NAFDAC Modernizes National Regulatory Systems with Secure Azure Cloud Migration for Mission-Critical Public Health Services
Building a secure, scalable, and compliant Azure cloud foundation for NAFDAC’s Regulatory Information Management System (RIMS), enabling resilient public health regulation and real-time digital service delivery across Nigeria
Aging on-premises systems limiting national regulatory capability
NAFDAC's critical Regulatory Information Management System (RIMS) operated on fragmented legacy infrastructure, creating availability risks, security vulnerabilities, and barriers to real-time regulatory service delivery across Nigeria.
Secure Azure cloud foundation for RIMS and public health services
Reliance Infosystems migrated RIMS onto Microsoft Azure, deploying Azure VMs, Container Registry, VPN Gateway, Entra ID, and Defender for Cloud — establishing a fully compliant, cloud-native regulatory platform in the Azure South Africa North region.
99.99% availability target for mission-critical public health systems
The modernized platform delivers 99.99% availability for regulatory systems, 100% cloud-native access for public portals, continuous compliance monitoring, and a strengthened security posture — protecting public health regulation for millions of Nigerians.
CASE STUDY
Industry
Financial Services
Customer
Meristem Securities
Category
Agentic Services & Contact Center
Category
$25,000
Microsoft Azure
Cloud Transformation
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is Nigeria’s apex public health regulatory authority responsible for ensuring the safety of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, and related products across the country.
To modernize its digital regulatory operations and improve service delivery, NAFDAC partnered with Reliance Infosystems to migrate and modernize its critical Online Regulatory Information Management System (RIMS) onto Microsoft Azure.
The engagement established a secure, scalable, and compliant cloud environment hosted in the Azure South Africa North region, enabling 100% cloud-native availability for public-facing regulatory portals while strengthening operational resilience and security governance across national regulatory systems.
Azure Cloud Platform Capabilities Enabling Transformation
- Azure Virtual Machines Compute Modernization
- Azure Container Registry Modern Application Delivery
- Azure Virtual Network & NSGs Network Security
- Azure VPN Gateway Hybrid Connectivity
- Microsoft Entra ID Identity & Access Management
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud Security & Compliance
- Azure RBAC & Private Endpoints Governance & Access Control
Azure Virtual Machines
Core RIMS application workloads were deployed on high-performance Azure Virtual Machines with premium managed disks, ensuring reliability and consistent processing performance for national regulatory operations.
Azure Container Registry
Secure container image storage and deployment enabled modular application updates and improved release agility for regulatory services, supporting near real-time deployment cycles.
Azure Virtual Network & NSGs
A fully isolated network architecture with strict segmentation and traffic control between application tiers prevents unauthorized lateral movement across the entire regulatory platform.
Azure VPN Gateway
Secure IPsec/IKE encrypted tunnels bridge Azure and on-premises systems with VPN-only administrative access, eliminating any public internet exposure for management operations.
Microsoft Entra ID
Unified hybrid identity management delivers centralized authentication, MFA enforcement, and stronger access governance across both cloud and on-premises environments.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Continuous security posture management, vulnerability assessment, and regulatory compliance monitoring ensures Zero Trust enforcement across all workloads.
Azure RBAC & Private Endpoints
Role-Based Access Control and Private Endpoints enforce least-privilege policies and eliminate public internet exposure for all management plane operations.
Enterprise Outcomes Enabled by Microsoft Azure
Secure Cloud-First Regulatory Platform
NAFDAC transitioned from fragmented legacy infrastructure to a secure, cloud-native regulatory system capable of supporting national-scale public health operations.
Improved System Availability and Resilience
RIMS was modernized to support highly available regulatory operations targeting 99.99% platform availability with improved uptime and failover resilience.
Stronger Security and Compliance Posture
Zero Trust architecture and continuous monitoring strengthened alignment with NDPR and public sector governance requirements across all workloads.
Faster Application Deployment Cycles
Containerized deployment enabled faster release cycles and improved responsiveness of regulatory services to evolving national demands.
Secure Hybrid Connectivity
Encrypted VPN integration ensured secure, audited communication between NAFDAC on-premises systems and the Azure cloud environment.
Measurable Impact
The implementation delivered measurable improvements in customer service operations across Meristem Securities:
Approach and Delivery Methodology
Reliance Infosystems followed an agile, structured modernization approach aligned
with Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework principles.
Approach and Delivery Methodology
Reliance Infosystems executed a structured implementation approach aligned to Microsoft best practices:
Discovery and Process Alignment
Stakeholder workshops were conducted across all business units to map existing service processes and define a unified case management model.
System Configuration & Foundation Setup
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service environment was configured, including security roles, user access, and initial data migration for accounts and contacts.
Solution Implementation
Core service capabilities were deployed, including: automated case creation and routing, SLA configuration, Notification workflows, Case lifecycle definition.
Validation and UAT
Structured user acceptance testing ensured alignment with operational requirements and service expectations.
Adoption and Enablement
End-user training and post go-live support ensured smooth transition and adoption across all service teams.
How Microsoft Technologies Enabled the Outcome
Azure Virtual Machines and Container Registry enabled separation and modernization of application workloads, improving scalability and deployment speed.
Azure Virtual Network and NSGs ensured strict segmentation and secure traffic flow across the entire regulatory platform.
Azure VPN Gateway provided secure encrypted hybrid connectivity bridging on-premises NAFDAC systems to Azure.
Microsoft Entra ID centralized identity management and strengthened access control policies with MFA enforcement.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud enabled continuous security monitoring and compliance enforcement across the environment.
Partner Value and Expertise
Reliance Infosystems delivered deep expertise across critical Azure and public sector domains:
- Azure migration and modernization architecture
- Public sector regulatory system transformation
- Containerized application deployment models
- Hybrid cloud connectivity and secure networking
- Zero Trust security implementation
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud security operations
Reliance Infosystems delivered deep expertise across critical Azure and public sector domains:
Winner Summary
NAFDAC partnered with Reliance Infosystems to modernize its Regulatory Information Management System on Microsoft Azure, creating a secure, scalable, and compliant cloud platform. The solution enabled 100% cloud-native availability for public regulatory services, strengthened security through Zero Trust architecture, improved deployment agility, and enhanced national regulatory resilience supporting public health protection across Nigeria.