Global Credit Card Company
New Data Center to Support Campus Expansion
Business Challenge
Our client was experiencing rapid growth and was in the process of doubling the size of the Headquarter Campus. A major problem on the campus was the lack of resilience of the IT infrastructure, which was scattered across a large number of data rooms, closets, and labs – a problem that was likely to worsen with the expansion. In order to make IT services more reliable, the client wanted to create a Tier 3 data center on the campus. Acumen Solutions was engaged to define the architecture of the new data center and supporting infrastructure and to manage the transition of servers and applications into the new data center. A critical requirement was to complete this major undertaking within 18 months without any disruption to business.
The Solution
Acumen Solutions designed the data center and the supporting infrastructure and built a detailed plan for the phased migration of applications and databases to the data center. The end-state platforms included new operating system versions, a consolidated Oracle database environment, and new directory services. A critical component of the migration plan was the establishment of a test lab in which each application and database could be tested on the target hardware, operating system, and middleware platforms, well ahead of migration, allowing remediation and re-testing of the applications and databases to be completed before the date of each migration. Approximately 25% of applications failed the first round of tests and required remediation and re-testing – showing how disruptive the migration might have been if the lab and the testing process had not been incorporated in the plan. In addition to designing the new data center and supporting infrastructure, Acumen Solutions provided training and knowledge transfer to the client’s staff at the end of the 18-month project.
Return on Investment
The creation of the new data center and the migration of applications to the new data center were completed within the 18-month schedule and within the $109 million budget. The goal of performing the migration without disruption to business was achieved as a result are the careful planning of the transition and the thorough testing in the lab of every application and database on the end-state platform, allowing time for remediation and re-testing before migration.
