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Revamping Stars and Stories: A Journey to a Future-Ready Software Backbone

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At Stars and Stories, we’re always looking for ways to enhance our services and provide seamless experiences for our clients and users. Recently, we embarked on a significant project to overhaul the software backbone that powers our primary products, Suite and ReviewClub. This transformation involved moving from multiple, outdated systems to a unified, cloud-based solution using Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Here’s how we did it and the incredible results we’ve achieved.

Table of Contents

The Challenge: Outdated and Fragmented Systems

We were managing our operations through five distinct monolithic applications:

  1. Suite: This is where our clients create new campaigns, browse reports, and handle all campaign-related tasks. Previously, Suite was built on Laravel, which served us well but had its limitations as our needs grew.

  2. ReviewClub: Our platform for reviewers to find, participate in, and manage campaign participation was running on Drupal. While Drupal is powerful, it wasn’t the best fit for our evolving needs.

  3. Campaign Management Interface: Stars and Stories employees used this Drupal-based interface to manage everything from campaign creation (on the client side) to participation (on the reviewers’ side), and all the operational details in between.

  4. Logistics: Managing the shipment of campaign samples was handled through another Laravel application. This setup, though functional, was becoming increasingly cumbersome.

  5. Datastore: This Laravel-based system tracked the reviews published. However, we faced frequent synchronization issues between the production databases, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies.
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The Issue: Database Desynchronization

All five applications faced a common issue: desynchronization between the databases. This meant that data wasn’t always up-to-date across our systems, leading to operational delays and potential errors. As our operations grew, these problems became more pronounced, necessitating a comprehensive solution.

The Solution: Embracing Cloud Technology with GCP

After a thorough review of the latest technologies, we decided to migrate to a fully cloud-based solution on GCP. We unified all our databases into a single, highly scalable database using Firestore. Here’s why this was a game-changer for us:

Why Move Away from Laravel and Drupal?

While Laravel and Drupal are robust frameworks, they have their drawbacks:

  • Laravel: It’s great for building complex applications quickly but can become cumbersome as applications scale. Managing multiple Laravel applications separately was leading to inefficiencies and maintenance challenges.
  • Drupal: Known for its flexibility, Drupal is a powerful content management system. However, it can be overly complex and resource-intensive for our needs, especially as we shifted focus from content management to more dynamic, data-driven operations.
Why Firebase?

Firebase offered several compelling advantages that made it an ideal choice for our unified system:

  • Scalability: Firebase can handle vast amounts of data and high traffic loads effortlessly, which is crucial as we continue to grow and expand our services.

     

  • Real-Time Database: With Firebase, all our data is synchronized in real-time, eliminating the desynchronization issues we previously faced. This ensures that our clients and reviewers always have access to the most up-to-date information.

     

  • Simplified Maintenance: By moving to a cloud-based solution, we’ve significantly reduced the complexity of managing our systems. Updates and maintenance are streamlined, allowing our team to focus more on innovation and less on infrastructure.

     

  • Authentication security: Firebase Authentication simplifies user authentication with robust, secure, and scalable methods, enhancing app security and user experience effortlessly. If 2FA is enabled then security is enhanced by requiring a second verification step, protecting user accounts even if passwords are compromised.

The Results: Improved Performance and Efficiency

Since implementing our new cloud-based system, we’ve seen remarkable improvements:

  • Increased Capacity: We can now handle 35% more campaigns without any downtime. This scalability is crucial as we continue to grow and take on more clients.

  • Zero Downtime: The robustness of Firebase has ensured that our systems are always available, providing a seamless experience for our clients and reviewers.

  • Effortless Scaling: We no longer worry about server overloads or performance bottlenecks, allowing us to focus on delivering the best possible service.
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Looking Ahead

Our transition to a cloud-based infrastructure on GCP marks a significant milestone in our journey at Stars and Stories. It reflects our commitment to leveraging the best technologies available to enhance our services and provide exceptional value to our clients. We’re excited about the future and look forward to continuing to innovate and improve.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to evolve and grow!

Be Part of Our Innovation Journey!

At Stars and Stories, we believe that our team is the key to our success. We’re looking for passionate, innovative, and driven individuals to join us. If you’re ready to make an impact and grow in a dynamic and collaborative environment, explore our open positions and become part of a team that’s revolutionizing consumer trust.

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