July 08, 2011, 4:10 AM — Domino's Pizza UK is moving its e-commerce site, online payment gateway, corporate e-mail and back-office systems into the cloud, with the aim of increasing scalability and saving money.
Domino's is using the hosted RackConnect service from supplier Rackspace for its applications and platforms.
With over 660 stores, Domino's is one of the largest pizza delivery companies in the UK and Ireland. The company has attempted to differentiate itself with a multi-channel retail strategy, which last year generated a 63% increase in online revenues.
To help drive further revenue and future growth, Domino's sought a hosting service that would meet the evolving demands of its online business, and allow its internal IT team "to focus less on the maintenance of its online properties and business applications, and more on innovation".
Colin Rees, Domino's IT Director, said: "In 2010, over a third of our UK delivered orders were taken online, so having a reliable hosting solution is essential to our continued success.
"I knew that we needed to outsource our hosting infrastructure if we were to remain on our current growth trajectory and keep improving our customer experience."
RackConnect will enable Domino's to select which applications are placed where in the managed hosting infrastructure. For example, applications that require a high level of security, such as an internal e-mail system, can be hosted on dedicated physical hardware.
Domino's will also be able to take advantage of the on-demand scalability the Rackspace cloud offers, for instance, developing new smartphone or tablet applications, or handling the demands of a digital marketing campaign.
Domino's new hosted architecture is expected to go live this September.
