Achieving Zero-Downtime Deployments for a Leading Bedding Products Retailer

Introduction

A prominent American company specializing in bedding products sought to enhance its online retail operations. With a diverse product range—including pillows, mattresses, bed sheets, and more—the company operates primarily as a direct-to-consumer business through its e-commerce platform. Ensuring uninterrupted access to their online store was critical for maintaining revenue streams and customer satisfaction.

The Challenge

The client's existing deployment process required activating maintenance mode during updates, resulting in approximately 1.5 hours of downtime for each deployment. During these periods, customers could not browse or make purchases, leading to lost sales (even with overnight deployment windows, this often added up to tens of thousands of dollars of lost sales) and a diminished customer experience. The client needed a solution that would eliminate downtime during deployments, allowing continuous customer access to the store.

Our Solution

To eliminate downtime during deployments and ensure continuous store availability, we re-engineered the client's deployment process with a focus on:

1. Seamless Updates Without Disruptions:

   • Redesigned the deployment procedure to allow updates without activating maintenance mode.

   • Ensured customers could browse and shop uninterrupted during deployments.

2. Optimized System Operations:

   • Carefully managed background tasks and system updates to prevent any slowdown or errors.

   • Implemented a gradual rollout of new code to all servers, minimizing any potential issues.

3. Enhanced Reliability and Safety Nets:

   • Established safeguards to quickly restore previous versions if needed, ensuring consistent uptime.

   • Regularly synchronized testing environments with the live site to catch issues before they affect customers.

4. Customer-Centric Cache Management:

   • Strategically managed website caching to maintain site speed and performance during updates.

5. Minimal Infrastructure Changes:

   • Achieved these improvements without requiring additional infrastructure investments or incurring extra costs.

Results

• Zero Downtime Achieved: The online store remained fully operational during deployments, eliminating the previous 1.5 hours of downtime.

• Increased Sales Opportunities: By maintaining store accessibility, the client no longer lost potential sales during deployments.

• Enhanced Customer Experience: Customers could browse, add products to their cart, and complete purchases without interruption.

• Operational Efficiency: The new deployment procedure required no changes to infrastructure and incurred no additional costs.

• Scalability: Maintenance mode is now only necessary for critical operations like deploying a new version of Adobe Commerce, occurring only a few times a year.

Technical Highlights

Our technical expertise was critical in successfully implementing a zero-downtime deployment strategy:

• Advanced Magento Customization: With our deep Magento experience, we enabled continuous store operation during database structure updates.

• Robust Deployment Process: The new procedure balances the need for live updates with system integrity and customer experience.

• Risk Management: Proactively addressed potential issues related to database locks and code synchronization.

• Optimized Infrastructure Usage: Achieved significant improvements without additional infrastructure or costs.

The Team Behind the Success

• Grzegorz M. (Developers Team Lead)

• Daniel S. (Backend Developer)

• Paweł M. (Backend Developer)

• Mateusz L. (Frontend Developer)

• Cyprian Ż. (Frontend Developer)

• Arkadiusz D. (QA Developer)

• Jarosław Z. (QA Developer)

• Anna K. (Solution Architect)

• Beata J. (Project Manager)

Creatuity's Insight

"The client challenged us to innovate by requiring zero downtime during deployments. Our team's determination and technical prowess allowed us to develop a solution that not only met their needs but also set a new standard for deployment efficiency."
— Beata J., Project Manager

Conclusion

Creatuity's ability to deliver a zero-downtime deployment solution showcases our commitment to technical excellence and client satisfaction. By eliminating downtime, we not only preserved the client's revenue during deployments but also enhanced the overall customer experience. This project exemplifies how we leverage deep technical knowledge to solve complex challenges, making us a trusted partner for businesses seeking to optimize their e-commerce platforms.