Reinforcing Global Content Management Solution with New Product Approaches

Industry: Media and Information Services (B2B)
Service: Development Team Extention
Duration: 5+ years

About Project
The client is the creator of the first-ever Active Content Engine - Syndigo. The company manages master data, product information, digital assets, content syndication, and analytics for over 50,000 users from 12,000+ global brands. To make that happen, the company has to process massive amounts of data from different sources daily, using spider bots. Seeing the room for improvement, Syndigo sought an experienced tech partner.

50K

active global users

12K

global brands & manufacturers

1M

daily data quality checks

Client's Goals
Optimize overall expenses to keep up with budget
Improve the product to unlock efficient scaling
Lower overall tech threshold for in-house team
Client's Challenges

Product's Cost Inefficiency

Originally designed as a proof of concept (with a bit of extended lifespan), the solution was built in a rush, disregarding critical factors. As a result, the client got astronomical monthly infrastructure bills of up to $1 million. Solving this issue was challenging due to the product's pre-established logic and architectural framework.

Lack of Inhouse Technical Expertise

Managing the team in a budget-friendly way, the client faced a significant lack of in-house team expertise. To continue progressing, they needed someone who could both handle tech challenges and share knowledge with the internal team.

High Commitments and Expectations

Being the first-ever Active Content Engine and serving 50,000 users who require daily access to real-time data, the client is committed to providing the best user experience possible. Knowing well that any errors or disruptions could lead to a loss of essential data, the client wanted to minimize the number of issues and downtimes.

OpsWorks Co. Solution

Cost Optimization

Tweaking the product in a way that saves an impressive chunk of the budget, the OpsWorks development team reimagined the whole solution. We fine-tuned the fundamental data mining logic, enabling spider bots to efficiently execute quick tasks, each taking no more than 30 seconds before seamlessly transitioning to the next one. Equipped to handle interruptions gracefully, now the solution can benefit from the cost-effectiveness of SPOT instances, which can offer savings of up to 90% compared to the previous approach.

Parallel Development

With a deep understanding of the client's need to maintain core service delivery and simultaneously elevate product and user experience, the OpsWorks team executed a parallel development strategy. One part of our team focused on refining and maintaining the existing solution, while another initiated developing a new product version. With active development on both sides, we ensure a smooth transition in the future.

Tech Threshold Lowering

Empowering the client to manage their team's resources strategically, OpsWorks set up an approach that allows delegating routine tasks to specialists with lover tech skill levels. Meanwhile, the development team can focus on more critical tasks. This approach has opened up opportunities for resource optimization and enabled budget-saving initiatives within the team.

Results and Benefits
New product architecture helped to reduce the cost of infrastructure from $1M/month to $100K/month
The approach of supporting existing product version while creating new one gave a chance to keep growing a customer base non-stop
The new product version unlocks up to 40% cost savings compared to the legacy one
The new team approach gave a chance to allocate resources more smartly, giving senior-ish specialists handle more important tasks while allocating routine day-to-day tasks to less qualified specialists