Heroku Case Studies Align Technology's Transition to Heroku for Enhanced Consumer App Experience

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	Align Technology's Transition to Heroku for Enhanced Consumer App Experience Heroku

Align Technology's Transition to Heroku for Enhanced Consumer App Experience

Heroku

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Databases Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Middleware & Microservices
Applicable Industries	Consumer Goods Electronics
Applicable Functions	Maintenance
Use Cases	Traffic Monitoring
Challenge	Align Technology, a global medical device company, was facing challenges with its consumer-facing applications, including their corporate site and product sites. One of their key applications, the Invisalign Smile Assessment app, along with other applications, were used by thousands of consumers each month and required almost daily updates. These updates ranged from large iterations to minor changes on individual documents. The company found it increasingly difficult to perform these quick updates, a limitation that posed challenges not only for the business teams but also for their IT developers. The need for a more efficient and agile solution was evident. Read More
About Customer	Align Technology, Inc. is a global medical device company that specializes in the design, manufacture, and marketing of the Invisalign® system, the world's leading virtually invisible orthodontic product. They also offer 3D digital intraoral scanning products and services for orthodontic and restorative dentistry. Align runs a number of consumer-facing applications, including their corporate site and product sites. These applications are used by thousands of consumers each month and require frequent updates. Read More
Customer Name	Align Technology, Inc. Read More
Solution	In response to the challenge, Align Technology conducted a technology assessment, considering both Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions. They ultimately chose Heroku, a PaaS solution, over an IaaS solution for several reasons. Unlike IaaS solutions, which require a dedicated developer operations function, the Heroku platform is completely managed by the Heroku team. This meant that Align could focus their resources and energy on their apps, rather than on managing servers, upgrades, adding memory, and troubleshooting security issues. Additionally, Heroku allowed Align to leverage integrated third-party app components and services through the Heroku Add-ons ecosystem. This enabled developers at Align to quickly utilize more than 150 Add-ons, including databases, bug tracking, email automation, and other monitoring tools. Furthermore, Heroku offered fast scalability in response to heavy traffic or other issues. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Databases

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Middleware & Microservices

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods

Electronics

Applicable Functions

Maintenance

Use Cases

Traffic Monitoring

Challenge

Align Technology, a global medical device company, was facing challenges with its consumer-facing applications, including their corporate site and product sites. One of their key applications, the Invisalign Smile Assessment app, along with other applications, were used by thousands of consumers each month and required almost daily updates. These updates ranged from large iterations to minor changes on individual documents. The company found it increasingly difficult to perform these quick updates, a limitation that posed challenges not only for the business teams but also for their IT developers. The need for a more efficient and agile solution was evident.

About Customer

Align Technology, Inc. is a global medical device company that specializes in the design, manufacture, and marketing of the Invisalign® system, the world's leading virtually invisible orthodontic product. They also offer 3D digital intraoral scanning products and services for orthodontic and restorative dentistry. Align runs a number of consumer-facing applications, including their corporate site and product sites. These applications are used by thousands of consumers each month and require frequent updates.

Customer Name

Align Technology, Inc.

Solution

In response to the challenge, Align Technology conducted a technology assessment, considering both Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions. They ultimately chose Heroku, a PaaS solution, over an IaaS solution for several reasons. Unlike IaaS solutions, which require a dedicated developer operations function, the Heroku platform is completely managed by the Heroku team. This meant that Align could focus their resources and energy on their apps, rather than on managing servers, upgrades, adding memory, and troubleshooting security issues. Additionally, Heroku allowed Align to leverage integrated third-party app components and services through the Heroku Add-ons ecosystem. This enabled developers at Align to quickly utilize more than 150 Add-ons, including databases, bug tracking, email automation, and other monitoring tools. Furthermore, Heroku offered fast scalability in response to heavy traffic or other issues.

Impact #1	By choosing Heroku, Align Technology has seen significant benefits in terms of maintenance, deployment, and scalability. The developer experience on the platform allows for quick changes and iterations, which creates a more agile environment. This agility has enabled the developers to more easily meet the needs of the business teams. All of Align Technology’s consumer-facing apps, including Invisalign.com, are now running on Heroku. The site is globally distributed in multiple languages and scales based on usage of the customers and consumers. The transition to Heroku has enhanced the overall app experience for both the company and its consumers.

Impact #1

By choosing Heroku, Align Technology has seen significant benefits in terms of maintenance, deployment, and scalability. The developer experience on the platform allows for quick changes and iterations, which creates a more agile environment. This agility has enabled the developers to more easily meet the needs of the business teams. All of Align Technology’s consumer-facing apps, including Invisalign.com, are now running on Heroku. The site is globally distributed in multiple languages and scales based on usage of the customers and consumers. The transition to Heroku has enhanced the overall app experience for both the company and its consumers.

Benefit #1	Heroku allows for quick changes and iterations, creating a more agile environment.
Benefit #2	The platform enables easy scalability in response to heavy traffic or other issues.
Benefit #3	Align can leverage more than 150 Add-ons, including databases, bug tracking, email automation, and other monitoring tools.

Benefit #1

Heroku allows for quick changes and iterations, creating a more agile environment.

Benefit #2

The platform enables easy scalability in response to heavy traffic or other issues.

Benefit #3

Align can leverage more than 150 Add-ons, including databases, bug tracking, email automation, and other monitoring tools.

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Overview

Align Technology's Transition to Heroku for Enhanced Consumer App Experience

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit