Leading Cloud Migration to Strengthen Global Resilience in Foreign Military Sales
Overview: Modernizing SAF/IAʼs Cloud Infrastructure for Foreign Military Sales
The Secretary of the Air Force International Affairs SAF/IA) orchestrates global military partnerships, overseeing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and international security cooperation. This division ensures U.S. Air Force resources, equipment, and training are securely transferred to over 100 allied nations, strengthening diplomatic and defense relationships worldwide. SAF/IA required a modernized, cloud-based IT infrastructure capable of delivering scalability, security, and compliance with stringent Department of Defense mandates.
Emagine IT (EIT), under the Policy IT Management Enhancement Support Services (PITMES2) program, was tasked with enhancing SAF/IA's cloud environment to ensure secure digital operations across mission-critical platforms. Our responsibilities encompassed managing cloud-hosted infrastructure in AWS GovCloud, reinforcing security compliance with FedRAMP, FISMA, and DISA STIG standards, and optimizing cloud performance to empower SAF/IA's global security mission.
Goal: Optimizing IT Scalability and Resilience for Global Defense Engagements
SAF/IA embarked on an ambitious journey to modernize its IT infrastructure by transitioning to a secure, cloud- based environment supporting its global mission of facilitating U.S. Air Force international partnerships. The vision centered on replacing fragmented, outdated IT operations with a streamlined, scalable, and secure cloud architecture. This modernization initiative focused on migrating core IT services to AWS GovCloud, enhancing operational agility, strengthening security, and ensuring compliance with federal mandates. The migration would consolidate SAF/IA's cloud resources, standardize security controls, and integrate automated monitoring systems for improved reliability.
Security compliance enhancements stood as a cornerstone requirement. SAF/IA needed to meet FedRAMP, FISMA, and DISA STIG requirements, aligning its IT environment with DoD cloud security standards.
Implementation of automated security baselines and continuous monitoring became priorities to reduce risk
exposure and strengthen cloud governance. The initiative also demanded establishment of a comprehensive disaster recovery framework with automated failover and replication strategies to enhance mission continuity and resilience.
Finally, SAF/IA required a cloud platform capable of supporting secure collaboration with international defense partners. The solution needed to enable real-time, controlled data-sharing while maintaining compliance with international security protocols and optimizing Foreign Military Sales operations. Emagine IT stepped forward as the chosen partner to execute this transformation under the PITMES program, committed to delivering a fully optimized, compliant, and resilient cloud infrastructure scaled to SAF/IA's evolving mission needs.
The Problem: Legacy Infrastructure Limitations Hindering Global Defense Operations
SAF/IA operated with a legacy IT infrastructure marked by fragmentation, outdated technologies, and inefficiencies—creating operational bottlenecks that impeded mission-critical processes. The on- premises architecture lacked the necessary scalability to dynamically allocate resources in response to evolving international security cooperation needs. As U.S. Air Force foreign military sales and global partnerships expanded, the limitations of SAF/IA's infrastructure became increasingly apparent. The absence of a centralized, modern cloud-based IT environment left SAF/IA struggling to manage growing volumes of sensitive data and maintain seamless collaboration with global defense partners.
Security vulnerabilities permeated the existing hybrid- cloud setup, introducing compliance risks as SAF/IA's security controls failed to fully integrate across cloud- hosted and on-premises environments. Automated security baselines and continuous monitoring mechanisms were conspicuously absent, increasing the risk of undetected cyber threats and complicating compliance with FedRAMP, FISMA, and DISA STIG security mandates. Data silos emerged throughout the fragmented IT landscape, slowing decision-making processes and diminishing visibility into system performance.
Mission continuity faced significant challenges due to insufficient disaster recovery and redundancy mechanisms within SAF/IA's legacy infrastructure.
Without a comprehensive failover strategy, system outages or security incidents threatened to disrupt critical operations. Operational inefficiencies multiplied in the absence of DevSecOps integration, automated cloud governance, and real-time system monitoring—resulting in delays affecting system updates, security patching, and overall cloud performance optimization.
These interwoven challenges presented substantial obstacles to SAF/IA's mission readiness.
Cybersecurity risks increased while the agency's ability to effectively support global Air Force engagements diminished. The absence of a fully integrated, secure, and scalable cloud environment exposed SAF/IA to operational delays, security vulnerabilities, and compliance gaps—ultimately threatening the integrity of its international defense cooperation initiatives.
Our Solution: A Comprehensive Cloud Modernization Strategy centered around AWS Architecture.
EIT crafted a comprehensive cloud modernization strategy focusing on enhanced scalability, fortified security, and operational resilience. Our team engineered the migration of over 150 cloud-based servers from fragmented legacy environments to a fully optimized AWS architecture. This migration followed a structured phased approach preserving data integrity and operational continuity while minimizing downtime. Rigorous AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies enforced strict role-based authentication, restricting access to mission- sensitive systems exclusively to authorized personnel.
Security risk mitigation drove implementation of sophisticated automated security controls by integrating AWS Security Hub, CloudWatch, and Splunk for real-time monitoring and rapid threat detection. Compliance with federal standards was achieved through continuous security assessments, vulnerability remediation, and automated patch management. Deployment of Tenable for vulnerability scanning alongside AWS Shield for DDoS protection fortified SAF/IA's cybersecurity posture, protecting sensitive FMS data.
Our specialists designed a high-availability disaster recovery framework leveraging AWS Backup, Site Recovery, and multi-region replication strategies, ensuring functioning failover mechanisms to minimize downtime. To support international defense collaboration, we established secure cloud environments enabling real-time data sharing between U.S. Air Force officials and foreign military partners while maintaining compliance with international security protocols. Throughout implementation, we employed Agile methodologies ensuring rapid deployment, continuous system enhancements, and alignment with SAF/IA's evolving requirements.
Outcome: Establishing SAF/IA as a Digital Transformation Leader
EIT's cloud modernization transformed SAF/IA's IT infrastructure into a secure, scalable environment supporting global Air Force operations. The migration of over 150 servers to AWS GovCloud eliminated legacy bottlenecks, improving system performance and achieving 99.9% availability for mission-critical applications. The cloud-native architecture now allows SAF/IA to dynamically expand IT resources as international defense partnership demands evolve.
Administrative overhead decreased by 25% through automated workflows, while operational and maintenance expenses dropped by 15% through optimized resource utilization. These efficiencies extended beyond SAF/IA, contributing to an estimated $20 million in savings for international partners through streamlined program management and financial oversight.
The cloud environment now meets FedRAMP, FISMA, and DISA STIG requirements through integrated continuous monitoring, vulnerability scanning, and compliance enforcement. AWS Security Hub, CloudWatch, and Tenable deployments enable real-time threat detection and proactive security measures that safeguard sensitive Foreign Military Sales data. A high-availability disaster recovery framework with automated failover mechanisms ensures continuous operations during system disruptions.
Conclusion
SAF/IA's cloud transformation, led by EIT, represents a milestone in U.S. Air Force IT modernization, ensuring that global military partnerships and foreign military sales operations now rest on a foundation of secure, resilient, and high- performance cloud infrastructure.
With a strengthened cybersecurity framework, cloud-native automation, and mission-critical resilience in place, EIT's work empowers SAF/IA to continue fostering international defense cooperation while maintaining the highest standards of security and compliance.