Retail Assist wins Data Centre hosting and technical services contract

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Retail Assist wins Data Centre hosting and technical services contract.

Retail-only solutions and services provider, Retail Assist, is providing Data Centre hosting, 24 x 7 operations monitoring, technical services and support for Paperchases server infrastructure including the IBM I-Series machine which is running Retail Assists Merret supply chain solution, and a disaster recovery service for the I-Series.

As Retail Assists Managed Services Director, Dan Smith, comments:  This contract is another example of an existing client deepening its relationship with us.  Having demonstrated the value of our Merret supply chain solution, we worked with Paperchase to identify further areas where we could enhance its operations and underpin its growth plans.

Prior to making the move to Retail Assists Data Centre, Paperchases technical infrastructure was supported internally at its Head Office.  Its own facilities were not subject to the latest environmental controls and 24 x 7 monitoring was not practical.  The lack of a DR service was felt to be a business risk, plus machine space was costly.

Paperchases confidence in Retail Assist came from a strong track record of working together.  It also acknowledged the providers experience in supporting specialist I-Series and Wintel environments, and in monitoring overnight schedules, particularly for its own Merret software.

Neil Plaistowe is Head of IT at Paperchase.  He explains: Our internal IT team had other strategic demands to meet.  We saw the benefit of not being burdened with day-to-day operational responsibility for our hardware platforms, at the same time as gaining a more stable environment.

Retail Assist project-managed the transition project to relocate the existing servers to its own Northampton Data Centre, including disaster recovery testing for the I-Series.  All elements are now located with a purpose-built machine-housing environment, which is constantly monitored and maintained according to ISO20000 procedures.

Continues Neil Plaistowe: The business did not suffer from any service disruption.  In fact, the transition was completely seamless to our user community.

The new infrastructure is supporting two head office locations, the Distribution Centre and 130 stores.  In addition to providing greater stability and resilience plus less system downtime and service disruption, it is releasing the internal IT team to focus on Business Change requests and project implementations.

Neil Plaistowe concludes: The new infrastructure comes with a lower cost of ownership but delivers greater productivity.  Its scalable and flexible and makes us more agile as a business.

Paperchase is the UKs undisputed retail brand leader in design-led stationery.  The company has a 30-year trading history and now has 130 UK outlets and an extensive store-opening programme in the USA.  Paperchase trades nationwide from its own stores and also through concessions in Borders Books and Music, and in selected House of Fraser and Selfridges stores.