In ten years, Chive Media Group, parent company of flagship humor property theCHIVE, has grown from a lone photo blog into a global lifestyle brand dedicated to delivering the best user experience across desktop, mobile web, app, podcasts, and OTT channels.
By choosing ObjectRocket and its suite of managed database-as-a-service solutions, Chive Media Group has been able to launch new properties and build features quickly and easily because they don’t have to worry about the database piece. They can concentrate on building their digital media empire while leaving the rest to ObjectRocket’s knowledgeable experts.
However, because the new platforms are very different, they present divergent use cases that require their own database solutions. For example, Chris Brundage, IT Manager, notes that while MongoDB was the right solution to help launch iCHIVE, they quickly discovered that Mongo is not the best solution for counting. So they worked with ObjectRocket to optimize account-related queries. “ObjectRocket finally got us to shift that functionality into Redis, which has solved the problem beautifully,” says Brundage.
They’re using Elasticsearch to power full-text searches on iChive and media library searches on CHIVE TV. And in an innovative new use of Elasticsearch, they’re now enabling bar owners to manage their campaigns and billing on CHIVE TV.
ObjectRocket helped Chive Media Group optimize user experience while cutting costs by moving some processes to MongoDB, Redis, and Elasticsearch, and managing those instances for them. ObjectRocket is able to ensure that interactions on every channel remain high quality and very fast.
Chive Media Group originally chose ObjectRocket because they were already working with Rackspace, ObjectRocket’s parent company. ObjectRocket was already fully integrated with the Rackspace ecosystem, so it was a smooth and easy addition to their services.
What impresses Brundage the most about working with ObjectRocket is that ObjectRocket DBAs are always available in real time via Slack. It’s as if they’re working with in-house DBAs, even when they’re not.
Customer’s Business:
Founded in 2008, Chive Media Group consists of a family of websites, and apps including theCHIVE, CHIVE TV, Chive Studios, Chive Charities, and more. Chive Media Group is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with 170 full-time employees nationwide.
Challenge:
Chive Media Group needed to solve a variety of database-related business problems, but none of their staff had deep expertise in non-relational databases. They needed a partner that offered a complete solution to manage instances of MongoDB, Redis, and Elasticsearch so they could focus on growing their digital media empire.
Solution:
• ObjectRocket for MongoDB®
• ObjectRocket for Redis®
• ObjectRocket for Elasticsearch®
Outcome:
Chive Media Group has been able to add innovative new offerings, without having to hire additional database management staff, by outsourcing managed NoSQL database services to ObjectRocket, which helps them adapt quickly to changing business needs while dramatically cutting costs.
“Everyone on our team was new to MongoDB… it was immensely helpful to be able to Slack our ObjectRocket database experts to ask questions in real time. With ObjectRocket, we don’t have to wait around for answers.”
Chris Brundage, IT Manager, Chive Media Group
What stands out about Chive Media Group and all its properties is that they have managed to stay nimble and continue to grow in a constantly changing media distribution environment that has set many competitors back dramatically. By choosing ObjectRocket to set up and manage the best solutions for their new use cases as they arise, theCHIVE has been able to launch new properties while maintaining smooth operations and increasing their user base to both user-generated content and business-to-business models.
