Customer Solution Case Study
/ Innovative Technology Startup Creates Contact Search Solution, Gains Global Potential
“With Windows Azure, we’ve significantly reduced upfront investments in hardware, development, and applications, while achieving maximum scalability, excellent performance, and shorter time to market.”
Yevgeny Safovich, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer, Quilink
To quickly develop and deliver innovative technology solutions, Quilink needed an infrastructure solution that was agile, scalable, cost-effective, and easy to use. The company opted for a cloud computing model, and—after comparing cloud services providers—selected the Windows Azure technology platform. Using Windows Azure, Quilink expects to speed time-to-market and scale to support worldwide expansion, while already benefiting from reduce costs.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published September 2010
Business Needs
Tel Aviv, Israel–based startup Quilink began with a simple vision: to improve the contact search and sharing process for individuals and businesses around the world, and to provide solutions that empower customers to remain up-to-date with—and constantly connected to—their contact directories.
In 2009, Quilink performed an in-depth analysis of the business challenges and market potential to determine what type of infrastructure would best support the development of this innovative solution. Based on the company’s analysis, Quilink required an infrastructure solution that would:
Be flexible and scalable. As a startup, Quilink needed an infrastructure that would initially support hundreds of customers, and—as demand increased—expand to handle millions of users throughout the world. “We needed an agile solution that would grow along with our business,” says Ronen Abramov, Cofounder, Chief Technology Officer, and Vice President of Research and Development of Quilink. “To be successful, we must be able to respond quickly to the rapidly changing needs of the market.”
Be cost-effective. Quilink sought a low cost-to-benefit ratio.
Speed time-to-market. “We wanted to be the first company in the world to bring this type of solution to the marketplace,” explains Yevgeny Safovich, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Quilink. “We could achieve significant competitive advantages by getting our product to market quickly.”
Solution
To gain the agility necessary to meet these business and technology requirements, the company investigated the possibility of adopting a software-plus-services approach—combining software solutions with centralized Internet-based (or cloud) services. With cloud services, solutions are deployed over the Internet, unlike traditional delivery models that often require costly investments in on-premises hardware.
“After an in-depth comparison of cloud services offerings from Google Apps, Amazon, and Salesforce, we chose Windows Azure," explains Nathan Chosnek, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Quilink. “We based our decision on the robustness of the platform, its ability to provide an intuitive and familiar environment for development, and, of course, the cost/benefit factor—which is very important to a company that is just starting out. We also knew that we needed an infrastructure with the highest levels of availability, scalability, and redundancy. This is exactly what Windows Azure offers." Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage—to host, scale, and manage web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centers.
Developers employed easy-to-use tools such as Windows Azure Table Storage for structured data storage and Windows Azure Blob Storage for unstructured data storage—along with the familiar development system of MicrosoftVisual Studio 2008 with Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 with Microsoft .NET Framework 4—to develop the Quilink solution.
In February 2010, the company released the alpha version of its Quilink solution, which combines on-premises software and centralized cloud services. The Quilink software—installed on the customers’ computers—provides a user-friendly, intuitive interface, while administration, data management, and information processing tasks are handled via the Internet. The Quilink solution collects all contacts from the various channels chosen by the customer (such as the Microsoft Office Outlook messaging and collaboration client, Skype, and mobile device directories), and the data is automatically consolidated, organized, and loaded into a highly secure, centralized Internet data warehouse. As a result, individuals and organizations have access to all their contacts—on any device—with the touch of a button.
Benefits
Using Windows Azure to develop its contact search solution, Quilink expects to speed time-to-market, reduce upfront capital costs and ongoing operating expenses, and support nearly unlimited scalability.
Faster development and deployment. With Windows Azure and the .NET Framework, Quilink was able to launch the alpha version of its solution in less than 12 months. “We were able to reuse code between client-side and server-side components, saving considerable development time,” says Abramov. ”Because developers used familiar Microsoft tools, they were able to achieve a more rapid development cycle and faster time-to-market. Compared to other cloud platforms, we estimate a time savings of up to 30 percent.”
Reduced costs. With Windows Azure, Quilink kept startup costs to a minimum. “If we had opted for an on-premises solution, we would have spent nearly three times more in upfront costs to achieve the same level of service,” Safovich says. “With Windows Azure, we were able to eliminate operating expenses such as investments in hardware, software, storage solutions, and additional personnel. Windows Azure is an efficient, end-to-end solution, including backup services, storage, and database management. Microsoft handles these services for us, which frees us up to focus on innovation and building our business.”
Enhanced scalability. Because Windows Azure is Internet-based, Quilink can quickly and easily expand the scale of its solution to handle increasing numbers of customers, without the need for large investments in infrastructure. “With Windows Azure, we have an impressive combination of development tools and a platform that allows us to efficiently handle millions of simultaneous users around the world,” Abramov explains.
With Windows Azure, Quilink is ready to move forward with a global expansion. “We’re confident that the system will have no problem scaling to handle massive growth—in the number of customers or consumption of resources,” Safovich concludes. “By using Windows Azure, we’ve avoided investments in hardware, development, and applications, while achieving maximum scalability, excellent performance, and shorter time-to-market. But most importantly, our customers are happy with the Quilink service, its performance, and the overall environment. Our decision to select Windows Azure was definitely a good one.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published September 2010