A CG/VFX talent marketplace
AWS-validated reference — full details available to AWS Partner Validation or on request. (Customer name held on file with VeUP.)
VeUP rebuilt the customer content-delivery plane on Amazon CloudFront, migrating the customer.com off Strapi on AWS Amplify to WordPress on Amazon Lightsail — DNS/SSL cutover with rollback, WordPress-tuned edge caching, AWS WAF hardening, improved Core Web Vitals, and reduced third-party (Algolia) cost.
The challenge
the customer, a CG/VFX talent marketplace, ran the customer.com on a Strapi frontend on AWS Amplify and needed to modernize onto a maintainable WordPress platform without losing public-site performance — while controlling third-party (Algolia) search cost and hardening the edge — through a controlled cutover with a safe rollback path.
The solution
A two-phase Amazon CloudFront CDN rebuild and modernization. Phase 1 cut the frontend over to a new/updated Amazon CloudFront distribution with a WordPress origin on Amazon Lightsail and WordPress-appropriate cache behaviors, provisioned AWS Certificate Manager SSL with Amazon Route 53 DNS validation, and executed a controlled Route 53 DNS/SSL cutover retaining AWS Amplify as a rollback buffer. Phase 2 hardened the edge — dynamic page caching to mitigate Algolia cost, a caching-architecture review, Lambda@Edge response handling, Core Web Vitals performance optimization, AWS WAF security hardening against bots/abuse, and CDN usage/cost control — monitored with Amazon CloudWatch.
Architecture
Previous-state Strapi-on-Amplify stack modernized to a WordPress-on-Lightsail origin behind a rebuilt Amazon CloudFront edge, annotated against the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
Production outcomes
| KPI | Result |
|---|---|
| Production outcomes | the customer.com is served in production through the rebuilt Amazon CloudFront distribution over a WordPress on Lightsail origin, with AWS WAF protection and HTTPS-only delivery. Core Web Vitals improved via the rebuilt edge and WordPress-tuned caching, and dynamic page caching reduced third-party (Algolia) search request volume and cost. The granular before/after Core Web Vitals and Algolia-cost series are customer-tenant artifacts provided to AWS Partner Validation via the standard customer-reference channel. |
| Engagement window | 2024-10-01 (Resell Customer Live; migration delivery 2024–2025) → 2025 (CloudFront rebuild + Phase 2 hardening delivered); ongoing |
| Cost / TCO posture | Cost levers: dynamic page caching at the CloudFront edge cut third-party (Algolia) request volume and cost; Lightsail capacity right-sizing and CDN usage/cost control kept infra spend (~$30k/yr, ~$2,525/mo) in line. Realized $/% figures are held in the customer's AWS account / billing. |
| Lessons & continuation | A CloudFront rebuild with an Amplify rollback buffer makes a CMS migration cutover low-risk; absorbing repeat requests at the edge (dynamic page caching) is a direct lever on third-party search cost; WAF managed rules belong in front of a public marketplace from the cutover. |
Amazon CloudFront · Amazon Lightsail · AWS Certificate Manager · Amazon Route 53 · AWS WAF · Amazon CloudWatch · Lambda@Edge