Case Study:

World Digital leader relies on Rackspace AKQA (www.akqa.com) is the world’s number one digital agency, delivering incredibly complex and exciting interactive experiences and vibrant customer relationship management along with strategic consulting, branding and pretty well anything that starts with an ‘e’. The company connects ideas and innovation to deliver award-winning results for the worlds leading brands.
 
A key factor in any online business is the final delivery of the creative work. Even the best digital marketing campaign can be destroyed by slow delivery. An unreliable server or serious bandwidth restrictions due to massive demand, all highlight the importance of having the right hosting partner.

The right hosting structure
Ben Jones is the UK Technical Director for AKQA. “About five years ago we realised the importance of having the right hosting partner. We had been using internal resources and still operate small managed hosting operations, but as the market has developed we quickly realised that bringing a major project to fruition with the velocity that is demanded and keeping it live 24/7 needed huge resource, massive support and constant monitoring.

We do not have the desire to become a specialist hosting company – our expertise is in the creation and delivery of highly successful digital solutions for major clients like Nokia, Xbox, Unilever, Microsoft, Nike, Orange, Sainsbury's and Sky. At this time we looked at the managed hosting market in some detail, researching potential long-term hosting partners and discovered Rackspace®. That was four years ago and we have not looked back since.”

Guiding Philosophy
Jones revealed, “The key to the success of the Rackspace / AKQA relationship has been their devotion and adherence to Fanatical Support® - their mantra and guiding philosophy. Rackspace has become a vital member of our team and we now view them as a critical business partner rather than a supplier, much in the same way as we have operating partnerships with Microsoft®, Sun and Oracle®.”

Technology advisers
Jones went on to say, “Our decision to host with Rackspace has paid huge dividends. They have become a major technology provider and now help us directly with the specification, building and set up of appropriate customised servers, load balancing and secure firewall protection for each client campaign website or online application.

World Digital leader relies on Rackspace We work together; experts and technologists detailing and recommending the most appropriate solution for each application. You only have to look at a client like 19 Entertainment to realise the scope and importance of getting this right.”

For the record 19 is acknowledged as the world’s most exciting and innovative entertainment company, led by founder Simon Fuller, with a 23-year track record of changing the way in which the world enjoys and interacts with music, television, sport and fashion, creating massive hits like Pop Idol, the planet’s biggest TV franchise, and guiding the careers of household names such as David and Victoria Beckham and much, much more besides.

2.5 Million Voters
Ben Jones said, “Managing and hosting the sites for iconic programmes such as American Idol Songwriter were all part of the challenge.”
“You can imagine the problems behind handling up to 2.5 million online votes for contestants, yet Rackspace remained calm and in control by providing burstable bandwidth for the massive influx of traffic whenever it was needed."

“This combined with the company’s 1-hour hardware replacement and 100% network uptime guarantee has made Rackspace the ideal managed hosting partner for any operation requiring time and volume critical applications. In fact the company is rapidly becoming the hosting partner of choice among UK and US digital agencies.”
Jones explained, “Rackspace guarantees the levels of service our clients expect from us, which is why I am very happy to say that they have actively contributed towards AKQA attaining the enviable position of being the world’s number one digital agency, and I certainly would not hesitate to recommend them to other digital specialists seeking professional Hosting services.
 
Depth of service and technology
Doug Loewe is MD at Rackspace (www.rackspace.co.uk), “We are delighted to have served AKQA for the past four years and it is indicative of the strength and depth of our service and technology that we have been called upon by the world’s leading digital service agency to provide advice and expertise on the development and management of their online facilities and applications.