Upgrading outdated IT infrastructure and streamlining processes can prove to be a significant challenge for any organization. As Australian legal practice Colin Biggers & Paisley began to grow their operations from a boutique practice to one with international reach, their IT needs grew as well. With a small IT team, a legacy server, and storage infrastructure, the firm needed a solution to upgrade their current system efficiently with the goal to move to the cloud in the future.
Outgrowing a Tired, Legacy System
Collin Biggers & Paisley’s legacy core server and storage infrastructure was six years old and at capacity. The infrastructure was challenging to manage and could not add new systems or adapt to varying use cases. As the system came closer to expiration, renewing and upgrading proved to be too costly and inefficient.
In addition to upgrading to a manageable, cost-effective IT solution, the legal practice’s long-term goal included a “cloud first” initiative. To address these concerns and lay the foundation for their vision and secure a solid base for their digital transformation, Colin Biggers & Paisley chose Hyperconvered Infrastructure (HCI) powered by vSAN.
Upgrading to VMware vSAN Powered HCI
The law firm’s key priorities were to have a scalable, reliable, and secure solution that was cost-effective and allowed for real-time data visibility and analysis. In preparing for their digital transformation, the practice approached VMware Solution Provider and Hyperconverged Solution Competency Partner, Focus Group Technologies, to assess their current situation. As an existing VMware vSphere customer, Focus Group Technologies offered a virtual assessment via VMware, where they could identify a detailed inventory of performance. The assessment identified the most scalable, cost-efficient solution to not only address Collin Biggers & Paisley’s concerns but allow for future and scalable growth.
The virtual health assessment results showed HCI powered by vSAN as the best approach in building the law firm’s digital foundation. vSAN powered HCI would allow for a consistent architecture and operational foundation for a future transition to a multi-cloud environment with ease.
In tandem with VMware, Focus Group Technologies implemented vSAN, leveraging a four-node vSAN cluster based on Dell’s VxRail integrated appliance in the main office, reducing their footprint from two racks to only half a rack and vSAN ROBO clusters based on Dell PowerEdge vSAN Ready Nodes were deployed in remote offices (a flexible deployment option available via a single management framework based on vSphere).
Enter: A New Scalable System, Improved Performance and Reduced Costs
Since its implementation, the vSAN solution has revolutionized Colin Biggers & Paisley’s storage management operations. The lean team has been able to reduce the number of hosts needed, resulting in decreased costs. Additionally, the new infrastructure also reduced backup time, enabling more servers to run on the infrastructure than before.
The vSAN solution ensures the critical IT capabilities needed for the legal industry, including document management, access, and information. To protect the sensitive nature of legal work, customers, and employees, vSphere VM Encryption ensures data security.
“As we look towards our goal of being ‘cloud first’ in the future, we’re thrilled to now have the robust infrastructure foundation to support this. With vSAN we now have a consistent architecture and operations to transition to a multi-cloud environment in the future”
– Steven West, Systems Administration Manager, Colin Biggers & Paisley
Alongside the other 30,000 vSAN customers, HCI powered by vSAN enabled a seamless digital transformation for Colin Biggers & Paisley and provided a consistent architecture to eventually transition to the cloud. Hear from more customers here and view the full Collin Biggers & Paisley case study here.
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