Case Study: The Seattle Times achieves 50% operating cost savings and 33% developer productivity gains with Microsoft Azure

Publisher Builds Apps for Tablet and Phone with One Code Base , Cuts Operating Cost 50 Percent

The Seattle Times, a major U.S. newspaper with millions of monthly readers, wanted to move from a “web-first” approach to true native mobile apps that deliver a superior, mobile-first user experience. The challenge was supporting many device types and platforms without multiplying development and long-term maintenance costs.

Working with partner Ratio Interactive and Microsoft technologies, the paper rebuilt its apps on the Universal App Platform with a Microsoft Azure backend (Media Services, Notification Hubs, Cloud Services) and Visual Studio, enabling a single code base for desktops, Surface tablets, and Windows Phones. The result: developer productivity rose 33%, operating costs fell by about 50%, app certification sped up, users gained a highly praised “gorgeous” experience, and the platform scales to handle traffic spikes up to 10x.

The Seattle Times

Carey Butler

Chief Technology Officer