YPO
YPO is the largest public sector buying organisation in the UK, and supplies over 30,000 products and 150 service contracts to establishments such as schools, local authorities, charities and emergency services.
YPO is the largest public sector buying organisation in the UK, and supplies over 30,000 products and 150 service contracts to establishments such as schools, local authorities, charities and emergency services.
To support YPO in its ambitions to grow, it was identified that significant investment and attention was required to develop its IT infrastructure. YPO was particularly keen to exploit the benefits of a virtualised IT infrastructure, but embarking on such an ambitious project would require full support from the business and significant funding.
To aid with the rationale and business case creation, YPO recognised the benefits that a consultative partnership with a specialised provider would bring. It needed a partner that understood both the benefits of the technology and how it could be applied to their specific needs as an organisation. It needed a partner that would work collaboratively with the in-house IT team, scope out different solutions for various scenarios, such as capacity, growth and disaster recovery, and formulate a robust solution.
“We were confident that Phoenix Software would successfully deliver this project,” comments Kevin Field, IT Delivery Manager, YPO, “The team are technically-literate and professional, with an explicit understanding of our business needs. They worked very closely with us to develop the business case, working through numerous scenarios and technology choices until we had a compelling and detailed case to present.”
Following a thorough analysis of the proposal, which included independent validation, Phoenix Software was commissioned to virtualise YPO’s IT infrastructure.
Phoenix designed a virtualised IT infrastructure solution which consisted of five Microsoft servers running VMware vSphere and two NetApp SANs for storage. For resilience, Phoenix installed VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) which provides automated orchestration and array-based replication of the YPO’s applications.
Phoenix also implemented the VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite so that YPO could take a more proactive approach to the management of its IT estate and avoid any costly downtime. With vCenter Operations Management Suite installed, YPO is able to monitor the health, risk and efficiency of the virtual infrastructure, operating systems and applications – all from one interface.
This was a key project for the business. Not only was it delivered on-time and on-budget, it exceeded the expectations of both the business and the IT function. Phoenix Software was professional throughout the project, from the initial consultation and scoping of work, right through to the deployment and post-sales support.
Fundamentally, YPO’s new IT infrastructure has given the organisation the foundation on which to grow. The new segregated environment will support further potential IT-enabled projects and will serve the organisation well in the coming years.
The project delivered on all of the anticipated benefits of a virtualised infrastructure, from lowering YPO’s electricity and cooling costs to improving overall capacity significantly. Resource flexibility has also been greatly improved allowing the organisation to deploy new web services or additional server capacity at the touch of a button.
Additionally, by proactively monitoring network performance and utilising in-built disaster recovery and testing features, the combination of VMware’s vCenter Site Recovery Manager and vCenter Operations Management Suite provides a very high grade of resilience and disaster recovery to the entire infrastructure.
“This was a key project for the business. Not only was it delivered on-time and on-budget, it exceeded the expectations of both the business and the IT function. Phoenix Software was professional throughout the project, from the initial consultation and scoping of work, right through to the deployment and post-sales support. We can now confidently say we have the IT infrastructure to support our ambitions to grow from a regional organisation to a truly national player,” concludes Kevin.
Phoenix enables digital transformation in the workplace, empowering UK organisations to innovate and transform with cloud and hybrid infrastructures data, AI, security, and collaboration tools. By understanding the individual goals of its customers, Phoenix delivers remarkable, outcome-focused IT solutions and services that allow UK organisations to make a difference to the lives of their employees, service users, and communities.
Phoenix is a signatory on the Race at Work Charter, and a Disability Confident and Living Wage employer. The company is also actively involved in encouraging more women into the IT industry.
