About Ascend Learning
Ascend Learning, headquartered in Burlington, MA, is a major conglomerate in medical education. Specializing in online content, software, assessments, analytics, and simulations, the company operates 10+ business units across three continents. It serves students, institutions, and employers, focusing on high-growth careers, especially in healthcare and licensure-driven fields.
Situation
Ascend Learning required a cohesive DevOps strategy to unify its geographically distributed business units. The solution needed to address compliance with a multitude of national and international regulations while empowering development teams to independently deploy and support applications through production, all while adhering to strict governance standards.
Action
Centroid played a pivotal role in addressing Ascend Learning’s challenges by designing and implementing a multi-tenant Kubernetes environment using Rancher On-Premise. This environment was specifically tailored to meet a wide array of regulatory compliance requirements and to improve operational efficiency. Centroid established a robust DevOps toolchain, integrating GitLab, Kubernetes, Rancher, Vault, Istio, Prometheus, and Kiali. We trained and onboarded over 150 developers across more than 25 teams with standardized helm charts, sample Dockerfiles, and CI/CD pipelines. Additionally, Centroid embedded fractional DevOps resources within Ascend Learning’s teams, providing ongoing support for incident response, security hotfixes, and new service deployments.
Impact
The deployment of the multi-tenant Kubernetes environment effectively streamlined operations and ensured compliance across Ascend Learning’s 10 business units. The comprehensive training program facilitated by Centroid built a strong DevOps culture and equipped over 150 developers with crucial skills for managing applications effectively. By creating standardized CI/CD pipelines for over 500 applications, Centroid significantly simplified the development and deployment processes. Furthermore, the integration of advanced tools, including Rancher, Vault, Istio, GitLab, Prometheus, and Kiali, greatly enhanced both development and operational capabilities, reinforcing Ascend Learning’s position as a leader in the field.