About Horizons Research
Horizons Research is an independent research, evaluation, and policy organization working across the public, third, and social enterprise sectors. The organization specializes in applied research that supports system change and public good, helping governments, charities, healthcare organizations, and partnerships understand what works, for whom, and why.
Alongside rigorous qualitative and quantitative research, Horizons Research designs and delivers digital platforms, websites, and knowledge resources that make findings accessible, usable, and impactful. These include public-facing websites, microsites, secure portals, and digital tools used by policymakers, practitioners, and communities.
As the number and importance of these platforms increased, maintaining consistent performance, strong security, and reliable uptime across multiple sites became more challenging. High-visibility moments such as report launches and public engagement placed added pressure on digital infrastructure and operational processes.
A dedicated in-house team supports the design, delivery, marketing, and ongoing support of these platforms, ensuring quality and cost remain priorities. In this case study, Paul Hart, Senior Developer at Horizons Research, explains how the organization addressed these challenges and built a more reliable foundation for its WordPress websites.
Cloudways: Please tell us about Horizons Research and the kind of projects you undertake. What challenges did you face in your organization before you decided to explore a new hosting provider?
Paul Hart: Horizons Research delivers complex research, evaluation, and transformation projects for public sector organizations, often involving sensitive data, tight deadlines, and high public scrutiny. Alongside service delivery, we manage and host over 20+ WordPress-based websites, including public information sites, secure staff portals, and project-specific digital resources.
– The Horizons Research team collaborates on research and digital platforms supporting public sector organizations and social impact initiatives. (Source: Horizons Research)
Before moving to Cloudways, our hosting environment was fragmented. Different projects were spread across multiple providers with varying performance, security standards, and backup processes. As a result, maintaining reliable uptime, enforcing consistent security practices, and responding rapidly to issues became increasingly challenging and unsustainable when websites formed part of live research.
Cloudways: What were some of the biggest pain points in your previous hosting environment that led you to consider Cloudways? How were these challenges impacting your research and evaluation projects?
Paul Hart: The biggest pain points were reliability, scalability, and management overhead.
Some projects experienced performance issues during traffic spikes following report launches or media coverage. Others required higher security controls, such as stronger access management, faster patching, and more predictable backups, which were difficult to standardize across traditional shared hosting models.
From an operational perspective, maintaining multiple hosting dashboards and support contracts created unnecessary friction and risk. For a research organization working to ISO-aligned standards for business continuity and data protection, that level of fragmentation was not sustainable.
We also wanted a platform that specialized in WordPress and addressed some of the issues with maintaining multiple sites. For Horizons Research, Cloudways WordPress hosting provides a reliable and secure platform that evolves to align with technical standards and advancements.
– Horizons Research designed and continues to manage the ADES website, supporting secure communication, document management, and reliable WordPress platform operations. (Source: Horizons Research)
Cloudways: Can you walk us through your decision-making process when choosing Cloudways? What were the key factors that influenced your choice, and how did Cloudways stand out among other hosting providers?
Paul Hart: We were looking for a platform that balanced performance, security, and operational simplicity, without locking us into an inflexible enterprise contract. We reviewed a range of hosting options and consulted with others in the web development community to understand their experiences using Cloudways for complex project work. Cloudways stood out because it offered:
- Managed cloud infrastructure with predictable performance
- Built-in backups, monitoring, and security controls
- The flexibility to scale resources per project
- A clean separation between infrastructure and application management
- Ability to easily transfer servers to other accounts within Cloudways
- An evolving platform, we can see that new features and improvements are being rolled out
Crucially, Cloudways allowed us to standardize our hosting approach while offering flexibility to support the needs of different projects, from small research microsites to larger public portals.
Cloudways: What was the onboarding and migration experience like when you first switched to Cloudways? Did you encounter any challenges, and if so, how did Cloudways support you through the transition?
Paul Hart: The onboarding process was straightforward and well-supported. We migrated sites incrementally, prioritizing lower-risk projects first and then moving more critical platforms once we were confident in performance and workflows.
Cloudways’ tooling made migrations predictable, and their Support team was responsive when we needed clarification or validation around configuration choices. Importantly, we were able to complete migrations without downtime, which is essential when sites support live research activity and stakeholder engagement.
Cloudways: Can you share a specific instance or project where Cloudways directly helped improve the efficiency or performance of your work in research and evaluation? What measurable impact did you see on your organization?
Paul Hart: One clear example was the consolidation of multiple project websites onto a standardized Cloudways setup. Previously, routine updates, backups, and security checks had to be handled differently on each platform.
After moving to Cloudways:
- Backup and recovery processes were aligned with our priorities
- Routine maintenance time was significantly reduced, freeing up developer capacity – there is only one of me
- Per-Client Servers to allow separation of Applications
This allowed us to spend more time improving accessibility, usability, and research impact, rather than firefighting infrastructure issues.
– Cloudways helped Horizons Research achieve excellent Core Web Vitals and PageSpeed performance scores across their WordPress sites.
Cloudways: As an organization focused on creating “system change and public good,” how has Cloudways helped improve your internal workflows or the way you deliver services to your partners?
Paul Hart: Cloudways has helped Horizons Research create stable, repeatable digital foundations for our work. That stability supports internal collaboration and with partners, because we can confidently launch new digital resources without worrying about infrastructure constraints.
It also supports our commitment to accessible, low-carbon digital delivery. Faster sites, efficient caching, and optimized media reduce data transfer and energy use, aligning with our wider sustainability goals.
Cloudways: What features or add-ons of Cloudways have been particularly valuable for your team at Horizons Research? Are there any specific tools or integrations that have enhanced your research projects or client collaborations?
Paul Hart: Key Cloudways features that have added value include:
- Automated backups with clear retention policies
- Server-level performance monitoring
- Easy scaling for short-term project demand
- Integration with Cloudflare for caching and security
Together, these features support both our technical requirements and our governance obligations around security, resilience, and continuity.
Cloudways: How does Cloudways compare to other hosting providers you’ve used in the past? Were there any surprises in the experience that made Cloudways stand out?
Paul Hart: Compared to traditional shared hosting and managed WordPress platforms, Cloudways offers a better balance of control and support. Performance is more predictable, support is technically competent, and the platform scales with us as projects grow.
A positive surprise was how well Cloudways provides enterprise-grade capabilities without enterprise-level complexity, supporting our team’s ability to respond effectively to client and project demands.
– The Cloudways platform provides Horizons Research with centralized server management, secure access, and monitoring for their WordPress sites.
Cloudways: What has been the most noticeable improvement in your day-to-day operations since you started using Cloudways? Whether it’s speed, reliability, or scalability, what difference has Cloudways made for your team?
Paul Hart: The biggest improvement has been confidence. Confidence that sites will perform during high-visibility moments, that backups are in place, and that recovery processes are tested and reliable.
That reliability reduces stress, improves planning, and helps us deliver better outcomes for our clients and partners.
– Team bonding: The Horizons Research team shares a meal together, strengthening relationships outside of work. (Source: Horizons Research)
Cloudways: For organizations in the research, policy, and evaluation industry considering Cloudways, what advice would you give them based on your experience?
Paul Hart: Choose a hosting provider that understands ease of use and just the right level of technical expertise. Look for reliability, transparency, and support that respects the realities of public-interest work.
Cloudways is a strong option for organizations that need professional-grade hosting without unnecessary complexity, especially when digital platforms are central to project delivery and impact.
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