Nutanix’s enterprise cloud will be the background of the council’s Digital by Design programme, which aims to improve access to services through a new website and make better use of the data the Council holds.
The Nutanix solution consolidates computing, virtualisation and storage into a single - highly scalable and turnkey appliance - replacing the local authority’s ageing legacy SAN architecture which had become slow, inflexible and expensive to operate and maintain.
The new enterprise cloud solution will power the council’s two data centres, which handle disaster recovery and production respectively, while reducing the data centre footprint by 20x with the previous 10 racks condensed to half a rack.
As well as simplifying and consolidating operations and deployment, the move is expected to generate major cost savings and reduce the technical requirements to run, maintain and develop data storage. “Local public services are experiencing significant change and it’s hard to know what services requirements will be over the next five years.” said Stockport Council’s IT Operations Manager, Adrian Davies.
Adrian added; “We need a highly flexible cloud solution that will evolve as the requirements of the Council change. It needs to support potential expansion, collaboration with partners and the demands of new ways of working, all without disruption to services. This is why Nutanix fits the bill.”
In a competitive tender process, the incumbent vendor XMA steered the Council towards the web-scale capabilities of Nutanix, confident that the agility afforded by a configurable network was best-equipped to meet the demands of an unpredictable and evolving public sector environment, defined by tighter budgets, leaner teams and the need to drive efficiencies.
Based on a pay-as-you-grow model, the virtual desktop environment can be scaled up by additional computing modes, a simplicity that negates the use and expense of the specialist teams which managed the previous infrastructure. From swift installation over a few days, the speed and efficiency is further evident in the approach to the data recovery and backup. Previously, a third party would be used to rebuild the server from scratch over five days, a process that now takes just a few hours, which also translates to a major cost saving.
In adopting a web-scale IT approach, more associated with the global cloud services of Google, Amazon and Facebook, the move represents significant new territory for the Council, making it something of a frontrunner among peers. Davies added: “The Council has looked to innovate and break away from the norm in procuring the Nutanix environment. Software defined environments seems to be increasing in popularity and we expect them to gain more mainstream traction in the public sector. Cloud solutions appeal as they break down so many barriers and offer the level of flexibility required during complex change - it’s a big step and a very exciting one.”
Paul Phillips, Regional Director at Nutanix added: “This really exemplifies how a compact solution can make a very big impact, particularly in a challenging public sector environment. It is particularly gratifying to see the solution being harnessed to drive an enhanced, digital offering for residents while providing the reassurance that it can evolve with future demands.”
