First prize for Nobel Media’s scalable and reliable website, run on Windows Azure

With the Nobel Prizes awarded Tuesday, the Nobel organization’s website is being inundated with visitors from around the globe who want to read all the details.

Every year, the world is watching when Nobel Prizes are awarded to leading figures that are changing the world for the better.  When the prestigious Laureates are announced in October and when they receive their prizes in December, the Nobel Prize website sees a 100 fold increase in visitors – taking traffic up to as many as 3 million hits in just one week. 

“Our users are demanding users,” Mattias Fyrenius, CEO of Nobel Media, the company responsible for managing and developing media rights connected to the Nobel Prize.  “We cannot fail in the week during October and during that week in December.  We have to be up and running, we have to deliver a good service, and we have to have a partner that can handle that type of volume and that type of quality.”

With the pressure to deliver a reliable service to the public, Nobel Media placed their trust in Microsoft and made the decision to migrate its systems to Windows Azure just weeks before the Laureates were to be announced in October 2013.  Nobel Media’s faith was repaid and the migration was a resounding success, with visitors experiencing a smooth and reliable service throughout the busy period.

But Windows Azure wasn’t just selected for its ability to deliver during peak times of traffic.  It also provides the necessary scalability (both up and down) to allow Nobel Media to service a smaller number of visitors beyond the busy announcement periods. From a technical perspective, the fact that Windows Azure is open is another huge bonus, as it is able to cater for Nobel Media’s LAMP Stack-based solution, built on non-Microsoft technologies.

The relationship Microsoft has developed with Nobel Media is one that both parties believe will flourish. “Nobel obviously gives out prizes for deeds that are good for mankind, and which are closely linked to education, which is something that is very dear to the heart of Microsoft too. Helping such a prestigious brand for such a noble cause is something that we are very proud of,” says Richard Lind, Director of Technology and Platforms at Microsoft Sweden.

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Jennifer Chen
Microsoft News Center Staff