Echidna’s Journey to Efficient Resource Management and Website Launch With Cloudways

About Aseef Pasha

Aseef Pasha is an experienced Director of Presales Engineering and Product Management at Echidna, a leading digital commerce agency. They offer a full range of digital solutions services and have delivered 100+ websites for clients in the USA, Canada, and MENA regions. Their success can be attributed to their expertise in assessing operations, identifying areas for improvement, and providing tailored recommendations.

What made them choose Cloudways?

Echidna faced challenges related to resource limitations with Elasticsearch memory and CPU usage. However, Cloudways helped them effectively plan and implement mitigations through better resource allocation and deployment management visibility. Additionally, Cloudways helped launch PrimaSports, tracking metrics and adjusting strategies to optimize performance, achieving their traffic goals. The solution provided Echidna with better resource management and transparency, enabling them to overcome challenges and succeed.

This case study examines how Cloudways supported Echidna in enabling their clients to bring their visions to life and overcome their most difficult business obstacles.

Cloudways: Could you please introduce yourself and let us know what your main responsibilities entail?

Aseef Pasha: I am Aseef Pasha, Director of Presales Engineering and Product Management, with 15 years of experience. I lead global clients through the presales process, manage products, and drive business development for MENA via inside sales. I focus on delivering bespoke solutions that meet client needs and outcompete competitors on time and within budget.

Cloudways: Can you provide an overview of your organization, including the services you offer, the size of your team, the market you serve, your unique selling proposition, and the number of clients you currently have?

Aseef Pasha: Echidna is a digital commerce agency that provides a range of services, including strategy, creative, marketing, systems integration, technology, and managed services. We have a strong legacy of experience and a holistic approach that ensures every decision is informed and every process successful.

We offer strategic consulting, UX services, technology implementation, and post-launch services for digital commerce. Our experienced team takes a holistic approach to assessing your business and creating a roadmap for digital maturity. We focus on customer experience, technology implementation, and continuous innovation to drive your business growth.

We have around 30+ active engagements and have successfully delivered 100+ websites. Also, we serve clients across USA, Canada & MENA regions.

For more information, please refer to our portfolio here.

Cloudways: Could you provide some information to our audience regarding Echidna, such as its location and its nature of operations?

Aseef Pasha: Headquartered in New York, Echidna has offices in Bangalore and Dubai to serve clients worldwide. We’re also spread across North America. Our Bangalore office location is home to over 100 Echidna employees who work together to execute clients’ visions. Our Dubai office enables Echidna to extend its commitment to quality eCommerce design and development to growing brands in the region. Echidna prides itself on its deep commitment to clients, its ability to overcome tough business challenges, and its innovative solutions.

Cloudways: Can you provide examples of how Cloudways helped improve website performance or achieve certain numbers, and what specific issues or challenges led to the decision to switch to Cloudways for managed cloud hosting?

Aseef Pasha: Echidna faced challenges related to resource limitations, particularly with respect to ElasticSearch memory and CPU usage. This made troubleshooting difficult due to the limited visibility into resource constraints. However, since migrating to Cloudways, we have been able to effectively plan and implement mitigations. The platform’s transparency with regard to resource allocation and deployment management has proven invaluable in this regard.

Additionally, Cloudways helped us launch a new website called PrimaSports. We had a pipeline campaign in place to drive traffic and monitor performance. By regularly tracking the website’s metrics and adjusting its strategies accordingly to optimize results, Cloudways helped us achieve our goals.

Cloudways: What hosting solution did you use before switching to Cloudways, and what was the significant issue you experienced that prompted you to make the switch?

Aseef Pasha: We predominantly use Adobe Commerce Cloud for most of our vendors. We also make use of AWS and Nexcess for Magento Open Source projects and for the US market, respectively. Ultimately, the choice of technology partner depends on the specific needs of each client, as well as considerations around cost-effectiveness. Based on these factors, we recommend the most appropriate solution to our clients.

While building a Magento 2.4 site for one of our new clients, we were reluctant to deploy it on AWS directly as our client does not have technical resources and expertise on the AWS level.

So during our search for a cost-effective solution for a client in the MENA region, we came across Cloudways. Cloudways impressed us with their resource management skills and their team’s responsiveness, enabling us to promptly address any issues that arose.

Cloudways: Can you share your initial thoughts and impressions about Cloudways when you first became a customer?

Aseef Pasha: We have had an exceptional experience with Cloudways thus far, thanks in no small part to the invaluable assistance of our dedicated Account Manager, Emmad. His unwavering commitment to delivering top-notch service has been nothing short of impressive. Moreover, the Cloudways support chat team has been instrumental in resolving any concerns we have had, providing timely and expert guidance that has helped us to achieve our objectives.

Cloudways: What do you believe makes Cloudways stand out from other hosting providers, and how has the platform’s integrated support for PHP-based applications like WordPress, Laravel, and Magento improved your experience?

Aseef Pasha: Cloudways solution’s ease of configuration, enabling and disabling functionality, and one-click cloning capability have collectively transformed the development process, simplifying code deployment and streamlining our developers’ workflows. Thanks to these powerful features, our developers can now perform their tasks with greater efficiency and ease, accelerating the pace of our software development efforts.

Cloudways: How do you use Cloudways to solve your client’s problem(s)?

Aseef Pasha: Given the budget-conscious nature of the SME market in the MENA region, we recognize the importance of cost-effective hosting solutions. Fortunately, Cloudways hosting services provide an excellent fit for our overall ecommerce service implementation, allowing us to deliver top-quality services at a price point that is accessible and attractive to our valued clients.

Cloudways: Out of the five cloud providers available on Cloudways, which one(s) do you prefer to use and why?

Aseef Pasha: Given that we support clients in the MENA region, AWS has been a natural choice for us. Additionally, we have found that Cloudways’ availability of servers in the Middle East has further strengthened our ability to deliver top-quality services that meet the unique needs and requirements of our clients in the region.

Cloudways: How do you resell Cloudways to your clients?

Aseef Pasha: Having recognized the MENA region’s price sensitivity and preference for AWS, we have carefully evaluated our preferred managed cloud hosting solutions providers. After careful consideration, we have determined that Cloudways would be the ideal choice for us to package with our implementation services, as it supports a wide range of platforms and can positively impact our reselling efforts.

Cloudways: If you could briefly describe the values you perceive from Cloudways?

Aseef Pasha: I think the support team’s unwavering commitment to delivering top-notch service has been nothing short of impressive. The Cloudways support chat team has been instrumental in resolving any concerns we have had, providing timely and expert guidance that has helped us to achieve our objectives.

Cloudways: Do you think that by switching to Cloudways, you were able to free up resources at your end? If yes, how were you able to utilize those?

Aseef Pasha: Cloudways managed cloud hosting solutions have been instrumental in freeing up our resources and enhancing our efficiency and effectiveness in managing our IT infrastructure. This has enabled us to allocate our resources to other critical areas of our business, such as product development, marketing, and customer support, thereby accelerating our business growth.

Moreover, leveraging the specialized expertise of a cloud hosting provider like Cloudways has provided us with a myriad of benefits, including superior infrastructure performance, enhanced scalability, and heightened security. As a result, we have been able to drive success and growth for our business while also delivering an optimal experience for our customers.

Cloudways: What features or improvements do you want to see in the future at Cloudways?

Aseef Pasha: The usage of Varnish Cache can often pose challenges, and we would highly appreciate better documentation or clarity on how to handle such issues.