Executive Summary

StarSphere is revolutionizing the digital landscape in Iraq by providing unparalleled access to fiber optic internet, high-speed broadband, and IPTV services. Their commitment extends beyond mere connectivity; they are pioneers in IT project management, operation, and maintenance services across the nation. Serving a diverse clientele, from individuals to large corporations, Feed App is dedicated to bridging the digital divide in Iraq. At the core of their operations, StarSphere is driven by a relentless pursuit of technological advancement and innovation. They consistently integrate the latest technologies in their services, ensuring that their offerings are not only current but also forward-thinking. This approach has established them as market leaders, especially in terms of fiber technology and IT services, which are increasingly in demand by both businesses and households. The Starsphere client required a structured approach to managing their AWS environment, particularly for dividing accounts, projects, and access while maintaining governance and security.

Why Amazon Web Services?

StarSphere found AWS to be the ideal solution owing to its extensive range of services capable of meeting their requirements for scalability, availability, security, and reliability. Prior positive experiences with innovative AWS services like AWS Control Tower Guardrails StarSphere confidence in AWS offerings. As the pioneering homegrown AWS premier consulting partner in the MENA region, Zero&One boasts a team comprising certified engineers, architects, and developers, holding a wealth of valuable AWS certifications.

The Challenge

Managing AWS Environment with Control Tower: Overcoming SCP Challenges

The Starsphere client required a structured approach to managing their AWS environment, with a focus on dividing accounts, projects, and access, all while ensuring governance and security. A key challenge in the deployment was the client's unfamiliarity with AWS Control Tower's Service Control Policies (SCPs), which led to concerns about how these policies would impact different organizational units (OUs). The client was initially hesitant, fearing that restrictive SCPs might limit flexibility in project management and operational autonomy.

Partner Solution

Optimizing Multi-Account Strategy with AWS Control Tower for Governance and Flexibility

AWS Control Tower and the Landing Zone were used to establish a well-architected multi-account strategy. The Landing Zone provided a secure and scalable foundation for account setup, while AWS Control Tower added automation, governance, and guardrails to streamline operations. The solution was customized to align with their specific access and project needs by structuring accounts under OUs based on project and access requirements. Service Control Policies (SCPs) were carefully designed to enforce necessary security controls without imposing unnecessary restrictions, striking the right balance between governance and operational flexibility.

This combined approach ensured centralized compliance enforcement, consistent account baselines, and automated guardrail application across all environments. At the same time, it allowed teams to operate within their designated permissions, ultimately enabling efficient account management, enhanced security posture, and scalable growth across the organization.

Use Case

By combining AWS Control Tower, Landing Zone, and the strategic use of SCPs, the client achieved a scalable, secure, and well-architected multi-account strategy that streamlined operations while maintaining the highest levels of governance and control.

The Landing Zone established a standardized, secure foundation for account provisioning and baseline configurations. AWS Control Tower then provided centralized governance and automation, while SCPs enforced strict security controls, preventing unauthorized actions and mitigating risks. This integrated approach enabled consistent compliance enforcement, minimized security vulnerabilities, and ensured that teams operated within predefined guardrails without compromising flexibility.

Solution Architecture

Managed Services Business Value & Operational Support

To ensure long-term governance, operational stability, and scalability following the AWS Control Tower implementation, Zero&One delivered ongoing AWS Managed Services aligned with AWS MSP operational best practices. This engagement enabled StarSphere to transition from an initial cloud governance setup to a continuously optimized, secure, and scalable cloud operating model supporting its rapidly expanding telecommunications and digital services footprint in Iraq.

Given StarSphere’s role as a provider of fiber internet, broadband connectivity, IPTV services, and IT infrastructure solutions, maintaining high availability, security, and operational consistency across its AWS multi-account environment was critical to both customer experience and business continuity. Zero&One provided proactive operational monitoring, governance oversight, and incident management support to ensure infrastructure reliability while enabling StarSphere teams to focus on service expansion and innovation.

Continuous governance management became a core Managed Services value component. Zero&One maintained ongoing oversight of AWS Control Tower guardrails, Service Control Policies (SCPs), account baselines, and organizational unit structures. This ensured that governance controls evolved alongside business growth without introducing operational friction or restricting project agility. Regular reviews helped refine SCP configurations, ensuring the right balance between security enforcement and operational flexibility.

Security posture management was strengthened through continuous compliance monitoring, configuration validation, and proactive risk mitigation practices. This was particularly important given StarSphere’s telecom infrastructure responsibilities and the need to protect sensitive operational data, network configurations, and customer service platforms.

Operational scalability was another key outcome. As new projects, services, and business units were onboarded, Zero&One supported structured account provisioning, access governance alignment, and baseline configuration consistency. This allowed StarSphere to scale cloud adoption confidently without reintroducing the account sprawl and governance inconsistencies experienced prior to Control Tower adoption.

Cost governance and operational efficiency were also enhanced through periodic infrastructure reviews, usage optimization recommendations, and architectural guidance. This ensured that infrastructure growth remained financially sustainable while supporting performance requirements for bandwidth-intensive services such as IPTV and broadband connectivity platforms.

Additionally, Zero&One acted as a strategic cloud advisor, supporting StarSphere’s ongoing digital transformation initiatives through architectural guidance, operational best practices, and alignment with AWS Well-Architected Framework principles. This advisory support helped ensure that cloud capabilities remained aligned with StarSphere’s long-term business and technology roadmap.

Through this Managed Services engagement, StarSphere achieved:

• ● Sustained governance and compliance across a multi-account AWS environment
• ● Improved operational stability supporting critical telecom and digital services
• ● Scalable cloud infrastructure aligned with business expansion
• ● Stronger security posture through continuous policy and configuration oversight
• ● Controlled cloud cost growth through proactive optimization
• ● Ongoing expert cloud advisory supporting innovation and service evolution

This Managed Services partnership enabled StarSphere to focus on delivering reliable connectivity, digital services innovation, and national infrastructure growth while ensuring its AWS environment remained secure, governed, and operationally resilient.

Outcome

The implemented solution, leveraging AWS Control Tower and Landing Zone, provided centralized compliance enforcement while maintaining the flexibility needed for efficient project management and scalability. The Landing Zone established a secure, standardized foundation for account setup, while Control Tower streamlined governance and automated guardrail enforcement. Zero&One successfully managed their accounts and resources with enhanced security, operational flexibility, and scalability, effectively addressing initial concerns about chaotic account distribution and inconsistent access levels.