Digital Agency Alkali Simplifies Operations and Scales SMB Growth with Cloudways Multicloud Hosting

About Alkali

Running a growing agency is no small task, especially when technical problems keep piling up. For Nick Baudoin, Founder & President of Alkali, managing infrastructure was becoming a drain. That changed when he found Cloudways, a platform that simplifies hosting.

Alkali isn’t your average agency. With a sharp focus on scalable development and client success, their team of 15 helps businesses build smart digital solutions. But as they took on more clients, their team needed hosting that could keep up without the usual headaches.

In this case study, Nick shares how Cloudways became their go-to platform for PHP apps like WordPress and Laravel. From fast onboarding to reliable support and simplified workflows, discover how Cloudways gave Alkali the freedom to grow, without slowing down.

Cloudways: Can you please tell us about Alkali and your role within the company, including what responsibilities you handle as part of the leadership team?

Nick Baudoin: My name is Nick Baudoin, and I’m the Founder & President of our software development agency. I oversee strategy, team growth, client success, and high-level technical direction. With a team of 15, I spend my time focused on ensuring our processes are efficient, our solutions are scalable, and that we’re consistently delivering value to our clients.

Cloudways: What services does Alkali provide, and who are your primary clients? Also, tell us about your team and what makes your agency unique.

Nick Baudoin: We provide small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) one-time and ongoing design and development services. We currently have 15 people spread across design, development, and operations. We primarily serve the US market but have a few international clients.

Cloudways: How did you first come across Cloudways, and what specific issue or bottleneck made you decide to move your hosting operations to our platform?

Nick Baudoin: I first came across Cloudways while researching options on Google, and later noticed them again after they were acquired by DigitalOcean, one of the cloud providers we already used.

The tipping point for us was the amount of time we were spending managing infrastructure. We realized that time could be better spent on growth and client delivery. Cloudways gave us back that time by offering a reliable, developer-friendly platform that takes care of the heavy lifting.

Cloudways: Before moving to Cloudways, what hosting services were you using? Do you still use other providers for some projects, and if so, why?

Nick Baudoin: Before Cloudways, we were using WPEngine, AWS, and Pantheon. We still use AWS and DigitalOcean for certain client-specific needs, but Cloudways is our go-to for most new projects thanks to its simplicity, performance, and support.

– Cloudways’ multicloud flexibility lets Alkali tailor hosting to each client’s needs.

Cloudways: What was your initial experience like after signing up with Cloudways? Did the platform meet your expectations in terms of ease of use and onboarding?

Nick Baudoin: From the start, Cloudways felt built for people like us: developers and agency owners who know hosting but don’t want to be bogged down by it. The UI was intuitive, and the overall experience felt streamlined, thoughtful, and efficient.

– The Cloudways Platform allows Alkali to deploy and manage client sites efficiently.

Cloudways: From your experience, what makes Cloudways different from other hosting providers, especially when working with PHP-based apps like WordPress and Laravel?

Nick Baudoin: The support is truly unmatched. Even before we qualified for premium support, we were consistently impressed by the fast response times and the expertise of the support team. You can tell you’re speaking with real engineers, not someone reading from a script.

As a team that works with WordPress and Laravel daily, Cloudways’ native support for these apps makes deployment and maintenance faster and more stable.

– Alkali ensures fast and stable performance through native WordPress and Laravel integration.

Cloudways: In what ways has Cloudways helped you address your clients’ technical hosting challenges and ensured their websites run smoothly and efficiently?

Nick Baudoin: We use Cloudways to help clients focus on what matters: their business. Instead of worrying about uptime, performance, or technical maintenance, they can rest easy knowing we’ve placed them on a hosting platform we trust.

Cloudways is a solution that works across different business stages, from startups to established enterprises, so it scales with them as they grow.

Cloudways: How has Cloudways impacted the overall growth and operational success of Alkali? Please share how our features support your workflow.

Nick Baudoin: Cloudways has allowed us to host a large number of client websites effortlessly. We no longer have to spend hours managing server configurations or putting out infrastructure fires. That time saved translates into more energy spent on delivering results, building new features, and growing our business.

– As Alkali’s client base grew, Cloudways’ scalable infrastructure kept pace seamlessly.

Cloudways: How do you integrate Cloudways into your service offerings for clients? Do you bundle it or refer clients directly to the platform?

Nick Baudoin: For clients who are on support or maintenance plans, we bundle Cloudways hosting into the package. For others, we often just refer them directly to Cloudways because we’re confident they’ll have a positive experience, just like we do.

Cloudways: What value have you gained from the Cloudways Agency Partnership Program, and how has it helped your agency grow its hosting business over time?

Nick Baudoin: It’s great to be part of a program that actually understands agency needs. The resources, support, and visibility Cloudways offers through the Agency Partnership Program have helped us grow our hosting business and increase client confidence. It’s a long-term win.

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