Hey there! As an experienced tech professional myself, I know firsthand how transformative yet challenging migrating to the cloud can be for large enterprises. In this post, I’ll explore how seven major companies made the leap to the cloud – the motivations behind their moves, the hurdles they faced, and the incredible benefits they’ve unlocked as a result. Read on for an inside look at how the cloud has empowered some of the world’s most influential brands.
1. Netflix
Remember when Netflix was just a DVD-by-mail service? Long before pioneering video streaming, Netflix struggled to maintain relevance as streaming began disrupting Hollywood. By splitting its DVD and streaming services in 2011, Netflix pulled off an improbable comeback. However, even as subscribers flocked to streaming, Netflix battled to keep pace with demand using traditional data centers.
To manage its exploding growth, Netflix made a revolutionary move to the cloud. Specifically, Netflix tapped Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run its streaming platform. This automated, cloud-based system prepares and encodes video for delivery to client devices on-demand. According to Netflix, AWS provides “virtually unlimited” compute power, storage, and bandwidth.
By leveraging the cloud’s near-infinite scale, Netflix can instantly add capacity whenever needed – like when a new season of Stranger Things sets viewing records. In fact, Netflix has scaled streaming servers from 500 in 2008 to over 100,000 instances today!
The cloud also enabled Netflix to pioneer new personalization technology. By analyzing user viewing data with cloud analytics, Netflix generates 76% of stream views from personalized recommendations. This keeps us binging for hours!
2. Xerox
Since when does a photocopy machine company offer cloud software? Surprisingly, Xerox has evolved into a major provider of cloud print management solutions.
For large enterprises, Xerox Cloud Print Services enables employees to print remotely to any connected Xerox device from their laptop or mobile phone. IT can manage print permissions and policies centrally through the cloud, increasing security and reducing waste.
For small businesses, Xerox sells multifunction printers bundled with its Xerox Print Services cloud platform. This allows SMBs to deploy printing infrastructure without investing in on-premise servers. Xerox handles hardware maintenance, software updates, and troubleshooting through the cloud.
According to Xerox, workers manage 40% fewer printers thanks to cloud print management. The cloud has also reduced related help desk calls by 20%. By simplifying enterprise printing, Xerox’s cloud solutions drive major productivity gains.
Sources:
https://www.xerox.com/en-us/office/workflow-solutions/cloud-print-management
https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/cloud/3-things-to-know-about-xerox-s-cloud-print-management-service
3. Pinterest
As a visual discovery platform bringing together over 400 million monthly active users, Pinterest was an early adopter of cloud computing. In fact, Pinterest relied on the cloud since its founding to maintain performance with minimal overhead.
Here are some statistics that highlight Pinterest’s massive cloud infrastructure:
-Processes over 1.6 billion weekly engagements
-Analyzes over 175 billion monthly events
-Stores petabytes of image data
To crunch this much data, Pinterest leverages Amazon Web Services. Key AWS technologies powering Pinterest include:
-EC2 for scalable compute
-S3 for virtually unlimited storage
-ElastiCache to cache frequent queries
-Lambda for serverless computing
Thanks to the cloud, Pinterest can test new features and updates quickly without downtime. This allows Pinterest to delight users with innovations like shoppable posts and personalized recommendations.
Sources:
https://medium.com/@Pinterest_Engineering/building-pinterest-on-aws-991fa3c34533
https://about.pinterest.com/en/press-room
4. Instagram
Given Pinterest’s success, it’s no surprise visual content powerhouse Instagram also embraced the cloud early on. But Instagram’s path to the cloud began with a single shocking event.
Launched in 2010 on a single server, Instagram’s infrastructure buckled within hours under a swarm of traffic. Clearly, Instagram had outgrown its meager beginnings. With no choice but to expand, Instagram migrated to the cloud. Just six months later, Instagram supported over 3 million active users – a scale impossible on physical servers.
After being acquired by Facebook in 2012, Instagram came to rely on Facebook‘s own rapidly expanding cloud infrastructure. The backend incorporates open source technologies like Linux, MySQL, and PHP orchestrated using cloud management platforms.
Today, over 1 billion monthly active Instagrammers share 95 million photos and videos daily. To store and derive insights from this content trove, Instagram leverages the infinite scale of the cloud. Machine learning algorithms running in the cloud also automatically detect objectionable content to keep Instagram safe.
By combining open source software and cloud management tools, Instagram can continue its remarkable growth unimpeded by technical limits.
Sources:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/instagram-migrates-its-infrastructure-to-facebook-and-open-source-stack/
https://instagram-press.com/blog/2018/12/20/instagram-tops-1-billion-users/
https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/our-commitment-to-giving-people-the-power-to-share-themselves-safely
5. Etsy
Founded in 2005, ecommerce craft marketplace Etsy grew rapidly by catering to hobbyist sellers and handmade goods enthusiasts. Despite having only about 80 engineers, Etsy needed to derive insights from vast volumes of data to improve sales.
Rather than managing costly analytics servers internally, Etsy turned to the cloud. According to Etsy, cloud analytics systems require 80% less engineering support than on-premise alternatives.
Here are some eye-popping statistics on Etsy’s use of cloud analytics:
- Processes over 30 billion analytic events daily
- Analyzes data from 100+ sources
- Improved advertising click-through rates by 36%
- Increased advertiser spending by over $260 million annually
On the backend, Etsy uses microservices and containers deployed using cloud orchestration. This allows engineers to rapidly update applications without downtime. Etsy can roll out new features in days rather than months.
By running its workloads in the cloud, Etsy can delight users with innovations in record time. The virtually unlimited analytics power enables data-driven improvements to buyer experience.
Sources:
https://codeascraft.com/2018/12/20/cloud-scale-analytics-at-etsy/
https://codeascraft.com/2013/06/11/next-generation-continuous-deployment-system/
6. Apple
Apple has long focused on delivering magical user experiences through groundbreaking hardware and software integration. So it’s logical that Apple utilizes cloud services like Siri and iCloud to connect experiences across devices.
Siri, Apple’s voice-powered virtual assistant, relies on the cloud to process speech and respond to queries. Rather than handle computationally intensive natural language tasks like speech recognition locally, Siri securely sends audio to cloud platforms like AWS and Google Cloud. This allows Apple to continuously expand Siri’s knowledge without updating client devices.
iCloud similarly applies the cloud to keep users’ emails, photos, documents, and other data consistent across laptops, phones, tablets, and desktops. iCloud stores the latest versions of users’ data in cloud object storage rather than locally. This enables real-time syncing across all devices.
Of course, Apple also operates massive data centers to ensure speed and reliability for latency-sensitive services. By combining own infrastructure with leased cloud resources, Apple enjoys both security and convenience. This hybrid approach represents the future of enterprise cloud computing.
Sources:
https://www.cultofmac.com/225902/tim-cook-tells-employees-apple-is-not-a-hardware-company-its-a-service-company/
https://www.idgconnect.com/blog-abstract/4319/apple-siri-the-future-lies-in-the-cloud
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204025
7. MediaMath
In the fast-paced world of digital advertising, precision and performance are everything. AdTech leader MediaMath helps marketers target audiences and optimize campaigns via its TerminalOne platform. With 6 million ad impressions per second flooding in, MediaMath depends on the cloud to digest tremendous data flows.
TerminalOne leverages AWS Lambda serverless computing to execute MediaMath’s proprietary optimization algorithms as ads are served. This efficient event-driven model scales seamlessly with spikes in traffic.
MediaMath also loads advertising analytics datasets into AWS S3 and Amazon Redshift. This allows in-depth analysis to refine campaigns based on insights like audience demographics and engagement levels.
Thanks to the cloud’s unlimited capacity for storage and compute, MediaMath can drive decisions using detailed data. The cloud also speeds deployment of new features to help MediaMath stay ahead in the competitive adtech market.
Sources:
https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/mediamath-case-study/
https://www.mediamath.com/blog/mediamath-strengthens-integrations-with-major-platforms-across-ad-tech-ecosystem/
Well, those are seven incredible examples of enterprises utilizing the cloud to transform their business. While their use cases differ, they share common threads like unlocking scalability, enabling innovation, and harnessing data. I hope you found their stories as fascinating as I do! Let me know if you have any other questions.
