Newton Project Case Study

The Newton Project is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2010 that uses the "pay-it-forward" concept to recognize people who have created positive impacts in the community. The foundation needed a partner that could build a dynamic, scalable platform with a nonprofit’s budget.

CHALLENGE

With a limited budget and administrative team, the Newton Project needed a partner to research scalable platforms, recommend a solution that could fit all of its needs and build the platform via a fixed cost basis and agile method. Allow administrators to issue and track unlimited serial-numbered wristbands Manage financial transactions securely Post and archive user comments and stories Utilize Bing Maps to provide a unique, rich user experience 

SOLUTION

Sparkhound, a Microsoft Windows Azure Circle Partner, recommended Windows Azure and SQL Azure as the platform of choice because it provided an open, flexible cloud environment for immediate and future growth. In addition, Sparkhound recommended utilizing its App Maintenance model to execute the project on a fixed cost basis and agile method: Built, deployed and managed the Newton application across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters Utilized both Windows Azure and SQL Azure to maximize scalability Integrated Bing Maps to allow users to visually track wristbands as they traveled the world  

IMPACT

By utilizing Sparkhound’s App Maintenance team, Sparkhound provided a cost-effective solution for the foundation, keeping the project on time and under budget. In addition, the platform’s scalable infrastructure has met peak demands, including a nearly 4000% traffic increase in one day (Shaquille O’Neal tweeted about the nonprofit) with no delays, downtime or technical issues.