Migrating a marketing agency's massive data analytics platform to a more reliable data center

A marketing agency needed an IT infrastructure partner that could support immense data analyses

This marketing agency was founded on the belief that marketing’s foundation should be performance. In 1995, however, performance-based marketing was largely a myth.

Through their own proprietary technology, the agency was able to unlock conversion intelligence hidden in disparate data sets — allowing them to make recommendations on their client’s true consumer journey.

“What we’re really talking about are completely customized, highly tuned and refined buy flows that increase conversion rates. The amount of data that goes into making this a reality is far from trivial,” said the agency’s Director of IT.

“Customer acquisition should be measurable and done on a performance-only basis. This was a revolutionary idea when the company was founded and it remains a revolutionary idea today. We simply are not afraid to assume the risk for our customers because we know we will deliver.”

Vice President, Technology Operations

Marketing Agency

Underneath the marketing platform is an incredible amount of data and intelligence.

Such a hefty application and the data that goes with it requires serious IT infrastructure. Yet this marketing agency wasn’t getting the necessary level of service from its infrastructure partner, so it called on Deft, who already provided their Disaster Recovery solution.

Deft performed a data center migration to solve the agency’s IT concerns

The agency already relied on Deft for their Disaster Recovery solution.

“We had been unhappy with our relationship with our primary Colocation vendor for a number of years, but the headache of moving our infrastructure outweighed the benefits of moving. Migrations are a serious challenge. Beginning with Disaster Recovery enabled us to get to know Deft and see how they could support our business,” they said.

The agency team was serious about wanting to avoid the headache of moving their primary infrastructure. However, recognizing the service and capabilities with their Disaster Recovery environment, they reached out to see if Deft could deliver enough benefits to justify the effort of migration.

“With the volume of data we manage and the sophistication of our platform, a migration was not going to be a trivial effort. Deft was able to make a compelling case to move our primary hosting to take advantage of their network, expertise and support, rather than purchasing a point-to-point product from a traditional carrier and paying for cross-connects on each side. This is a technical point, but it was a critical component that set the stage for the larger migration,” they said.

As a technology and service organization, the agency knows the importance of providing ROI to customers. But they also understand the importance of getting it — especially when it comes to data center providers.

“We straddle the fine line between technology and service,” said the agency’s Vice President of Technology Operations. “In Deft we’ve found a similar partner — a group of people who are equal parts technology and service. They have a solid understanding of what we need to be successful, and the willingness to step up and deliver it.”

If the agency doesn’t deliver, their customers don’t pay

That means Deft has to deliver a stable and resilient foundation that can provide 24x7x365 support of dynamic applications and data analyses.

“What we have in Deft is a true partner – someone who understands our business and what we are trying to accomplish. The opportunity to migrate our primary environment to Deft, along with the cost benefits, made the decision a no-brainer. The assistance Deft provided in performing the physical move and the ongoing support has simply been icing on the cake.”