Case Study: Mimiboard achieves effortless scalability and lower hosting costs with Google Cloud Platform

Mimiboard Uniting African communities

Umuntu Media launched Mimiboard, a virtual message board for southern Africa, and needed a scalable, low‑cost platform that could handle rapid user growth and let developers iterate quickly without managing in‑house hardware. Founder Johan Nel wanted confidence the service would remain available as usage spiked and sought an agile cloud solution.

Working with Information Logistics, Umuntu Media built Mimiboard on Google App Engine, using its Webapp framework, Federated Login/OpenID Connect, High Replication Datastore and Maps/Geolocation APIs, plus App Engine’s monitoring dashboard. The result: no hardware to maintain, strong cost savings, 10,000 users in the first month, partnerships with broadcasters, and recognition at the 2012 Open Innovation Africa summit—delivering the scalability and reliability the team needed.

Mimiboard

Johan Nel

Founder and CEO