Case Study: KSL Media Ltd. scales to 25,000 concurrent readers and reduces IT costs with Microsoft Power BI

News website scales to 25,000 concurrent readers on Azure Database for MySQL at reduced IT costs

KSL Media, a subsidiary of Kasturi & Sons Ltd. that publishes the Tamil news site Hindu Tamil, needed an affordable, scalable platform to handle sudden traffic spikes (including COVID-driven surges) while reducing IT overhead. Working with Microsoft Power BI and the broader Microsoft Azure stack, KSL Media migrated its site and databases to Azure Database for MySQL, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Azure Virtual Machines to unify tools and simplify operations.

Microsoft Power BI provided unified analytics while Azure Database for MySQL’s read-replica scale-out, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Azure Database Migration Service delivered the underlying scalability and reliability, enabling KSL Media to handle up to 25,000 concurrent readers and five-times traffic surges with minimal downtime. The move cut operational complexity, boosted developer productivity, and produced measurable savings—about 15% in IT costs—while laying the groundwork for future AI and machine-learning initiatives.

KSL Media

Mahesh Manchi

Head of Technology and Solutions