eBooks.com Moves to AWS for Scalability and Performance Gains

Launched in 2000, eBooks.com is a popular ebook retailer with a reputation for innovation, integrity and independence. They sell ebooks direct to consumers in every country in the world.

Prior to moving to AWS, ebooks.com operated a hybrid infrastructure model with their core application servers running on dedicated bare metal hardware at a Canadian hosting provider, while utilising cloud-based solutions for backups and storage. While this setup served them well initially, it became increasingly apparent that they needed more flexibility and scalability as their business grew. The hybrid approach meant that they were managing multiple environments and vendors, which added complexity to their operations.

Several key challenges drove their decision to migrate:

• Response time and support issues: When server problems occurred, resolution times were often slower than needed for their business operations, impacting their ability to serve customers effectively.

• Infrastructure agility: Provisioning new hardware or adjusting existing server specifications was a lengthy process that couldn't keep pace with their evolving requirements. This limitation hampered their ability to scale quickly or respond to changing workloads.

• Risk management: Hardware failures posed a significant threat to business continuity. Without the redundancy and failover capabilities of cloud infrastructure, any hardware issues had the potential to cause serious operational disruptions.

• Limited visibility: They lacked comprehensive monitoring and performance insights, making it difficult to proactively optimize their infrastructure or troubleshoot issues efficiently.

Feedback from the customer:

"The migration process exceeded our expectations in terms of execution and outcomes. While there was more preparation and coordination work required on our end than we initially anticipated, the PurePlay team made the entire process manageable and successful. Their team demonstrated exceptional technical knowledge, professional competence, and a strong work ethic throughout the project. They provided clear communication, realistic timelines, and proactive support whenever challenges arose. The collaboration felt like a true partnership, and their expertise gave us confidence throughout what could have been a very stressful transition.

Benefits we've realized:

• Infrastructure flexibility: We can now easily scale resources up or down based on demand, and adjust our infrastructure in real-time without lengthy provisioning processes.

• Enhanced monitoring and diagnostics: AWS provides comprehensive performance insights and monitoring tools that give us much better visibility into our server performance, allowing us to make data-driven optimization decisions.

• Improved reliability: The built-in redundancy and failover capabilities have significantly reduced our risk of downtime.

PurePlay clearly knows what they're doing and has the expertise to handle complex migration projects effectively. We're confident that we made the right decision to migrate to AWS, and we would highly recommend PurePlay for similar migration projects. Their professionalism, technical competence, and commitment to client success made them an ideal partner for this critical business transition."

Benedict Noel, Product Lead eBooks.com