Private cloud fixes Achilles' heel - Softcat

Case StudyPrivate cloud fixes Achilles’ heelAchillesAchilles is one of the world’s leading managersof supplier information. Their range of web-basedservices identify, qualify, evaluate and monitorsuppliers on behalf of buyers’ organisationsworldwide. Achilles builds unique communitiesspanning a wide range of industry sectors, so thatorganisations can manage their supply chainseffectively, reduce risk and improve data qualityand consistency.The ChallengeFollowing successive outages of their legacy Microsoft Exchange emailenvironment, Achilles decided that they could no longer tolerate thelost productivity this resulted in. Supporting 1600 mailboxes acrossthe globe in 18 different locations, the business is fast paced andreliant on its IT systems to deliver services back to its own customers.The impacts of the outages were starting to impinge on the delivery ofthose services.David Harris, Infrastructure Manager at Achilles explains “the emailsystem was based on Exchange 2003, which is really a legacyplatform now, and the infrastructure it was operating on was prettyold too. The outages we were experiencing were starting to becomea recurring problem and whilst each time we fixed things, it simply feltlike a sticking plaster and that something more catastrophic could bejust round the corner”.Key Facts• One of the world’s leadingmanagers of supplier information• 20 year heritage• Working with over 700 of theworld’s largest companies• Connecting with over 55,000suppliers• Responsible for 32 buyer andsupplier communities worldwideacross a range of industriesAchilles had partnered with Softcat for some time so naturallyconsulted with them on what the options might be for upgradingthe environment. Whilst simply migrating to newer systems was theSoftcat | Fieldhouse Lane | Marlow | Buckinghamshire | SL7 1LWW: www.softcat.com | T: 01628 403 403 | E: managedservices@softcat.com

obvious answer, Achilles really wanted to devolve the day-to-dayresponsibility for the new environment as well. David Harris says“having had so much time wrapped up in maintaining the previoussystem I felt we really needed to pass-on the responsibility altogetherfor managing the new system. We’d successfully worked with otherthird parties on things like cloud based spam and content filtering, soputting the hosting and management of the system into the cloud feltlike a natural next step”.Leveraging the new capabilities of Microsoft Exchange 2010 was atthe heart of Achilles’ requirements. As such they set about evaluatinga variety of options for a cloud solution, including Microsoft Office365, but were put off by the limitations of a public cloud service.Specifically Achilles wanted the reassurance that the new platformwould integrate with their other core business systems, so flexibility totailor and modify the service would be essential.The SolutionThe service Softcat proposed would be delivered from their Tier 3ISO270001 certified datacentre in London. Based on MicrosoftExchange 2010, the new email solution would be hosted on infrastructurebuilt and provisioned exclusively for Achilles. Using a variety of worldclasstechnologies including next generation HP server technology, thelatest HP 3PAR storage, VMware virtual infrastructure, Cisco switching,Checkpoint security, Veeam enterprise management and F5 loadbalancing a stable, robust and scalable foundation would be createdfor Achilles’ current and future growth needs. Everything would then bemanaged 24x7x365 from Softcat’s Network Operations Centre (NOC).Critical Success Factors• Experienced third partyto manage entire emailinfrastructure• To be delivered as a cloud-basedservice• Provide utmost flexibility tointegrate with other core businesssystems• To be delivered as quickly aspossibleSolutions Highlights• Services delivered from Tier3 ISO 270001 accrediteddatacentre• 24x7x365 Service Desk• Next generation HP server andstorage infrastructure hostingVMware virtual machines• Cutting edge networking andsecurity technology from Ciscoand Checkpoint• Veeam Enterprise ManagementSoftcat | Fieldhouse Lane | Marlow | Buckinghamshire | SL7 1LWW: www.softcat.com | T: 01628 403 403 | E: managedservices@softcat.com