Guinness World Records migrates to AWS to manage increased demand for digital content

Traditionally known for the publication of its eponymous book, Guinness World Records works with leading global brands and businesses to create bespoke record-breaking campaigns. GWR is now a digital-media brand agency with a wide range of products and services, and a key presence across digital, events, television and business solutions. This fundamental change in the make-up of the company meant the existing IT infrastructure was not suited to the new demands, which necessitated a move to managed public cloud. GWR’s digital media and online record-processing services now attract 50,000 applications a year. A surge in high-quality record-breaking video uploads, combined with an increase in partnerships were key drivers in the move to the cloud.

Rob Howe, IT Director, Guinness World Records, said: “We have worked with Ensono for the past 16 years, and their proven expertise in managed public cloud is exactly what we need going forward. The next phase of our journey is to become an innovative, cloud-first company, with accessible and engaging record-breaking achievements at the heart of what we do; and our IT system must cater for this. Ensono’s understanding of our business demonstrated what was possible with Amazon Web Services and prepares us for the next stage in our evolution.”

This will be GWR’s first move to a public cloud environment, with the migration of mission critical applications; including its capacity to store and manage 4k video downloads, 50,000 applications, 47,000 record enquiries from 178 countries and 6,000 records approved annually. For the business’ continued growth, it is vital that its IT system remains flexible and adapts to the changing market. AWS was the best solution for this and catered to GWR’s demand for scalability.

Howe added; “We have a long-standing partnership with Ensono and the team has been a trusted advisor over the last decade and the ideal partner to help us on our transformation journey. The industry knowledge, AWS accreditations and courage to find new solutions to old problems from the Ensono team were crucial in why we chose to continue the partnership. They have taken on the evolution of our business and devised a solution that caters for us not just today, but prepares us for the future as well.”

Paul Morris, Europe managing director, Ensono, said; “To be able to maintain this long-established and trusted relationship with GWR is a pleasure and we are excited to continue working with such an iconic and dynamic company. After a positive and successful partnership, we are glad GWR has put its trust in us and we will continue to provide them with strong business support through the next phase of the company’s evolution.”