A global question-and-answer social network.
Platform Re-Engineering at Scale: Two-Thirds Lower Infrastructure Footprint
The Challenge
Peak load required a large and costly server footprint, and a full rebrand had to ship on a live product. Growth depended on frictionless social sign-up, and the platform served a very large global user base - so nothing could break during the transition.
What We Did
We refactored the entire backend to cut the number of servers needed at peak, and built a new front-end application for the rebrand. Sign-up and sharing were integrated with the major networks, and the service kept running throughout the transition.
The Impact
How We Delivered
An 8-member team - three backend and two frontend developers, an infrastructure engineer, a QA engineer and a project manager - running a re-engineering and relaunch programme across three streams: cost, rebranding and integrations. Backend refactoring targeted the peak server count, a single-page front end was built for the new brand, and the major networks of the period were integrated for sign-up and sharing.
Inside The Build
Related Case Studies
See all case studies →