case study: springbox

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“We were definitely in crunch time. We had to get the project back on track quickly. OpSource didn’t just make up for lost time; they completed the project ahead of schedule.”

Mike Nowlin Director of Strategic Initiatives

Springbox Full-service Interactive MarketingSpringbox is a full-service interactive marketing firm with offices in Austin and Los Angeles. It produces best-in-class digital solutions for some of the nation’s best known companies including Dell and Disney. Springbox is not your typical agency. It was built from the ground up to be interactive, going beyond simple micro websites and banner ads to focus on complex interactions with data, social media, and mobile applications.

For example, Springbox developed a microsite challenging high schools to show Dell why they should win the ultimate prom, complete with celebrity DJ, ultra-chic décor and incredible edibles. Videos were made, viewed, and voted upon – a whopping 129,174 times. In all the excitement, Dell’s Facebook audience grew by more than 19,000 fans.

In another project, Springbox delivered an online configurator to help car maker Scion get customer-specified build sheets to dealerships. With the configurator, users could choose colors, parts, accessories and performance options, and then view their customized Scion in true 3D. Users could save, print or send custom build sheets to a local Scion dealer to make that dream car a reality.

Challenge: Finding the Right Hosting ProviderA Springbox client approached the agency to develop an application that would allow users to stream a series of live concerts via FaceBook as part

Case Study Highlights

•Springbox is an interactive services agency that helps brands build digital experiences to captivate customers and drive business. Combining strategic insights with big ideas, Springbox works to identify and address the right opportunities in the digital space. Representing high-caliber brands such as Central Market, Dell, Disney, HEB, LG, PayPal, and Sweet Leaf, Springbox is an independent operating unit of DG, with offices in Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California.

•Challenge: Find a hosting provider that could deliver the right balance of cost, support, and technical skills needed to manage a complex environment.

•Solution: OpSource Cloud plus App Ops™ for expanded support.

•OpSource was selected as the cloud hosting provider based on pricing, support, and technical expertise.

Springbox Takes Concerts to the Cloud

Case Study


SPRINGBOX TAKES CONCERTS TO THE CLOUD

of an overall advertising campaign. Originally, the agency planned to host the application on FaceBook, which would provide the delivery mechanism. Just after the project began, however, FaceBook changed its rules, no longer allowing application content on its site. Springbox would have to build out a new site from the ground up.

With its tight schedule now in jeopardy, the agency would need to quickly find a hosting provider that could host the application. To keep costs low to meet the client’s budget, Springbox required a provider that could offer a small footprint initially and grow rapidly if and when traffic increased dramatically.

Equally important was finding a provider who could offer a high level of support. “Cost isn’t the first thing I worry about,” says Mike Nowlin, director of strategic initiatives with Springbox. “It’s much more important that we can get people on the phone and fix a problem or be proactive enough so we don’t have to worry about the problem in the first place.”

SolutionIn the past, Springbox had relied on traditional managed hosting providers for the majority of their needs. But escalating pricing led them to seek a cloud-based solution. A constrained budget led Springbox to Amazon to host the streaming concert application.

Amazon, however, didn’t provide

the support Springbox needed. “There was nobody we could call,” says Nowlin. After spending valuable time, Springbox finally determined that FaceBook wouldn’t work with Amazon the way they wanted it to. “We were definitely in crunch time. We had to get the project back on track quickly.”

Prior to the concert project Nowlin had been considering OpSource to host Springbox’s own internal site. “We had looked at OnRamp, RackSpace, and several other providers, both managed and cloud-based. OpSource was not only the best option but also the least expensive. There were differentiators between OpSource and other providers, but the key for us was support. Unfortunately, the internal project got lost in the shuffle of client work, but OpSource was at the top of our list.”

Under the gun, Nowlin called his contact at OpSource. Within a day he received a quote and all the technical specifications necessary to implement the complex concert project. Springbox chose the OpSource Cloud plus OpSource App Ops™, which provides outsourced application management services that help customers scale complex SaaS and web-based applications. The project moved ahead quickly. “OpSource didn’t just make up for lost time; they completed it ahead of schedule.”

“We worked with some fairly new technologies in ways that have never been done before, and it was completely flawless from the technical side, thanks to OpSource. The application got hit pretty hard, but we never saw any problems, capacity issues, or hiccups. It never went down.”

Mike Nowlin Director of Strategic Initiatives



The success of this project opens up opportunities for future projects with this client. “We were able to prove to our client that Springbox knows how to find the right partners, like OpSource.”

The client was very pleased with the project; so much so that the scope was expanded. “We initially intended to do three concerts, but the success of everything, including the hosting environment, led the client to ask for a fourth,” says Nowlin.”

Impact: Client SatisfactionThe project proved very successful, both from a technical and user standpoint. “We worked with some fairly new technologies in ways that have never been done before, and it was completely flawless from the technical side, thanks to OpSource,” says Nowlin. “The application got hit pretty hard, but we never saw any problems, capacity issues, or hiccups. It never went down.”



About Springbox

Springbox is an interactive services agency that helps brands build digital experiences to captivate customers and drive business. Combining strategic insights with big ideas, Springbox works to identify and address the right opportunities in the digital space. A unique emphasis on responsible design, effective collaboration and exceptional results sets Springbox apart as a leader in the industry. Proudly representing high-caliber brands such as Central Market, Dell, Disney, HEB, LG, PayPal and Sweet Leaf, Springbox is an independent operating unit of DG, with offices in Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California.

About OpSource

OpSource provides cloud and managed hosting solutions that enable businesses to accelerate growth and scale operations while controlling costs and reducing IT infrastructure support risks. More than six hundred enterprises, service providers and Software-as-a-Service ISVs rely on OpSource’s expertise, experience and cloud automation technology to operate high-availability, business-critical hosting environments. OpSource’s Managed Services for the Cloud provide application monitoring, management and optimization across both public and private cloud environments. OpSource’s Software Stack powers the cloud with automated provisioning, billing, management and administration.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, OpSource is SAS 70 Type II, PCI DSS Level 1 and European Safe Harbour certified and has operations in California, Virginia, UK, Ireland, and India.

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case study: springbox

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