To help maintain and drive further revenue and ensure future growth, Domino's sought a hosting partner that could meet the evolving demands of its successful online business and allow its internal IT team to focus on delivering greater innovation and concentrate less on the maintenance of online properties and business applications.

One third of orders are online
Colin Rees is Domino's IT Director, "In 2010, over one third of our UK delivered orders were taken online, so having a reliable hosting solution is absolutely essential if not critical to our ongoing business success. I was very aware that to maintain our current growth trajectory, and to keep improving our customer experience, we needed to outsource our hosting infrastructure. This is particularly critical as we aim to have over 1200 stores in operation in the United Kingdom by 2021.

"The problem was that we wanted the very best of both worlds. Our hosting solution had to offer the exceptionally high level of security and configurability that only comes with dedicated managed hosting, but also had to provide the instant scalability and economy of cloud hosting. The answer was found with Rackspace® Hosting's RackConnect® solution that ticks all these options and more."

The hosted applications will include the public-facing ecommerce site www.dominos.co.uk, as well as the online payment gateway, corporate email and back-office systems, and the company intranet.

New generation of sophisticated IT users
Colin revealed, "We are building our business to cater for a new generation of sophisticated 'on the move' IT users; Smartphones, ipads, and instant Apps being just the tip of the iceberg of new technology becoming available. We have to meet and exceed their online needs by delivering an online experience that matches their aspirations.

"RackConnect® will enable Domino's to select which applications are placed where in the managed hosting infrastructure. "For example", said Colin, "business applications that require a particularly high level of security, such as an internal email system, can be hosted on highly secure dedicated physical hardware. The real benefits start to accrue when we begin to take full advantage of the on-demand scalability of the Rackspace Cloud for developing new smartphone or tablet applications, or scaling up by adding new virtual servers to handle the increased traffic demands of a huge digital marketing campaign. The options are endless and the result is that our online business offering can grow effortlessly to meet the needs of an increasingly techno savvy and pizza hungry audience."

Shake for toppings
As a precursor of things to come, Domino's launched an iPhone app in August 2010. This app has a unique slot machine feature. If a customer is unable to decide which toppings to have on their pizza, they can shake their phone and let the app choose for them! Then press hold and keep the selection or shake again until the right combo is chosen-of course you can choose manually too! The app also has the facility to link in with the real-time pizza tracker, so users can keep tabs on the progress of their pizza's delivery.

Tried and tested hybrid solution
Taylor Rhodes is the Managing Director for Rackspace International. "Domino's Pizza is genuinely paving the way when it comes to very effective e-commerce and engagement with its online customers in a wide variety of ways. We have all seen the massive growth in smartphone and tablet apps and the avalanche of social media into our lives. It is great to see a company taking full advantage of the latest technology to deliver a better service to its customers.

"It's certainly a thrill for us to be working with such a consistently innovative and successful company. The fact that Domino's Pizza has chosen our game-changing RackConnect® service highlights a particular need amongst businesses for a rigorously tried and tested hybrid hosting platform that offers far greater security and flexibility, among other benefits."

The crust of the matter
To take a fresh look and sample the very latest Domino's online experience, order your superb stuffed crust pizza or even tempt your taste buds with a delicious new lunchtime sub at www.Dominos.co.uk. Just enter your postcode for the nearest store and menu options.

Go online
For an online delivery of the latest hybrid cloud and managed hosting options take a look at www.rackspace.co.uk or call the team on 0800 988 0100 for a FREE chat about the infinite hosting recipes that are now possible with RackConnect®.