Pure Migration Project (Phase 1 - Migration from on-premise to AWS cloud infrastructure)

The core Pure system was an on-premise installation with the Pure Poral (Research Explorer) being cloud-based and that the on-premise system would go out of support by Elsevier in February 2024. The Research and Business Engagement (RBE) team had raised a Demand Card requesting the migration of Pure from either (a) on-premise Windows system to a supported on-premise Linux system (b) hosting on the Elsevier managed AWS Cloud. The Strategic Business Case (SBC) outlined five different options with a recommended move to ‘dedicated’ cloud-hosted Pure using a phased approach. Phase 1 moving the Pure system to the Elsevier dedicated cloud-hosted version enabled RBE to decide when upgrades and updates are implemented. Phase 2 aimed to re-write integrations using XML rather than database synchronisation (due go out of support in June 2026). The main issue this project aimed to address is to ensure the Pure system remains in support by Elsevier as this was at risk and to ensure future resilience and scalability. Project funding was secured from the Research Lifecycle Programme (RLP) (rebranded as Research Enablement) on 25 July 2023 following the SBC recommended options.

Phase 1 of the project delivered on the following objectives:

(1) Migrating the system to the Elsevier AWS cloud for Production, Test and Project environments
(2) Enhanced storage space for Production, Test and Project environments at 1 TB per environment allocation, making the solution scalable for future enhancements
(3) Enhanced security through the implementation of SAML2 based authentication using Microsoft Entra
(4) Migration of the Pure Email Server to cloud, decommissioning the aged on-premise email server
(5) New G-Cloud 13 contract established with Elsevier for the 30/04/2024 – 30/04/2027 period, including the addition of the REF29 module with Elsevier.