THE REQUIREMENT

Improved and simplified central infrastructure to support 57 sites across the UK which would provide greater resilience at no greater cost and a platform to enable future growth.

THE SOLUTION

Installation of a new infrastructure with the virtualisation of 27 servers into three VMWare hosts. Replacement of the back-up system. Full documentation and training to support the in-house IT team.

THE FEEDBACK

"We chose Equanet because of their willingness to work with iNTERTAIN, not forcing a specific solution on us; providing a solution that met our requirements and fitted within our tight budgets. It gives us peace of mind that the solutions specialists at Equanet are always on the end of the phone should we need help and advice"

VIRTUALISATION TO SUPPORT OVER 50 SITES NATIONWIDE

HOSPITALITY ON THE HIGH STREET

iNTERTAIN is one of the leading hospitality companies on the high street with well established brands such as Walkabout (Australian themed bars), Old Orleans (restaurants) and Highlight (comedy venues). The company has 57 sites across the UK plus its Head Office in Borehamwood.

SUPPORTING MULTI SITES VIRTUALLY 

The existing infrastructure consisted of PCs at all 57 sites, 27 servers and 50 PCs at Head Office which use a WAN; all supported by an in-house team of just three IT support staff plus the IT Manager. The team wanted to tailor the central infrastructure to better suit their needs and enable future growth. Yet the driver for the solution would need to be greater resilience at no greater cost than a normal hardware refresh.

The company originally had a policy of refreshing its hardware every three years when warranties ran out. However, when the majority of the servers were coming to the end of life, iNTERTAIN took the opportunity to look at new solutions on the market. These would potentially allow them to consolidate their IT infrastructure, and one of these was Virtualisation.

As an existing supplier of hardware and software to iNTERTAIN, Equanet was invited alongside other reseller / service providers to quote for the project.

Equanet started the process by undertaking a capacity planning exercise to assess whether the existing equipment could be virtualised, and how this could work alongside new equipment virtually. To do this a specialist piece of software was installed onto iNTERTAIN's network so that all 27 servers could be monitored 24/7 for a month. In this way Equanet was able to show the IT team at iNTERTAIN in a simple format which resources were being over and under-utilised, highlighting short-term fixes and future opportunities.

The solution proposed by Equanet was the most cost-effective and flexible for what iNTERTAIN wanted to achieve. It encompassed virtualisation, servers, storage and software licensing. A brand new infrastructure was installed, and the existing infrastructure of iNTERTAIN's newer servers was used to host the virtualised platform. 27 servers were virtualised into 3 VMWare hosts which now run the main server infrastructure. They are fully resilient and highly available with no single point of failure.

“In a virtual environment you can have a new server in five minutes. It gives you the ability to expand at no extra cost” Paul Szelesi, Solutions Architect, Equanet.

Through Equanet's buying power as part of DSG Retail Ltd, the hardware was supplied at a very competitive price. As Nigel Guttridge, iNTERTAIN's Venue Systems Manager, explains:

“Our Account Manager was very flexible and helpful. He provided a value for money solution for the requirement we identified”.

The back-up system was replaced at the same time as the servers, and back-ups are now faster and easier to manage. How the system was set up and configured was documented in detail at the time it was being done, so that should there be a problem post installation, the in-house IT team at iNTERTAIN would know how to resolve it. In addition, Equanet completed training for the IT team in how to convert new machines into virtual machines.

Paul Szelesi, one of Equanet's Solutions Architects, explains the service:

"We like to visit our clients on site to effectively review their IT requirements, not just for today but also for future growth. For iNTERTAIN we re-purposed three of their existing servers so they didn't need to buy new ones. We trained the in-house IT team so they were not reliant on a third party. No two clients are the same in their requirements."

"We always aim to deliver the right solution to meet each individual client's business drivers. We believe we offer an unparalleled service and we have the ability to deliver the expected results”.

CONTINUING TO SUPPORT AND ADD VALUE

Equanet continues to support iNTERTAIN’s IT team daily over the phone, which gives the team added reassurance.

Equanet is now working with iNTERTAIN's IT team to explore different aspects of the virtualisation technology, such as testing environments and life cycle management to enhance what they already have.

HOW EQUANET CAN SUPPORT YOUR ORGANISATION

 Our Solutions Architects will visit you on-site and undertake a capacity plan and business modelling to review and assess your existing IT infrastructure. Our team of specialist advisors will discuss your requirements for today, and for tomorrow. If one visit is not sufficient we will come back to ensure a full understanding of your IT needs.

Our review will identify where your equipment is over- or under-utilised, and how your IT infrastructure can best support the overall needs of your organisation. By exploring with you the technologies available our Solutions Architects will help you find the right solution, recommend long and short-term fixes, and identify future opportunities.

Equanet is vendor neutral, with the highest level of accreditation from IT leading partners such as HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Dell and Apple, so you can be assured that the solution we design is the right one for your requirements.

And as part of DSG Retail Ltd our buying power means we will recommend the most cost-effective option to match your budget. 

Once the right solution has been agreed we will deliver the hardware at a time convenient to you. Our engineers can install on-site, or simply support your in-house IT team. We can also train your team in the new technology or support you remotely with access to knowledgeable professionals.

We can offer full project management support through our PRINCE 2 accredited team, and our Account Managers will continue to support your needs and ensure you are happy with the solution implemented.