Nuxt.js for the frontend (deployed with AWS Amplify) and modern databases like DynamoDB and Aurora for the transactional backend.
'Pay-per-Adoption' model: The Serverless approach (Lambda, DynamoDB) ensured elastic infrastructure. In the initial low-adoption phase, infrastructure costs were minimal. As adoption grows, the infrastructure budget also grows, funded by the project's own success.
Modular value delivery: Each module was prioritized by its own cost-benefit analysis. The highest-impact ones (Travel Expense Settlement, Sales Processes) shipped in short cycles and demonstrated tangible value to evangelize the rest of the organization and ensure project expansion.

The impact

The impact and return on investment (ROI)

Savings measured in four months: In their first four months, the initial modules saved $125K (about $375K annualized) thanks to automation of manual processes in Sales and Human Capital. This validated the investment and funded future modules.
SAP and RPA integration: The module that integrates SAP, RPA, external APIs and internal systems produced $90K in operating savings in its first six months.
HR digital suite: It automates people workflows with intelligent assistance. It was built with executive leadership, scaled across the region and saved $120K in three months.
Sustainable scalability: The architecture is prepared to scale elastically and financially, ensuring that adoption growth doesn't generate unexpected spikes in the IT budget.
Adoption culture: The initial success of the Travel Expenses and Sales modules served as the necessary proof of concept to eliminate resistance to change and accelerate digital transformation in other areas.

Technologies

AWS Lambda · DynamoDB · Aurora · Nuxt.js · AWS Amplify · Headless Architecture · Serverless · Event-Driven · SAP · RPA