Nelnet, a leading organization in financial services and education technology in the United States, faced the challenge of modernizing its technology infrastructure within a highly regulated environment. With millions of users and mission-critical operations related to student loan servicing, payment processing, and education solutions, the company required a secure, scalable, and compliant cloud migration strategy.
CloudHesive positioned itself as a strategic AWS partner, leading a comprehensive cloud transformation that enabled Nelnet to accelerate innovation, optimize costs, and meet strict regulatory requirements.
About Nelnet
Nelnet is a diversified organization focused on financial services and education, delivering solutions such as:
- Student loan servicing
- Payment processing
- Education technology
- Asset management
Operating at scale across the United States, Nelnet maintains a strong focus on security, compliance, and customer experience.
The Challenge
Nelnet required a partner with proven expertise in enterprise AWS cloud migration, capable of addressing multiple complex challenges:
- Migration of more than 2,000 servers to the cloud
- Compliance requirements aligned with NIST 800-53
- Design of a secure and scalable AWS Landing Zone
- Integration within a complex multi-vendor ecosystem
- Ensuring operational continuity without impacting customer experience
- Delivering measurable ROI from cloud investment
In a highly regulated financial environment, every technology decision had to align with strict security, governance, and audit requirements.
The Solution
CloudHesive designed and implemented a comprehensive AWS cloud modernization strategy, acting not only as a service provider but as a strategic advisor.
Key initiatives:
- Large-scale AWS migration
Migration of over 2,000 servers while ensuring stability and business continuity - AWS Landing Zone design
Secure, scalable architecture aligned with AWS best practices - Security and compliance alignment
Implementation aligned with NIST 800-53 standards and support for Authority to Operate (ATO) requirements - AWS services adoption
Deployment of more than 25 AWS services and AWS Marketplace solutions - Long-term cloud strategy
Strategic positioning of AWS within Nelnet’s technology ecosystem
CloudHesive engaged early in the lifecycle, enabling efficient and sustainable cloud adoption.
Results
The transformation delivered significant technical and business outcomes:
- Adoption of 25+ AWS services and Marketplace solutions
- Significant return on investment (ROI)
- Measurable improvement in customer satisfaction
- Ongoing opportunities for expansion and cloud innovation
Today, Nelnet recognizes CloudHesive as a trusted strategic partner, supporting its continuous innovation and long-term growth.
Business Impact
This engagement highlights CloudHesive’s ability to:
- Execute enterprise-scale cloud migrations
- Design secure and compliant AWS architectures
- Drive adoption of advanced cloud services
- Enable sustained AWS consumption growth
- Build long-term, value-driven partnerships
CloudHesive continues to expand its collaboration with Nelnet, supporting new AWS initiatives and reinforcing its role as a long-term transformation partner.
Technologies Used
To support Nelnet’s cloud modernization journey, a comprehensive AWS-based technology stack was implemented, designed to ensure security, scalability, and regulatory compliance.
Cloud Infrastructure & Migration
- Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)
- AWS Migration Hub
- AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)
- AWS Server Migration Service (SMS)
- Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
Architecture & Landing Zone
- AWS Control Tower
- AWS Organizations
- AWS CloudFormation
- AWS Service Catalog
Security & Compliance (NIST 800-53)
- AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
- AWS CloudTrail
- AWS Config
- Amazon GuardDuty
- AWS Security Hub
Monitoring & Operations
- Amazon CloudWatch
- AWS Systems Manager
- AWS Trusted Advisor
Optimization & Advanced Services
- AWS Marketplace solutions
- Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service)
- Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)