Paytronix migrates 250 million unique customer profiles to Microsoft Azure within two hours

If you’ve ever ordered food online, bought or redeemed a gift card, or signed up for a restaurant loyalty program, then you’ve probably interacted with a Paytronix client. Founded in Massachusetts in 2001, Paytronix is a guest engagement company that provides software solutions for loyalty programs, online ordering, mobile experiences, and gift cards. With daily activity consisting of tens of millions of transactions from more than 250 million unique users, Paytronix has significant data requirements.

As larger brands turned to Paytronix for guest engagement solutions, the company needed a more scalable, cloud-based solution and chose Microsoft Azure from its trusted, longtime relationship with Microsoft. Working shoulder to shoulder with the Microsoft Unified Support team, Paytronix planned its move to Azure and aligned the project goals to grow business in global markets, bolster security measures, and modernize technology offerings—all without client disruption. After six months of careful planning and dedicated support, Paytronix migrated its data to Azure in under two hours.

“Microsoft’s level of service for a project this large brought my team great peace of mind. Its careful planning and collaboration ensured a seamless migration,” says Stefan Kochi, Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of Paytronix.

Opening the door for innovation

Paytronix built its first tech stack on the Microsoft SQL Server in 2001. Though this solution was sufficient at the time, Paytronix was quickly taking on larger brands with greater demands for data. It soon became clear that the company needed to upgrade its technology. “A cloud-based solution was the most innovative option,” says Kochi. “Data is the lifeblood of our company. We needed technology that would support its growth, and the cloud afforded that kind of flexibility. With Azure, Paytronix is building the guest engagement software of the future, helping brands deliver on their promises.”

Paytronix relied on Microsoft to fulfill its creative vision and expand its capacities through Azure. “Paytronix is proud of our decades-long relationship with Microsoft. With that foundation in place, Azure was an easy choice,” says Kochi. “We are incredibly thankful for our partnership. Microsoft facilitates our work every day.”

Providing a seamless data migration for 250 million user accounts

Paytronix needed a provider that could conduct a migration without interruption. “Every day, we power tens of millions of transactions for our clients in the restaurant and convenience store space,” says Pamela Robertson, Chief Marketing Officer at Paytronix. “And guests expect every single experience to be seamless and personalized. We could not afford any significant downtime or uncertainty.”

That’s why Paytronix and Microsoft dedicated months to planning and testing migrations for more than 425 integrations. Over the course of 30 days, Paytronix migrated portions of its data as test cases and gathered insights from each one. By the time of the full migration, plans were well tested and optimized.

Since the migration, Paytronix has reduced technological burdens on management and created value by reducing the cost of tech stack ownership and expanding scalability. With Azure, Paytronix is positioned to carry its legacy in guest engagement software forward.

Improving response times by up to 20%

Speed is essential to Paytronix’s work in guest engagement. When a guest places an order, redeems rewards, or makes a payment, information is processed within milliseconds to provide a convenient, seamless experience.

Since migrating to Azure, Paytronix has improved its operating speeds. “Our overall application programming interface response time has improved by 20%, and our bulk messaging delivery performance has increased by a factor of 10,” says Joseph Goyette, Director of IT Operations at Paytronix. “That’s a fantastic improvement. Additionally, we are using Azure-native services for rapid innovation and faster deployments.”

Azure is also helping Paytronix to increase its global market presence. With the cloud, Paytronix can provide flexible support to clients in every time zone, scheduling and running patches and updates during the client’s preferred time, based on location and hours of operation.

Paytronix enjoys internal time-saving benefits, too. For example, the flexibility and scalability provided by the Azure platform gives the company’s DevOps engineers more time to focus on innovation and automation. Prior to migrating to Azure, deploying new infrastructure could take anywhere from days to weeks. Now, for example, the time required to provision and deploy new infrastructure within Azure is typically measured in minutes or hours.

Using AI to build lasting relationships between brands and guests

Azure has provided Paytronix with AI tools to lead the way into the future of guest engagement. With access to new solutions and technology through Azure OpenAI Service, Paytronix will use new capabilities in data processing and analysis. Other AI offerings, such as Microsoft Copilot, will further enhance productivity and innovation.

Azure OpenAI Service uses cutting-edge tools, such as natural language processing, machine learning models, and advanced algorithms, which help Paytronix to gain more actionable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and trends. The company can use the data comprehension that Azure OpenAI Service provides to personalize the customer experience, offering recommendations, rewards, and promotions that are fine tuned to individual tastes. This means that customers can enjoy a level of service that not only meets their expectations but anticipates their needs, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and growing lifetime value.

“Paytronix has been a longtime leader in leveraging AI within the restaurant and convenience store industries,” says Jeff Hindman, CEO of Paytronix. “Our migration to Azure augments those opportunities by providing the security and headroom to continue innovating in bolder ways. Microsoft has been crucial in our mission to build lasting relationships between brands and guests through data insights and technology.”