QS Cloud Platform: 70% Hosting Savings and Peak-Time Reliability

Global university rankings leader Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) needed a scalable, reliable web platform to withstand massive traffic spikes during annual ranking releases. Partnering with ITCare and Jet.Dev team, QS re-engineered its hosting architecture, cutting costs by 70% and delivering consistent performance for millions of visitors worldwide.

The QS World University Rankings, produced by Quacquarelli Symonds, is one of the most influential global university rankings, eagerly awaited by millions. QS’s flagship websites, which provide analytical insights into education, are expected to perform quickly and reliably, even during peak traffic periods.

However, during annual ranking releases, massive traffic spikes often overwhelmed the system, slowing page load times and making certain services inaccessible to users. For a global brand, these slowdowns and outages could lead to reduced audience engagement and the loss of critical media opportunities.

So QS approached ITCare and Jet.Dev with a request to investigate ongoing infrastructure and performance concerns, including:

• High hosting costs
• Slow page load times, especially during traffic surges
• Poor responsiveness from the hosting provider’s support team

• Limited ability to run parallel development environments and use modern CI/CD tools, delaying feature releases.

   

Preliminary assumptions suggested two possible root causes: either insufficient support and scalability from the hosting platform or a need for extensive code optimization.

But there was no time for a thorough investigation. Before the assessment could begin, a severe incident occurred: a traffic surge caused excessive database load, taking one of QS’s flagship sites offline for several hours. With the hosting provider unable to assist effectively, our team had to act immediately to restore service and stabilize the platform under urgent conditions.

As an immediate measure, we migrated the malfunctioning rankings site to a new DigitalOcean server. Within hours, a complete copy was deployed and all traffic redirected, restoring full access for users.

The speed improvements on the new environment impressed QS, leading them to migrate other sites. This became the foundation for a custom QS Cloud Hosting Platform, designed for stability, scalability, and developer efficiency.

The Key Elements of the Solution

Multi-Environment Support

Provided sufficient resources for multiple parallel development and testing environments, enabling teams to work simultaneously without blocking each other. This reduced feature delivery timelines and improved deployment frequency.
 

Dedicated Data Server

Delivered controlled access to live, up-to-date data for development while maintaining strict security boundaries. This improved testing accuracy and reduced time spent troubleshooting environment inconsistencies.

Robust CI/CD

Introduced Jenkins-powered pipelines automating deployments, backups, restores, and other critical processes. This not only eliminated manual errors but also reduced deployment time from hours to minutes, allowing faster time-to-market for new features.

Performance Optimization

Configured a Cloudflare caching proxy with tuned settings, significantly reducing database load and improving page load times during peak traffic. A thorough code review identified further optimization opportunities, and our team conducted mentoring sessions to upskill QS’s internal developers in performance-focused coding and tool usage.

Proactive monitoring 

Enabled Grafana-based dashboards and log analysis for continuous monitoring, providing real-time system visibility, early anomaly detection, and actionable alerts to resolve issues before they escalate, supporting stable operations and user trust.

Once the platform was stable, QS migrated from DigitalOcean to AWS for standardized infrastructure and unified operational processes across the organization.

A unique challenge arose with one flagship site targeting Chinese users. Local regulations required in-country hosting, so we deployed it on Alibaba Cloud. The Great Firewall and traffic shaping caused severe latency, disrupting developer workflows. We addressed this issue by introducing an intermediate proxy server in Japan, which enabled the rapid delivery of databases and assets to the development teams.

The QS project was particularly engaging for us, as it combined in-depth analytical work, the complex migration of large-scale websites, and team mentoring. It demanded both careful focus and the ability to respond swiftly to challenges. 

As a result, the project brought even greater benefits than were initially expected. Here are the key ones:

At Jet.Dev, we work with our clients to build reliable, lasting partnerships. This approach allows us to understand partners' goals deeply and not only deliver technical solutions, but also help to achieve business objectives, implement ambitious plans, and get measurable results.

If you are looking for a reliable partner to support your digital growth, let’s start a conversation.