C A S E S T U D Y secured access areas and perimeter protection. Our Disaster Recovery capabilities had kept me awake at night, but I could finally sleep easily. The visit also underscored the fact that our data is physically stored in the UK, which is key to retaining data sovereignty.”
Looking ahead, Curtis is considering whether to back up his virtual servers to Node4’ s Wakefield facility.“ Presenting options like this to the board demonstrates I’ m always thinking a step ahead and offering new ideas to improve our redundancy.”
Simplified, unified security
Node4’ s VDC also makes it easy to establish and control default security settings.“ That matters because our parent company has its own security team and it passes those policies to us for implementation,” said Curtis.“ When that happens, we can roll out security updates to existing machines as they’ re needed and update templated security settings for new virtual servers.”
Stronger security and improved MPLSbased connectivity also make remote working more viable.“ Aprolis UK has a distributed workforce,” Curtis noted.“ But we were tethered to our desks. The VDC and supporting connectivity changed that. Now, you don’ t need to be in Doncaster to work on files from the Doncaster server; you can access them quickly and securely from anywhere in the country just by connecting to the VPN. This makes for a much more efficient and agile workforce.”
Faster integration of acquired companies
The ability to quickly bring new virtual servers online has made it easier for Curtis and his team to integrate newly acquired companies into the Aprolis UK group.“ It used to take around three to six months,” he recalled.“ However, now that Node4 provides the connectivity and the centralised VDC, migrations are completed in a matter of weeks.
“ That’ s where centralised policies, firewalls and security settings all really come into play. But integration isn’ t just about systems and processes; it’ s so much better for everyone if this procedure happens quickly and new employees can start to feel they’ re part of the company,” he said.
Cost and efficiency savings
Asked to identify cost savings from the project, Curtis explained that his new virtualised server environment freed him from expensive five-year server purchase and refresh cycles – making budgeting and forecasting far easier.
“ We’ ve saved money by maintaining high-quality, responsive IT support with the same-sized team, even though the company continues to grow,” said Curtis.“ Reducing our physical server estate by around two-thirds – from 88 to 24 – means we don’ t have to make as many site visits, which frees up a significant amount of our time. Eventually, that need will vanish entirely, but it’ s already made our department far more productive.”
Looking to the future
When asked about how he thinks the project will evolve, Curtis explained that he’ s keen to explore the potential for AI deployments.“ I’ d like to focus on areas that would benefit customers
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