Hôpital Fribourgeois modernization: how Happy Coding cut backend wait times by 90% with Upsun

A digital facelift needs a strong foundation

When Hôpital Fribourgeois (HFR) engaged Happy Coding to execute an ambitious UX/UI modernisation, the agency knew the stakes were high. For this leading public hospital network in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, a website is more than a brochure. It is a critical access point for patients, staff, and partners.

The goal for Happy Coding was clear: create a scalable, intuitive, and high-performance digital platform. However, the agency realised that while their visual redesign promised a better patient experience, the underlying legacy infrastructure was failing to support the hospital's operational needs. Happy Coding knew that a beautiful frontend means little if the backend is unusable for the staff who manage it.

When infrastructure slows down care

While Happy Coding focused on delivering a cutting-edge design, they continually ran into the limitations of the existing hosting provider. The friction points were not just technical. They were operational and costly.

The most immediate pain point was backend performance. Hospital staff, responsible for keeping critical health information up to date, faced excruciating delays. Saving a simple form or updating a page took up to 30 seconds. This latency turned routine content management into a tedious, time-consuming chore.

For the engineering team, the frustration stemmed from a lack of transparency and control. Olivier Ritlewski, Senior Digital Consultant and Partner at Happy Coding, described the previous environment as opaque. "We had issues where the production server was actually pointing to staging environments without transparency," he recalls.

Worse, support was a bottleneck. Simple infrastructure tasks required submitting tickets to the hosting provider and waiting for their engineers to execute them. "We lost a lot of time trying to escalate issues," says Ritlewski. "We have the knowledge to fix things, but we didn't have the power/access." The legacy provider’s model forced the agency to rely on expensive, slow external support for tasks they could have handled in minutes with the right tools.

Regaining control with Upsun

Happy Coding needed a platform that matched their agility. They chose Upsun for its developer-centric ethos and "NoOps" capabilities that empower agencies to manage infrastructure as code.

The decision was driven by Ritlewski’s previous success with the platform and a desire for reliability. Unlike the "black box" of the legacy provider, Upsun offered transparency and autonomy. The Upsun platform allowed the agency to define the entire infrastructure, including routes, services, and dependencies, in a single configuration file. This meant Happy Coding could instantly replicate production environments. It ensured that what they tested was exactly what they deployed.

The migration process highlighted the platform's efficiency. "It took just one week of preparation," Ritlewski notes. "The actual switch took about two hours. It was really quick."

Crucially, Upsun provided a sales and support experience that respected the agency's expertise. Instead of generic emails, the Upsun team provided professional, tailored presentations that helped Happy Coding validate the switch to HFR stakeholders. "The salesperson was highly responsive and adapted to the client's needs, which was really helpful," Ritlewski adds.

Speed, autonomy, and peace of mind

The impact of the migration was immediate and tangible for both the agency and the hospital.

Unlocking editor productivity: The most dramatic improvement was in backend performance. The 30-second wait times that plagued the hospital's editorial team vanished. "Now it’s maybe three seconds," says Ritlewski. This 90% reduction in latency transformed the editor experience from "very painful" to fluid and efficient. It allows staff to focus on communication rather than waiting for page loads to complete.

"The 30-second wait times that plagued the hospital's editorial team vanished. Now it’s maybe three seconds." - Olivier Ritlewski, Senior Digital Consultant and Partner, Happy Coding

Empowered engineering: For Happy Coding, the shift to Upsun meant reclaiming their autonomy. The agency no longer needs to wait for a support ticket to clear cache, manage variables, or scale resources. "We can do a lot of things on our own now," Ritlewski explains. "It simplified DevOps by eliminating that overhead reliance on external engineers."

Cost-effective scalability: The move also addressed budget inefficiencies. The bundled services from the previous provider were expensive and often unnecessary for the client's specific needs. This allows the budget to be reallocated toward feature development and innovation rather than dormant hosting fees.

Human support: Perhaps most importantly, the anxiety of "going it alone" is gone. "With some competitors, if you have an issue, there is no person to call," Ritlewski observes. With Upsun, Happy Coding has direct access to expert support that acts as a partner rather than a gatekeeper.

"The migration team was really happy, and that is the ultimate test. If you are looking to modernise, you need to try Upsun. You gain total confidence in the resilience and availability of your platforms." - Olivier Ritlewski, Senior Digital Consultant and Partner, Happy Coding

For digital agencies and enterprise teams, the infrastructure you choose can either be a bottleneck or a catalyst. Upsun empowers you to stop wrestling with legacy hosting limitations and start delivering faster, more reliable digital experiences. By providing full DevOps autonomy, transparent pricing, and performance that delights end-users, Upsun helps you build trust with your clients and keeps your engineering team happy.