1. Windows Azure Customer Solution Case Study00Tribune Transforms Business for Heightened Relevance by Embracing Cloud Computing<br />OverviewCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Media and entertainmentCustomer ProfileThe Chicago, Illinois–based Tribune Company operates eight newspapers, 23 television stations, and a variety of news and information websites. The company employs approximately 14,000 people across the United States.Business SituationThe company wanted to rethink its business operations to stay competitive in a changing industry. It sought to offer more relevant, compelling content to consumers while cutting operating costs.SolutionTribune is consolidating its data centers from 32 to two and creating a central content repository to serve targeted information and advertising to consumers by embracing cloud computing on the Windows Azure platform.BenefitsFast, unlimited scalabilityGreater productivity and ease Reduced IT complexityNew revenue opportunitiesGreater relevance with consumers“Adopting Windows Azure helps us heighten our relevance … in a scalable, cost-effective way. The pay-as-you-go model is a lot less expensive than the $1.5 million annually that we would have spent.”Steve Gable, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Tribune CompanyTribune Company, a giant in the traditional media industry, needed to adapt its business to thrive in a changing market. Specifically, it wanted to make it possible for consumers to choose the content most relevant to them. Tribune quickly centralized the content in its many data centers into a single repository using cloud computing on the Windows Azure platform. Journalists and editors now have a single source for submitting and retrieving content, and the company can provide consumers with targeted content through online, mobile, and traditional distribution methods. Furthermore, Tribune experienced cost savings, a fast time-to-market, and a reduced IT management burden with Windows Azure. The company believes the platform’s fully scalable nature to be critical in expanding its revenue opportunities as it transforms how it delivers news.<br />Situation<br />2009 Statistics for Tribune CompanyNewspapers8Television stations23Websites50Data centers32Servers4,000Amount of raised floor (ft.)75,000Software applications2,000Online traffic6.1 billion page viewsSince 1847, the American public has relied on the Tribune Company for news and information. The company began as a one-room publishing plant with a press run of 400 copies; today, Tribune is made up of eight newspapers, 23 television stations, and various related news and information websites.<br />Throughout its history, Tribune has applied technology with great imagination and foresight, earning the company an industry-wide reputation for innovation. That tradition of innovation has never been more important as the newspaper industry faces declining revenue, a tough economy, and the advent of new media applications that vie for consumers’ attention. “We knew that, in order to compete, we needed to transform from a traditional media company into an interactive media company,” says Steve Gable, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Tribune Company. <br />One of the barriers to that sort of transformation was the company’s geographically dispersed technology infrastructure. Tribune managed 32 separate data centers, with a total of 4,000 servers and 75,000 feet of raised-floor space that is dedicated to supporting and cooling those servers. It also maintained 2,000 software applications that were not consistent from newspaper to newspaper or television station to television station. “With eight individual newspapers and a ‘silo’ approach where we had data dispersed all over the country, it was difficult to share content among our different organizations the way that we wanted to,” says Denise Schuster, Senior Vice President of Tribune Technology Innovations. “For instance, a Tribune photographer could take a wonderful photo, yet only one paper could efficiently access and use it.”<br />Tribune wanted to make its editorial and advertising content readily available for all its newspapers, television stations, and websites to use. The company also sought to expand the number of ways in which customers and Tribune employees could consume that content. “We wanted to switch from presenting the information that we thought was relevant to offering more targeted information that our readers deem relevant,” says Gable. “Additionally, we could provide greater value for our advertisers by ensuring that their ads are being seen by the right customers, through whatever means those customers prefer.”<br />“The changes in technology and in consumer taste are happening so rapidly that we've got to be nimble and responsive to the market's needs,” adds Mark Chase, President of Tribune Interactive, a division of Tribune Company. “News is now coming at people in so many different directions that our challenge is to help them access, personalize, and consume the information so that it is relevant to them. In a perfect world, we give them exactly what they want, when they want it, which means that we've got to be able to deliver it over multiple channels.”<br />“We currently have a capacity plan for approximately 100 terabytes of content at the end of the year, and that number does not include videos, photos, our digital archives … I don’t know how big the number’s going to get, but the best part of this model is that we can grow as we need to.”Denise Schuster, Senior Vice President, Tribune Technology Innovations The first step toward achieving this new role as an interactive media company was to establish a standardized information-sharing infrastructure for the entire company. Yet Tribune quickly realized that building the kind of internal infrastructure necessary to support that role was not achievable from a cost or management perspective. “We already had too many data centers to manage and knew that we needed to consolidate them,” says Jerry Schulist, Solutions Architect for Tribune Company. “We produce about 100 gigabytes of editorial content a day and about 8 terabytes at each of the 23 television stations every 6 to 12 months, and we kept adding hard drives to store it all. That’s just not a sustainable model for a company whose storage needs grow so quickly.”<br />Tribune also identified the importance of quickly developing new media products and capabilities. “We wanted to be more agile in terms of our ability to bring to market new products, such as new websites, but we were limited because of the considerable coordination and effort that it would take to set up the infrastructure necessary for new projects,” says Gable.<br />Solution<br />Tribune Company Data Quantities at Start of ProjectAmount of editorial content produced annually100 terabytesAmount of total content generated daily100 gigabytesYears of digitized historical content25Years of historical content to digitize137Tribune determined that it must reduce its number of data centers and build a centralized content repository with all its editorial and advertising information. “We set out to create a repository to bring together contextual advertising and editorial content that could be used throughout Tribune to deliver a more compelling user experience,” says Gable. “Staff needed to be able to search across all content for greater efficiency and to push content out through different distribution methods.”<br />The company explored its options and decided that the best way to tackle its consolidation project was through cloud computing. “We chose the cloud services approach because it allows for reduced time and flexibility in setting up infrastructure, which means quicker turnaround times for new products,” says Gable. <br />After considering other solutions, such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Tribune chose to develop its content repository using the Windows Azure platform, an Internet-scale, cloud platform-as-a-service offering hosted in Microsoft data centers. “We have a significant investment in employees who know the Windows platform, so Windows Azure is an obvious choice for us,” comments Gable. “We don’t have to retool or retrain our developers and support staff because developing for the Windows platform is common knowledge for us.”<br />The biggest challenge that Tribune faced in moving its content to Windows Azure was the sheer volume of data it had. “We currently have a capacity plan for approximately 100 terabytes of content at the end of the year, and that number does not include videos, photos, our digital archives, which go back to 1985 for print publications, or our non-digital archives, which trace back to the 1800s,” says Schuster. “So the possibilities are way out there. I don’t know how big the number is going to get, but the best part of this model is that we can grow as we need to. And if we find we need more video, the capacity is there, and we're ready to tap into it.”<br />Adds Gable, “Just uploading our current content is a huge job, but we want to eventually add all that historical content to the cloud repository, which could be petabytes of data.”<br />Solution Elements<br /> Tribune decided to use several components of the Windows Azure platform to support its repository. <br />Storage<br />The company is using worker roles to create as many as 15 thumbnail images of each photo that it uploads and places in Windows Azure Blob Storage, which stores named files along with metadata for a file. Tribune will use the multitude of thumbnails for flexibility in using photographs of varying sizes in different media formats. “We’ve had between 10 and 20 instances running to handle the amount of content that we’re adding to the cloud each day,” says Ryan McKenzie, Solutions Architect for Tribune Company. “We anticipate that our number of worker roles may grow over time and that we’ll have no trouble scaling to meet future demand.”<br />The company also plans to use the Windows Azure Content Delivery Network for caching blobs on its edge networks. “With our content stored in Windows Azure, it makes a lot of sense to have a unified solution and take advantage of the cost-effective, scalable Windows Azure Content Delivery Network capabilities,” says McKenzie. <br />Search<br />Figure 1. Architectural diagram illustrating the Tribune Company content storage, search, and retrieval solution.To make its content fully searchable, Tribune implemented Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for Internet Business as its priority search engine. “We pulled all the content together and created a set of services that save the content locally,” says McKenzie. “Then a service picks it up, distributes it to Windows Azure, and saves the path to that file in the database. That path is sent to FAST Search Server 2010, which indexes the content, making it readily searchable.” <br />Layout<br />Tribune plans to use Windows Azure compute capabilities to dynamically generate newspaper-like layouts based on a reader’s selected content. Because of the number of layouts possible based on the various content types, the calculations required to produce a layout can grow exponentially. The company expects to use Windows Azure worker roles and web roles to handle that processing and reduce the amount of time that it takes to run the calculations. “Plus, we’ll be able to offload that processing to Windows Azure, rather than it taking up local resources,” says Schulist.<br />“We’ve had between 10 and 20 instances running to handle the amount of content that we’re adding to the cloud each day. We anticipate that our number of worker roles may grow over time and that we’ll have no trouble scaling to meet future demand.”Ryan McKenzie, Solutions Architect, Tribune CompanyCurrent State and Solution Vision<br />As of June 2010, Tribune is processing its publication content and sending it to Windows Azure. The company anticipates that it will have all its non-historical publications uploaded to the cloud repository by June 2010, bringing all current Tribune publications under a single, searchable index.<br />Initially, the company will pull the content stored in the cloud into internal systems, such as its media publishing system and website templates. In the future, Tribune also will offer content consumption through mobile devices. “Having everything in one spot with Windows Azure means that we can make our content available to our readers on the platform of their choice—mobile, web, or traditional media,” says Schulist.<br />Benefits<br />For Tribune, the move to cloud computing with Windows Azure supports the drive toward new, interactive media and the ability to provide more relevant content to readers, in whatever form they wish to consume it. <br />“Tribune is a 150-plus-year-old business that has had to transform from a traditional media provider to an online, interactive company. Adopting Windows Azure helps us heighten our relevance with both consumers and advertisers by creating compelling solutions and new opportunities in a scalable, cost-effective way,” says Gable. “The pay-as-you-go model is a lot less expensive than the $1.5 million annually that we would have spent on the infrastructure to handle all our data.”<br />Fast, Unlimited Scalability<br />Embracing Windows Azure cloud computing means that Tribune now has the ability to scale its infrastructure up or down, according to demand. “Putting new infrastructure in place was not all that easy, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” says Gable. “Before, it took six weeks to acquire and install hardware, load the operating system, and start development. Now, we’re ready to go in about a day and a half.”<br />The infrastructure’s scalable nature is especially important given that Tribune does not yet know the extent of its resource needs. “We don't know how big our cloud infrastructure is going to get, but the best part of Windows Azure is that we can grow our model as we need to,” says Schuster. “If we find that we need more resources, the capacity's there and we're ready to tap into it.”<br />Adds Schulist, “We can spin up multiple instances of an application just by changing an integer. We can scale up our number of worker roles to turn millions of photos into thumbnail images, and then we can reduce the number of instances when we’re done. And we can monitor queue lengths and automatically scale up and back, as needed. That sort of flexibility is huge for us.”<br />Greater Productivity and Ease of Use<br />Developers in the company’s Technology department are so comfortable working with the Microsoft .NET Framework that minimal training was necessary for the move to the Windows Azure platform. “We had a smooth transition to using Windows Azure as a development environment,” says Schulist. “The development fabric and tools provided by Microsoft are phenomenal. We can develop locally, fully test the code, and then push it out to Windows Azure quickly and easily, which makes us more productive from a development standpoint.”<br />In fact, the Windows Azure local development tools came in handy during Schulist’s travels. “I was able to do a lot of development on the airplane while flying back and forth from Orlando to Chicago,” he remarks.<br />Adds Gable, “If we’d gone further down the Amazon S3 path, we would have faced a lot of retraining, because we don’t have that sort of in-house expertise. But we found Windows Azure consistent and easy to work with, given our current skill set and infrastructure, which made for quick adoption.”<br />Greater employee productivity extends beyond the Tribune Technology department now that journalists and editors have an easier way of finding and using historical information. “The whole work environment is going to be streamlined and efficient—a night-and-day difference,” says McKenzie. “Before, a writer who was interested in background information, previously written articles, or historical events would have had to go through eight different archive systems to find it. With the centralized content repository and unified index, Tribune staff can run a search and find the content that they need, whether that information was published today or years ago.”<br />Additionally, the company’s content-management standardization through Windows Azure will make it easy for Tribune to package its content by story and provide its distribution channels with a short-story version, long-story version, and the photos and videos pertaining to that story. “We’ll have one source for content, one way to submit it, and one way to retrieve it,” continues McKenzie. “So it will be extremely easy to find what you need, write a piece, and publish it to different media.”<br />Another benefit to having a centralized repository in the cloud is that journalists can access it from anywhere. “News doesn’t happen in the newsroom,” says Gable. “The benefit of having our content exposed through cloud computing means that journalists don’t have to come back here and work through traditional infrastructure and applications. They can capture and share information from wherever they are.”<br />Reduced IT Complexity<br />Tribune appreciates the reduction in IT complexity it is experiencing since its adoption of Windows Azure. “There’s not a lot of management to worry about with the Windows Azure platform—it’s taken care of by Microsoft,” says Gable. “We can focus on generating new advertising opportunities and new consumer products, not on how well we’re running our servers.”<br />Schulist agrees. “We don’t have to deal with redundancy, backups, or any of that maintenance,” he says. “We can really concentrate on innovating. Moving to Windows Azure frees us up to focus on the cool stuff.”<br />The company also can increase its number of products without adding IT staff to manage them. “Having eliminated some of our operational responsibilities through the consolidation project, we can keep our staff size the same, even as we continue to develop new applications,” says Gable.<br />The company’s reduced complexity benefits other Tribune staff as well. “We’re minimizing our number of applications so that journalists, editors, and others have to deal with fewer avenues to get to the content that they need,” comments Gable.<br />“Putting new infrastructure in place was not all that easy, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Before, it took six weeks to acquire and install hardware, load the operating system, and start development. Now, we’re ready to go in about a day and a half.”Steve Gable, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Tribune CompanyStaffers and consumers alike will enjoy the increase in server uptime that comes with Windows Azure. “The benefit for end users, BenefitEffectPay-as-you-go model Cuts $1.5 million in potential annual costsIncreased ability to quickly scale infrastructureReduces ramp-up time from 6 weeks to 1.5 daysEnhanced scalabilityMakes it possible to spin up multiple instances of an application just by changing an integersuch as our online reader base, is reliability,” says Gable. “We can trust that the infrastructure is there to support our delivery of a consistent consumer experience.” <br />New Revenue Opportunities<br />Tribune will be able to explore new business opportunities without the risk of investing significant up-front resources in projects that it decides not to pursue. “Using the Windows Azure model lets us take some risks where otherwise we couldn’t afford to,” says Gable. “New opportunities are open to us because, with the pay-as-we-go model, we don’t have to invest a lot of capital to try out a new idea.”<br />The company also can be more agile in responding to advertisers’ requests. “With Windows Azure, we can expand to include different revenue opportunities in response to advertisers’ changing needs,” says Gable. <br />Greater Relevance<br />Perhaps the greatest benefit for Tribune is that its new repository helps the company make its product more relevant for consumers. “We’re providing access to a wealth of information without the limitations of the medium. Content can be consumed from an online application, it can be consumed from a mobile application, and it can be tailored. Being able to push more relevant information in a meaningful, thoughtful manner will help us stay competitive in this changing market,” says Gable.<br />That relevance applies to advertising, too. “We can use demographic data to target ads to the individuals who are most likely to be interested in them,” explains Gable. “That’s appealing to our advertisers because they’re reaching the people they want to reach. It’s appealing to consumers because they’re getting information about what they’re interested in. And it helps us from an overall revenue standpoint because, if we’re able to deliver more relevant advertisements, advertisers will make bigger ad purchases.”<br />Software and ServicesWindows Azure PlatformWindows AzureBlob StorageWindows Azure Content Delivery NetworkMicrosoft Server Product PortfolioMicrosoft FAST Search Server 2010 for Internet BusinessThis case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published June 2010For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.comFor more information about Tribune Company products and services, call (312) 222-9100 or visit the website at: www.tribune.comAdditional Resources:Training: Channel9 Windows Azure Training CourseDownload: Windows Azure Training KitDownload: Windows Azure SDK White paper: Security Best Practices for Developing on the Windows Azure PlatformWindows Azure Platform<br />The Windows Azure platform provides an excellent foundation for expanding online product and service offerings. The main components include:<br />Windows Azure. Windows Azure is the development, service hosting, and service management environment for the Windows Azure platform. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centers.<br />Microsoft SQL Azure. Microsoft SQL Azure offers the first cloud-based relational and self-managed database service built on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 technologies.<br />Windows Azure platform AppFabric. With Windows Azure platform AppFabric, developers can build and manage applications more easily both on-premises and in the cloud.<br />AppFabric Service Bus connects services and applications across network boundaries to help developers build distributed applications.<br />AppFabric Access Control provides federated, claims-based access control for REST web services.<br />Microsoft quot;
Dallas.quot;
Developers and information workers can use the new service code-named Dallas to easily discover, purchase, and manage premium data subscriptions in the Windows Azure platform.<br />To learn more about the Windows Azure platform, visit: www.windowsazure.com<br />