SEMI Switches CDN Providers to Achieve 100% Uptime in China and Reduce Cloud Acceleration Costs Globally

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
• Networks & Connectivity - Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

• Business Operation

• Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
• System Integration

SEMI, a global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries, faced multiple challenges with its website infrastructure. The organization had to reduce its IT staff by 75% due to a reduced IT budget, stretching the remaining staff to support multiple proprietary systems and manage their delivery via their twenty-six multilingual websites. SEMI’s IT leaders had to find a way to simplify their IT infrastructure and deliver a quality user experience around the world. Another challenge was improving the reliability and performance of its China website as China grew in global economic significance to the industries that SEMI serves. The cost of hosting replicated versions of its websites in Hong Kong was prohibitively expensive and it still would have left SEMI’s content residing outside China’s “Great Firewall.”

SEMI is the global industry association serving the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries. These industries total nearly $50 billion in annual revenue. SEMI.org has grown significantly in popularity since the website was initially launched, expanding to become twenty-six unique websites that support market development and advocacy initiatives in the major electronics manufacturing regions around the world. SEMI counts monthly website page views in the range of 4 million to 7 million, depending on industry developments and the timing of the organization’s different initiatives. As with most industries, the global electronics industry has faced significant challenges in recent years due to slowing economies around the world. With a strong pulse on the markets it serves, SEMI anticipated challenging market conditions and began to focus on ways to gain cost efficiencies in its operations while continuing to expand its member services.

SEMI's team chose CDNetworks as their service provider. CDNetworks offered the combination of a local China presence, expertise with Chinese Internet regulations, and global presence in all the world regions that SEMI targeted for business development and advocacy. CDNetworks was able to deliver dynamic applications and content worldwide, allowing SEMI to rationalize its Web hosting to one provider. The provider works hand-in-hand with CDNetworks to accelerate the twenty-six SEMI sites globally. Since the Web hosting provider has considerable Drupal deployment expertise, SEMI leverages an easy-to-understand, inexpensive, and outsourced three-tier architecture. Additional savings and simplification have come from SEMI’s ability to fold its China website onto the Drupal WCM environment.

• SEMI has achieved 100% uptime for its China site.
• SEMI has achieved its initial goals and realized several unforeseen benefits.
• SEMI has rationalized its Web hosting to one provider.

• Reduced CDN costs by 60% by improving service flexibility & visibility
• Achieved 100% website uptime worldwide