Computer Associates (CA) has supplied an enterprise management solution for BT’s new data centre in Belfast as part of a deal valued at over €350,000. This enables BT to cut costs, reduce complexity, and improve the security and management of the infrastructure held for its high-profile corporate customers throughout Ireland.
Gerry Robinson, managed services and hosting manager, BT Northern Ireland: “CA’s integrated product set and advanced reporting tools enable us to provide leading service level agreements to our customers. We now have a more scalable platform to add customers quickly and seamlessly, allowing us to continue growing our data centre at a fast pace. On top of this, our server management bills are down by 30pc with savings being passed on to customers.”
BT provides managed hosting and co-location services for over 100 high-profile corporate and government customers in Northern Ireland. As part of a stg£1.4m recent upgrade of its Belfast data centre, BT has invested €350,000 in CA’s products and services over the last year enhancing its overall service to its customers.
The scalable and flexible solution includes CA’s Unicenter Service Desk and eTrust Security Command Centre (SCC). These integrated systems provide automated and streamlined infrastructure management. With reduced overheads and server management bills down by almost a third, cost savings are being re-invested in improved levels of service for customers.
CA’s solution allows BT to proactively monitor and manage the customer kit that it currently hosts, including remote management for some customers’ systems.
A centralised viewing platform provides a holistic overview for BT’s network operations team. With 24×7 proactive management, BT can ensure highest levels of security and availability for hosted systems. Regular performance reports and online viewing portals provide customers with added peace of mind.
Many of BT’s customers use the data centre to safely host essential infrastructure such as 24-hour online transaction servers. The advanced security features of CA’s eTrust SCC help to ensure continuity of service. The integrated viewing platform and improved security also helps BT and its customers to meet challenging ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) and ISO security standards.
Frank Kennedy, country manager Ireland, CA, said: “BT hosts some of the most high-profile and high-value companies in Northern Ireland. Its decision to choose Computer Associates to deliver a management system for its data centre is a ringing endorsement of our capabilities. Our enterprise management solutions improve the flexibility, efficiency and operational ability of our clients. As we have seen in BT’s case, it can also deliver an excellent return on investment.”
By John Kennedy
Pictured are Gerry Robinson, managed services and hosting manager, BT Northern Ireland, and Graham Childs, Northern Ireland account manager, Computer Associates
