About Open House New York
Open House New York (OHNY) is a nonprofit known for hosting a month-long event each year that allows the public to experience New York City’s architecture and design through tours, talks, and educational programs. Although the events stretch out over many weeks, the big surge happens in a single day: when tickets go on sale.
For a nonprofit on a tight budget, this annual ticket sale was both thrilling and stressful. Their site would see massive spikes in traffic, forcing them to keep an expensive hosting plan just to avoid crashes once a year. It was unsustainable, but there didn’t seem to be an alternative. That was until 40Q, a design and development agency, brought in Ymir to help.
A Longtime Partnership, A New Approach
40Q and Ymir had known each other for several years, always keeping an eye out for the right client project that could fully leverage serverless technology. OHNY was the perfect match. Here was an organization “acting like a media company for a month without a media company’s budget,” in desperate need of a scalable yet affordable hosting solution.
True agency partnerships go beyond execution; they turn high-pressure moments into seamless successes. Our war room experience during OHNY’s ticket sale proved this: a dedicated, behind-the-scenes effort that showcased how serverless isn’t just innovation, but a catalyst for success.
– José Debuchy, Founder, 40Q
Ymir specializes in hosting WordPress on AWS Lambda, a serverless compute platform that scales up automatically to handle traffic surges. Rather than paying for idle servers all year, OHNY would only be billed for the resources actually used—cutting down costs significantly during off-peak months.
Laying the Groundwork
Although 40Q is an expert agency, they were relatively new to serverless. This is where Ymir’s role came into focus. Acting as both consultant and infrastructure manager, Ymir set up OHNY’s AWS account, planned for resource usage, and estimated costs. At the same time, the Ymir team mentored 40Q on best practices for serverless WordPress, ensuring the agency could gradually take over day-to-day operations.
One of Ymir’s first moves was to ensure that OHNY could benefit from AWS credit programs for nonprofits. This was critical to easing any budgetary concerns about switching to a usage-based pricing model. With Ymir’s guidance, OHNY successfully applied for and received credits, effectively cushioning them from any unexpected overages while they adapted to serverless hosting.
Ready for the Big Day
As the ticket sale drew near, the teams agreed on a “war room” approach: both Ymir and 40Q stood by in real time to monitor site performance and tackle any issues immediately. While the idea of a war room conjures images of frantic troubleshooting, the day turned out to be remarkably calm. Thanks to Ymir’s architecture on AWS Lambda, the site handled every surge of ticket purchases without a hiccup.
The war room became more of a watch party: the page loads stayed snappy, and the team breathed a sigh of relief. For OHNY, it was a welcome change from the stress of servers teetering on the brink of overload.
The Aftermath: Low Costs, High Confidence
Once the event ended, traffic returned to more typical levels. In the past, OHNY would be stuck paying for a high-cost hosting plan designed for peak loads. But now, they enjoyed the financial relief of usage-based billing. Their AWS environment automatically scaled down, so they paid only for what they used. The credits further reduced any lingering monthly costs, making the entire approach dramatically more affordable.
For 40Q, the project was an education in serverless done right. They not only delivered a successful event for OHNY but also gained the skills and confidence to offer similar solutions to other clients who face unpredictable traffic demands.
Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead
- Serverless Isn’t Just Hype: For spiky traffic events like OHNY’s ticket sale, auto-scaling with AWS Lambda was a game-changer.
- Don’t Fear the Unknown: Usage-based pricing can be scary, especially for nonprofits. However, with the right expertise—and knowledge of available AWS credits—it can be a budget-friendly option.
- Teamwork and Mentorship Matter: The transition to serverless was made smoother by Ymir’s Agency Program, giving 40Q direct access to experienced professionals who could guide them through setup, cost estimation, and best practices.
- Scalable Solutions for All: Even nonprofit organizations can leverage the same cutting-edge architecture as large media companies, provided they have the right partnership and technical support.
Moving forward, OHNY is free to focus on what it does best—celebrating New York City’s architecture and design—without worrying about hosting bills or site crashes. Meanwhile, 40Q and Ymir have proven that a collaborative approach to serverless technology can empower organizations of all sizes to handle traffic spikes while staying within budget.
Take Your Digital Experience to the Next Level with Ymir & 40Q
40Q’s web development and digital strategy expertise, combined with Ymir’s serverless technology, helps organizations like OHNY scale effortlessly while cutting costs. Whether you’re a nonprofit, media company, or any organization with unpredictable traffic, 40Q delivers efficient, cost-effective hosting solutions. Struggling with high hosting costs or performance bottlenecks? 40Q and Ymir provide the expertise and infrastructure to help you scale seamlessly.
Looking for an agency to take your hosting and infrastructure to the next level? Contact 40Q today. If you’re an agency seeking scalable, cost-effective hosting solutions for your clients, connect with us to learn more about the Ymir Agency Program.