Doddle , a provider of click-and-collect parcel delivery services, has implemented a cloud-managed network in support of a rapid ongoing expansion into new host locations, and to make sure it plays nice with its partners.
As previously explored by Computer Weekly, Doddle recently implemented a Couchbase NoSQL database to help its staff more easily process information such as parcel status, customer details and specific instructions for the delivery or return of parcels back to retailers.
At the same time, the company, which was founded in 2014 as a joint venture between Network Rail and Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman, is rapidly expanding its business.
It went into 2016 with around 40 locations, mostly at major train stations, and ended it with just over 80. Chief technology officer Gary O’Connor plans to close out 2017 with nearly 1,000 locations thanks to new partnerships with retail chains such as B&Q , Morrisons and Cancer Research UK.
However, during the course of the past 12 months, he found that Doddle’s standard model of operating small concessions within larger transport hub or retail environments was starting to cause it problems from a networking perspective.
“The system we started out with was a web-based system; it always had to be online in each store,” he says.
