Learning on Screen: Securing AWS Funding and Building Foundations for Educational Media Transformation

The snapshot

About Learning on Screen

Learning on Screen is the UK’s leading educational charity dedicated to the use of moving image and sound in education. It operates two flagship platforms: Box of Broadcasts (BoB), which provides on-demand broadcast media for teaching and learning, and the Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT), which offers comprehensive broadcast data, content discovery, and licensing services. Together, these platforms support thousands of educators and students across the UK, with access to over 4.5 million programmes in BoB’s archive and more than 40 million broadcast records in TRILT—some dating back to the 1920s.

As a registered charity, Learning on Screen operates within the governance and compliance frameworks of the not-for-profit education sector. Like many charities, it balances the need for financial sustainability with ongoing investment in digital modernisation. As a trusted provider of educational content, Learning on Screen upholds rigorous standards for data protection, copyright compliance, and service continuity, particularly during key academic periods such as term starts and exam seasons.

The Challenge

Learning on Screen’s infrastructure had reached a critical juncture, with approximately 900TB of media storage growing at 20TB monthly, placing pressure on existing capacity. The organisation’s approximately 100 servers across two data centres were operating on unsupported software versions, with operating systems and software that had not been updated for many years.

These infrastructure limitations restricted Learning on Screen’s ability to scale during peak academic periods and respond to growing content demands. The transformation needed to address these immediate constraints whilst establishing a platform for future growth – all within the budget realities facing many UK charities.

The Solution

Devoteam partnered with Learning on Screen to deliver cloud transformation through the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), combining structured technical guidance with strategic funding optimisation. This proven framework follows three carefully designed phases that progressively build capability whilst reducing risk.

Assess Phase: Creating the Case for Change

The transformation began in November 2024 with comprehensive Migration Readiness Assessment, evaluating organisational capabilities and developing a compelling business case. This phase revealed strong organisational foundations and created a detailed transformation roadmap with defined milestones and success criteria.

Critically, this phase enabled navigation of AWS MAP funding programmes. Devoteam’s experience with MAP, combined with our AWS partnership, helped Learning on Screen secure financial support covering the majority of project costs – transforming infrastructure modernisation from significant capital investment into a financially viable initiative.

Mobilise Phase: Building Readiness Through Experience

With assessment complete, Learning on Screen entered the mobilise phase in January 2025, deploying foundational infrastructure and validating technical approaches through hands-on work.

The team deployed the AWS Landing Zone, establishing a secure multi-account platform with proper governance controls and appropriate data protection measures for educational content, providing the foundation for all subsequent migration work.

Proof of concept work demonstrated that application containerisation and database migration approaches perform as expected, confirming feasibility before committing to full-scale migration. Simultaneously, the team received training on cloud-native operations, building internal expertise for long-term success.

The team defined cloud-native architecture specifically for educational media delivery at scale, incorporating Amazon ECS for containerised deployment, Amazon RDS for database resilience, AWS S3 coupled with AWS CloudFront for scalability and performance of its video and audio archive, and AWS DataSync for efficient data migration.

During this phase, the team built and validated the complete pilot environment, enabling comprehensive testing and operational readiness reviews before production migration.

Migrate Phase: Accelerating Transformation

Beginning in early 2025, this phase executed the orchestrated production cutover, implementing advanced monitoring and optimisation capabilities whilst ensuring seamless transition. Completed in summer 2025 within six months of project kick-off, Learning on Screen’s fully modernised cloud infrastructure is now operational and serving the UK education sector.

The Value Delivered

Funding Success

Securing comprehensive AWS MAP funding covering the majority of project costs transformed infrastructure modernisation from a significant capital investment into a financially viable initiative. This demonstrates the tangible value of working with experienced MAP partners who understand programme requirements and structure projects for maximum funding eligibility.

Assessment and Planning Excellence

The comprehensive Migration Readiness Assessment delivered in November 2024 provided detailed visibility into the transformation journey, revealing organisational strengths and creating a clear roadmap with defined milestones and success criteria. Rather than embarking on transformation with uncertainty, the assessment gave Learning on Screen a validated technical approach, detailed cost projections, and realistic timelines.

Technical Validation

Proof of concept work delivered critical validation, demonstrating that application containerisation and database migration approaches perform as expected. AWS Landing Zone deployment established the secure foundation with proper governance controls – live infrastructure ready to host services, representing tangible progress toward modernised architecture.

Capability Building

Alongside infrastructure deployment and training, Devoteam provided strategic guidance on team development and capability building. Senior Solutions Architect support helped Learning on Screen strengthen internal AWS expertise and plan for long-term operational independence, ensuring sustainable cloud management after project completion.

This transformation demonstrates critical principles for charities navigating cloud adoption in the education sector: strategic funding programmes transform project viability but require expert navigation; thorough assessment reduces risk before committing resources; MAP’s structured phases provide decision points whilst building momentum; and the phased approach reflects sector realities around service continuity, budgets, and capability building.

Looking Ahead

Learning on Screen successfully completed its cloud transformation in summer 2025, with modern infrastructure now operational and serving thousands of educators and students across the UK.

The partnership with Devoteam continues through ongoing optimisation initiatives, maximising the value of the cloud architecture whilst building internal capabilities for long-term operational excellence. The solid foundations established through MAP provide the flexibility to scale services and introduce new capabilities as Learning on Screen’s digital requirements evolve, ensuring the platform continues to serve UK education effectively for years to come.

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