CityWork and QyrosCloud Modernize GIS Infrastructure on AWS
Customer Challenge
CityWork powers operational systems for hundreds of municipalities responsible for managing critical infrastructure such as:
- Water and wastewater systems
- Roads and transportation networks
- Storm water infrastructure
- Public works assets and inspections
- Parks and facilities
Many customers relied on on-premises or legacy hosted deployments tightly integrated with Esri’s ArcGIS platform. These environments presented several challenges.
Key Challenges
- Increasing Demand for Cloud Deployments
- Municipal customers increasingly preferred cloud infrastructure to reduce operational complexity and improve system reliability. CityWork required a cloud platform capable of supporting multiple customer environments while maintaining strong security isolation.
- Mission-Critical Availability Requirements
- CityWork is frequently used during infrastructure emergencies such as flooding events, major storms, and utility outages. Ensuring high availability and rapid recovery was critical to supporting municipal operations.
- Security and Compliance Expectations
- Public sector customers require strict security controls and auditability. CityWork needed an infrastructure platform capable of supporting SOC 2–aligned operational controls, centralized monitoring, and automated patching.
- GIS Workload Complexity
- GIS platforms such as ArcGIS involve large spatial datasets, specialized application services, and high I/O workloads. Traditional hosting environments often struggled to scale these systems efficiently. CityWork needed a partner with deep expertise in GIS architectures and AWS cloud infrastructure.
QyrosCloud Solution
QyrosCloud designed and deployed a secure, multi-tier AWS architecture optimized for GIS workloads and municipal SaaS platforms.
The architecture was built according to AWS Well-Architected Framework best practices and implemented with SOC 2–aligned security controls.
1Highly Available Network Architecture
CityWork’s environments were deployed in Amazon VPC networks spanning multiple Availability Zones to provide resilience and fault tolerance.
Key networking components included:
- Application Load Balancers distributing traffic across application servers
- AWS WAF protecting public-facing endpoints
- Private subnets hosting application and database services
- Secure connectivity to municipal networks and GIS data services
This architecture ensures that application services remain available even during infrastructure failures.
2GIS-Optimized Application Architecture
The CityWork’s platform and supporting GIS services were deployed using Amazon EC2 Windows instances optimized for GIS workloads.
Core application components included:
- CityWork’s Server
- ArcGIS Server
- ArcGIS Portal
- ArcGIS Data Store
- Web adapters and GIS service layers
Auto Scaling policies allow the platform to dynamically adjust compute capacity as municipal workloads fluctuate.
3Managed Data Platform
Operational databases were migrated to Amazon RDS for SQL Server, providing:
- Multi-AZ high availability
- Automated backups and patching
- Point-in-time recovery
- Managed database maintenance
GIS data, attachments, and archives are stored in Amazon S3, while shared geospatial datasets are supported through Amazon FSx for Windows File Server.
This architecture provides scalable storage for large spatial datasets while maintaining compatibility with ArcGIS workloads.
4Security and Compliance
QyrosCloud implemented a security architecture aligned with SOC 2 best practices using native AWS services.
Security controls included:
- AWS Config with SOC 2 conformance packs
- AWS Security Hub for centralized security posture monitoring
- Amazon GuardDuty for threat detection
- AWS CloudTrail for audit logging
- AWS Systems Manager for automated patching and configuration management
These capabilities enable CityWork to continuously monitor infrastructure security and enforce compliance standards.
5Observability and Operations
QyrosCloud implemented a centralized operations framework using:
- Amazon CloudWatch for metrics and log monitoring
- Automated alerts and operational dashboards
- Centralized log storage for compliance and auditing
This operational visibility allows CityWork engineering teams to quickly detect and resolve system issues.
6AI and Data Innovation Foundation
The new AWS platform establishes a foundation for advanced analytics and AI capabilities.
Using services such as Amazon Bedrock, CityWork can begin enabling intelligent workflows for municipal customers, including:
- Automated summarization of inspection reports
- Infrastructure maintenance trend analysis
- Predictive maintenance modeling
- Asset risk prioritization
These capabilities help municipalities move toward data-driven infrastructure management.
Results & Business Impact
The collaboration between CityWork and QyrosCloud delivered significant operational and strategic benefits.
Accelerated Customer Deployments
Infrastructure automation allows CityWork to deploy new municipal environments significantly faster, reducing onboarding time and enabling rapid scaling.
Enhanced Security Posture
Continuous security monitoring and automated compliance controls support SOC 2–aligned operations, strengthening trust with public sector customers.
Operational Efficiency
Automated patching, monitoring, and infrastructure management reduce operational overhead and allow CityWork's engineering teams to focus on product innovation.
Foundation for Smart Infrastructure Platforms
With scalable cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities in place, CityWork can now support next-generation municipal capabilities such as predictive infrastructure maintenance, GIS-driven analytics, AI-assisted operational workflows and smart city data platforms.
About CityWork
CityWork is a leading GIS-centric enterprise asset management (EAM) and infrastructure management platform used by local governments, utilities, and public works organizations worldwide. The platform is designed to help organizations manage the full lifecycle of critical infrastructure assets, including roads, water systems, utilities, and facilities.
Visit CityWork →