Case Study:
Padini Holdings Berhad

Malaysian apparel company Padini Holdings Berhad modernized its IT
infrastructure with G-AsiaPacific as their cloud consultant and deployment
specialist. The cloud transformation begun with the switch of its email hosting
platform to the cloud with G Suite, followed by developing and hosting its E-Commerce online store on the cloud with AWS. From Software as a Service (SaaS) to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Padini adopted G Suite as a stepping stone to cloud, before trusting the cloud to host their E-Commerce store with AWS. With its journey in cloud transformation, Padini has emerged as a frontrunner in the apparel industry in Malaysia and a strong contender in its E-Commerce online presence. G-AsiaPacific continues to provide G Suite IT support remotely for Padini and Managed Services for their E-Commerce platform.

Introduction

Padini Holdings Berhad is a leader in the apparel and garment industry in Malaysia, having nine labels under their belt that caters for consumers of both genders and all ages. Padini operates with over 3,600 employees, selling kid’s, men’s and ladies’ shoes and accessories, and garments. Their labels proudly carry the ‘Made in

Malaysia’ stamp in more than 200 stores and franchised outlets in Malaysia and around the world, alongside its online E-Commerce store.

Cloud Transformation by G-AsiaPacific

Padini’s cloud transformation can be divided into 2 phases: the Stepping Stone of switching its collaboration suite to G Suite and Crossing the River of moving it’s E-Commerce & Loyalty system to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

From MDaemon to G Suite

In October 2011, Padini was introduced to G-AsiaPacific through the Google Partner Program. Padini was seeking to modernize its IT infrastructure and started their IT transformation by modernizing their email solution. Their existing email hosting solution was MDaemon Messaging Server that is hosted on premise. Padini was keen on adopting Cloud as the first step of IT innovation, with the main objective of mobility. In November 2011, Padini started adopting G Suite for 90 store users under the domain padini.com.my. After a couple of months, Padini finds the cloud technology beneficial and produces more seamless workflows. In February 2012, Padini decided to move all its 442 corporate users under the domain padini.com to G Suite. G-AsiaPacific started their 3-phase change management: first by engaging Padini’s core IT team, then proceeding with the Early Adopters phase, and ending with the Global Go-Live phase. G-AsiaPacific has continued to provide IT support to Padini for 6 years and counting (as of year 2017).

Creating E-Commerce and hosting in Cloud

Hosting locally with your own infrastructure or a local third-party solution means that there are physical servers in your office or buildings that stores blocks and racks of servers. These servers are required to run 24/7 as your online store has to be up at all times for consumers to access. During off-peak hours, the online store receives a steady stream of visits. However, during peak seasons, the online store naturally receives huge amount of traffic with consumers leveraging on the promotions offered.

The main problem with having physical servers is that when website traffic increases, the number of servers needed to cope with the traffic will have to increase too. This will force Padini to buy more physical servers, ranging from 1server to hundreds depending on traffic! But what happens to these servers when holiday seasons pass and website traffic reverts to a steady stream of visits? These underutilized or unused servers still require continuous maintenance like HVAC, software upgrades and patches, security measures like ongoing CCTV etc. Not to mention the risks of a hazard, if the servers crash or when servers become obsolete. Hence the concept of buying 50 servers for the sole purpose of catering temporary but large traffic is unsustainable. Moreover, the value of servers plummets after usage, rendering it unprofitable to resell the servers.

Upon consideration, Padini decided to proceed with the sustainable solution – hosting their E-Commerce platform on cloud. Padini explored AWS upon G-AsiaPacific’s suggestion due to its prominent scalability
feature. Gordon Chen, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of G-AsiaPacific was brought in to discuss on the specifications of the project. We worked closely with the E-Commerce platform development partner of Padini throughout the process.

Implementation and Outcome

Padini’s E-Commerce collected enough data for G-AsiaPacific to optimize the CPU load range, allowing Padini to run its E-Commerce smoothly depending on traffic while paying only for what the application uses. Apart from some other fine tuning carried out by G-AsiaPacific, Padini E-Commerce has been running smoothly since. Visit the E-Commerce website at www.padini.com. Padini subscribed to G-AsiaPacific’s annual managed services support. 

 

In June 2016, Padini launched their E-Commerce. A few months after the launching, traffic increased dramatically, inducing Padini to upgrade its single server specifications. There was a gradual specification upgrade until the 11th of November 2016, – the Singles’ Day Promotion. Padini upgraded to the highest specification of a single server in AWS, alas it was still unable to cope with the huge incoming traffic. 

G-AsiaPacific advised Padini to scale it horizontally, or in other words, to enable their E-Commerce store for auto-scaling. G-AsiaPacific modernized Padini’s E-Commerce application before moving it from a single server environment to an auto-scaling environment.

Post Deployment Service/Support

After 2 months, Padini’s E-Commerce collected enough data for G-AsiaPacific to optimize the CPU load range, allowing Padini to run its E-Commerce smoothly depending on traffic while paying only for what the application uses. Apart from some other fine tuning carried out by G-AsiaPacific, Padini E-Commerce has been running smoothly since. Visit the E-Commerce website at www.padini.com. Padini subscribed to G-AsiaPacific’s annual managed services support.

Testimonial

Thank you to G-AsiaPacific for the responsive and professional support which has allowed us to develop with agility

When we decided to go digital, G-AsiaPacific came in with sound advice on leveraging with cloud. The team worked well in crafting a solution plan for our E-Commerce website to be scalable and powerful enough to cope with incoming traffic. The auto-scaling environment has given a compelling shopping experience to our online customers. Whether it is our E-mail, E-Commerce hosting or loyalty system, G-AsiaPacific has displayed strong cloud IT expertise as well as dedication in managing their support and services. Thank you to G-AsiaPacific for the responsive and professional support which has allowed us to develop with agility.

Level Up with Us

Looking to venture into the clouds?
Evolve your business with cloud technology today!