lucidchart aws tools [case study]

Mapping Client Solutions with Lucidchart’s AWS Tools

Chris Lamont-Smith, Managing Director at Zimbani, works with clients everyday to develop solutions that will allow them to better reach their business objectives. He has found diagramming to be crucial in determining how to best meet a client’s needs, and he has found Lucidchart to be just the right tool for doing so.

The Need to Diagram

As a consultant for some of Australia’s largest orga-nizations specializing in cloud security, technology consulting, and security solutions, Chris Lamont-Smith, Managing Director at Zimbani, deals with diagramming regularly. He needs a clear understanding of a client’s current systems in order to propose improvements, and a diagram is worth a thousand words in every step of that process.

When Chris goes into an organization, one of his first tasks is to map out the current environment. With nearly all of his clients, Chris finds it necessary to diagram their existing architecture in order to get a complete picture of what is going on. He often switches from a conceptual idea to a deep-structured view, and he needs to quickly create flowcharts, data flow diagrams, or mind maps as visuals. He also needs to create network diagrams when consulting clients on their Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. Once Chris has a complete view of existing systems, he can then go in and visualize the future state and offer strategic improvements.

Chris must first diagram a client’s existing architecture to understand the big picture of the current environment.

Chris Lamont-Smith Managing Director at Zimbani

The Ideal Diagramming Solution

Lucidchart is a go-to for Chris throughout this entire process. “Lucidchart has been instrumental in creating and delivering designs for clients and then being able to communicate about them effectively,” he says.

Before he discovered Lucidchart, Chris used an Amazon workspace purely to run Windows Visio to build these diagrams. Each time, he would have to search Google for all the visual assets he needed to piece together a flowchart—and every asset would be a different resolu-tion and format. It was a cumbersome and time-consum-ing process.

With Lucidchart, Chris’s diagrams stay consistent. Lucidchart’s templates give Chris all the right assets out on the page when he’s diagramming, and those assets are all premade.

“Lucidchart has been instrumental in creating and delivering designs for clients and then being able to communicate about them effectively.”

SHAPE DATA

Label

Type

Name

ID

VPC ID

IP Address

Security Groups

Subnet

InstanceType

Launch Time

Availability Zone

Tags

Value

_ ×

EC2 Instance

couchbase.lucidchart.com

i-181fb0ce

vpc-5f019b34

10.0.206.90

sg-76676213,sg-52aa5c3d

subnet-d95435b2

r3.xlarge

2016-10-27T13:21:43.956479+00:00

us-east-1e

chart-production-cache,producti…

New+

[email protected] | 650-733-6172

Time-saving AWS Tools

For example, he can open the AWS library to quickly and easily find every component he needs to map out existing architecture. If he can’t find a shape, he can use Lucidchart’s search feature to find any icon he needs. Then he can simply drag and drop those shapes onto the canvas.

“The biggest benefit of the AWS shape library is its ease of use. I can find a particular asset quickly, and I know that even though Amazon is releasing new things all the time, everything will be updated in Lucidchart for me. I can whip up a diagram in no time.”

Chris and his colleagues utilize the AWS import feature Lucidchart offers, a powerful tool allowing anyone to create a network diagram within minutes, even if they know absolutely nothing about the environment. Instead of wasting precious time going back and forth between AWS and their own diagram, team members can import a client’s AWS architecture directly into Lucidchart. A shape library populates, and they can drag and drop any piece from the imported list. Each piece dropped onto the Lucidchart canvas includes its name and its relation-ship to other components. By simply clicking a node, the team can view all of its connections. The tool even pulls in metadata, providing valuable information such as IP address, port information, instance ID, availability zone, and launch time. The simplicity of the process reduces the likelihood of human error.

Chris and his team can create a network diagram within minutes, regardless of what they previously know about the environment.


Collaboration & Compatibility

Chris can make his diagrams twice as fast in Lucidchart. And he can see those diagrams anytime, anywhere. “Not only can I access all existing designs I’ve done, but I can access them from different devices,” Chris says. He never has to worry about compatibility, as Lucidchart works across any platform.

When Chris finishes a proposal, he can share the Lucidchart diagram with a client to allow for real-time collaboration. Or, he can easily export his diagram as a PDF or put it in Google Slides to send out to clients for feedback. Both allow for a collaborative experience that Chris calls “exceptionally easy.”

Chris now relies solely on Lucidchart for his diagram-ming needs. Utilizing the intuitive interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and professional templates, he can build the visuals he needs to provide his clients with the solutions they’re seeking.

“I can make my diagrams twice as fast in Lucidchart, and I can access them from anywhere.”

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About

Zimbani are trusted advisors to some of Australia’s largest organizations specialising in Information Security, Technology Consulting, Security Solutions, Mobility, Cloud, IT Resource Augmentation and Training. They help clients mobilise large strategic transformation programs, critical BAU functions, or even small uplift projects. Advisors build partnerships with stakeholders to ensure customers’ strategic visions are maintained. From concept to execution, Zimbani helps organi-zations ensure that the right outcomes are achieved and that they align with the business, security, and technology objectives.

Delivering expert services & solutions


About

Lucid Software is a leading provider of cloud-based visual productivity applications. Lucidchart, a diagram-ming application, and Lucidpress, a design solution, are utilized in more than 175 countries by more than 8 million users, including Comcast, NASA, Netflix, Target and Xerox. Since the Utah-based company’s founding in 2010, Lucid Software has grown in revenue by more than 100 percent each year and has received numerous awards for its business and workplace culture. For more information about Lucid Software, visit golucid.co.

Diagrams done right

Our Customers

“The biggest benefit of the AWS shape library is its ease of use. I can find a particular asset quickly, and I know that even though Amazon is releasing new things all the time, everything will be updated in Lucidchart for me. I can whip up a diagram in no time.”

Chris Lamont-Smith, Managing Director, Zimbani
