Background
Caught Between Time Pressure and an Unstable In-House IT System
An electricity retailer was looking for a high-performance cloud solution that could be ready to migrate the company’s entire IT infrastructure in less than eight weeks. The on-premises IT environment was unstable and lacked redundancy.
Added to this were fixed costs for new hardware: scaling was only possible in increments and required a long lead time due to ordering cycles. The company also lacked the personnel resources for cloud design, one-time implementation efforts, and day-to-day operations.
The company was looking for a partner that could handle the design, migration, and operation all under one roof.
Our Areas of Expertise
- Cloud Services: Highly available VMs in the HAN Cloud, including migration
- Colocation Services: Space for hardware appliances, connected to the cloud via an in-house link
- Managed Services: Operation of the infrastructure up to the virtualization platform, support, and licenses
- Interconnection Services: Network connectivity and operation of the network infrastructure
- Security Monitoring: Shared SIEM/SOC solution for cloud and colocation
Your Added Value
- Clear Timeline: From the Initial Consultation to Go-Live in Less Than Six Weeks
- Flexibly scalable: SLA-based rather than in increments across ordering cycles
- Hybrid operation: Cloud and colocation directly connected
- One point of contact for all services
Solution
Cloud, Colocation, and Networking—All from a Single Source
Less than six weeks passed from the initial meeting to the go-live. The electricity retailer’s IT infrastructure was migrated from GRASS-MERKUR Colocation to the HAN Cloud on short notice.
Highly available and secure VMs run in the cloud, which can be scaled flexibly and based on an SLA. GRASS-MERKUR operates the infrastructure up to the virtualization layer.
Additional colocation space is available for hardware appliances outside the cloud. An in-house link connects them to the cloud, creating a hybrid operation that is also SLA-based. A shared SIEM/SOC solution monitors both the cloud and the colocation environment.
In addition, GRASS-MERKUR handles network connectivity and the operation of the network infrastructure, provides licenses, and offers support for operational and conceptual issues. All services are coordinated through a single organizational point of contact, while direct contacts and support hotlines are available for operational matters.
When cloud, colocation, and networking come from a single source, a migration project becomes reliable operations with one point of contact for everything.
Results
The company's entire IT infrastructure was up and running in the HAN Cloud before the deadline.
The IT infrastructure operates with high availability in the HAN Cloud rather than in a failure-prone in-house environment without redundancy.
New hardware is no longer necessary; capacity scales as needed rather than through ordering cycles with long lead times.
A combined SIEM/SOC solution monitors both the cloud and colocation facilities.
GRASS-MERKUR provides support during the design phase and handles the migration and day-to-day operations, freeing up the internal team to focus on its core business.
Contact
Let’s Talk About Your IT Operations
Tell us about your project — we will get back to you with a concrete assessment.
Direct Line
GRASS-MERKUR GmbH & Co. KG
Rothwiese 5
30559 Hannover
