Increasing the stability and economic efficiency of IT systems' operation, greater flexibility for the branch office network's possible growth, obtaining security standards.
Customer profile
FIEGE has been operating in the Czech market since 1995. It currently manages over 100,000 m2 of warehouse space in four locations and employs more than 500 people. Its key service is the provision of contract (warehouse) logistics. It focuses mainly on textile and footwear logistics, industrial and production logistics, tyre logistics, or non-food fast-moving goods. A key competitive advantage is the provision of reverse logistics and a range of value-added services. It offers domestic distribution and international transport, both truck, air and sea. It develops logistics concepts for its customers, which are tailored to their specific needs.
Implementation 2018
I not only appreciate the quality of services provided by DataSpring, but also the friendly and open communication. During our projects, DataSpring provided us with various recommendations, including how to improve security in the company, and how to implement web filtering within best practices. DataSpring listens to its customers and wants to provide the best for them. Thank you.
Ján Koč
IT MANAGER
Initial situation and project goals
It was important to find a solution that would meet security standards and maintain interconnections across the entire company, but with a similar financial cost to the previous supplier. A key factor was the maximum efficiency of the final work of all employees. The main goal was to "have everything in one place". The availability of the necessary technologies, the proposed SLA, and the price of the service ensured that the solution offered by DataSpring was chosen. One of the main objectives was to make the company's costs of running IT services as efficient as possible, while maintaining security standards and simplifying the work and communication for all employees.
The company decided to opt for the virtual data centre operation concept and change access to infrastructure operation. The main perceived benefits of the solution were the increased stability of IT systems operation, gaining greater flexibility associated with the growth of branch network, and allowing IT departments to focus on the needs of higher layers of systems. Another benefit was the acquisition of the necessary security standards that are required from companies as a part of GDPR.
Benefits
- Increasing the stability and economic efficiency of IT systems
- Greater flexibility in increasing capacity as the network grows
- GDPR compliant security standards
- Custom MPLS connections
Description of the solution
The first step in the transition to the new concept was to move the applications that had previously run on the company’s own obsolete servers to the DataSpring cloud environment. This step ensured the operation of the infrastructure in the data centre with Tier III certification, and the need for flexible computing power on the virtualization platform. The individual branches already access the cloud environment and, as a result, the load of the lines in the central location is also reduced. Part of the services provided by DataSpring is the collection of data from client-side devices, the further analysis of which aims to prevent problems and potential threats from the internal network environment.
The next step was to change the original branch WAN network to MPLS technology with a central Firewall with UTM functions. The central internet access point provides DDoS protection in the entire perimeter, while the central firewall ensures easier management of security policies and faster rollup of the branch network. Other functionalities, such as IPS and web filtering, increase the security of users' access to the external environment. The transition to supported VPN connection platforms have also proved successful; the original openVPNs were a source of frequent errors and were difficult to manage.
A completely new network setup and the transfer of all digital content, services and software to the cloud proved to be a suitable solution to these problems. This also minimized the security risk, simplifying users' work with files and internal programs.
The first phase of the project addressed the establishment of access to a virtual data centre (VDC) for all Fiege employees in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, access via VPN, more efficient file sharing, rights setting, and GPO application or shared print server. The second phase brought MPLS connectivity (more stable connectivity towards VDC and to the parent company) and better management of all end devices. The goal was to connect all branches into one easily managed "big company".
The implementation took place from January to September 2017, the second phase - creation of an MPLS connection between DataSpring, České radiokomunikace and Fiege - began in May 2018. All these steps were planned in advance – and the planned budget and schedule were met. Technical support for potential problems was always addressed in advance. The realization of the project would not have been possible without active cooperation from employees on the client's side. Their main role was the complete configuration of systems, and the physical involvement of active elements in all locations – including configuration. DataSpring then participated in the smooth transition from the old infrastructure to the new one, so that any outages would not affect the Fiege business or its customers.
Provided services:
- Iaas - Infrastructure as a service - Resource pool
- Housing
- Connectivity - MPLS peering, Internet
- BaaS - Backup as a service
- Security - VDC, Webfiltering, IPS, LogDock Advanced, DDos Guard
Used technologies
- Cisco
- HP
- Dell
- CommVault
- Microsoft
- VMware
- Fortinet
- IBM
