GoGoPin is a Seattle-based start-up that uses technology to allow their customers to Express their thoughts and creativity online using rich internet applications.
Their approach has been to build a simple-to-use drag and drop browser based interface that allows non technical end users to build applications or other interactive content such as advertisements for Craigslist and eBay, or to add rich interaction to Instant Messaging sessions.
GoGoPin additionally provides all-in-one business solutions for their customers, creating and hosting web presences with a simple RIA-based administration.
In order to meet their business goals ,GoGoPin turned to the Microsoft Web Platform for scalability, security and best-of-breed tools and technologies that allow them to deliver the best possible User Experience to their customers.
Infrastructure and operational choices
For their infrastructure and Web hosting, GoGoPin chose the Microsoft Web Platform, running Windows Server and Internet Information Services (IIS). "We needed a platform that could provide us with excellent flexibility, stability, and security. But more importantly, we needed a platform that would just let us get things done—without having to worry about lots of configuration details or extensive maintenance," Says Danny Chun, CEO of GoGoPin.
Using the Windows Server platform, GoGoPin were able to deliver GoGoPin Business a site that allows end-users to create their own business websites very quickly without any computer expertise. Sites built on GoGoPin Business provide scalable functionality including video conferencing, sales support, online administration tools and social networking.
"We chose to run GoGoPin Business on the Microsoft Web Platform because of the easy integration with the rest of our infrastructure. We also liked the significant advantage we received from using Microsoft's tightly integrated web and development tools. Microsoft's Web Platform fit perfectly with what we wanted to do on the front-end as well, and has definitely proven its worth time and again," says Danny. GoGoPin’s head engineer.
“I was raised on Linux/Apache—not a Windows guy by any means. But since starting this project with IIS & .NET, I’ve had a complete revelation of the powerful solution Microsoft provides. - Ben Delamare, GoGoPin.”
Distinguishing GoGoPin via User Experience
Core to delivering and distinguishing applications on the internet is a great User Experience (UX), and for their UX, GoGoPin turned to Microsoft Silverlight technology.
“For us, a great advantage was the fact that Microsoft tools are best-of-breed and Visual Studio 2008 is by far the best development IDE for developers and because most of our developers had experience with .NET and C# and it was definitely a plus. - Danny, GoGoPin.”
Cost Effectiveness through flexibility
The ability to utilize .NET on both the client and server side significantly eased the development of GoGoPin's applications. As .NET code is consistent across every tier of a multiple tier architecture, they were able to create a library of common classes and utilities that could be shared without any additional effort.
"Any time we needed to make changes it would be instantly updated for both our IIS and Silverlight applications. Only an all-Microsoft software stack would allow us to have that kind of integration. Any time we can share code across tiers like that it literally cuts the amount of work required in half," says Danny.
Summary
GoGoPin is part of the new breed of Web development companies. With relatively few people and a low budget they are able to build a professional, scalable service for their end users. Core to this was their strategic investment in Microsoft technologies.
