FirstOnSite Restoration L.P.
The Challenge: Quickly Integrate 6 Different Organizations in 28 Locations Under a Single Shared System
After several significant corporate acquisitions in 2008, FirstOnSite Restoration needed to quickly integrate six different organizations in 28 locations across Canada; from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. For one thing, they had to have the IT infrastructure in place to ensure the availability of their 24/7 emergency services. They needed to roll out a centralized enterprise resource planning (ERP) and job costing system as well as incorporate the email domains for each entity under one system. They had to bring together more than 450 users and their data across Canada utilizing multiple platforms without replacing all their equipment. What is more, they needed an IT solution that could scale easily since they anticipated integrating over 43 sites and 600 users by 2009.
The Solution: Virtualize Data Centre Resources and Centralize System Management with the IT Weapons Cloud
FirstOnSite required a cost-effective, centrally managed, and scalable Data Centre solution that enabled access to their business applications from anywhere. They had an aggressive timeline of less than three months; knowing full well that a project of this scope can take up to six months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, by leveraging the IT Weapons Cloud Computing infrastructure FirstOnSite was given an entire Data Centre environment—including virtualized desktops, servers, storage, and a fully managed network, in just one week.
The IT Weapons Cloud quickly afforded FirstOnSite a fully scalable, on demand, standardized infrastructure delivery system. Crucial to the solution’s success was the introduction of VMware’s Virtual Infrastructure product suite; allowing FirstOnSite to virtualize over 70% of their server needs immediately. With Citrix’s application delivery system running on Microsoft Windows Server software, FirstOnSite employees across Canada were given simple and secure access to a centralized desktop environment. The company now had a platform to connect all their users with Microsoft Exchange 2007 for email and implement a shared ERP and job costing system.
Solution Snapshot
• IT Weapons Cloud Architecture
-VMware Infrastructure 3; pending upgrade to vSphere 4.0
-Citrix XenApp 4.5; pending migration to XenDesktop 4.0
-Fully Managed Canada wide WAN
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 & 2008
• Microsoft Exchange 2007
On Demand Infrastructure for Turn-Key Scalability
FirstOnSite’s long-term vision is to continue acquiring new sites across Canada, roll out each of their data and application suites, and integrate the growing number of new users into the system. With a centrally managed and standardized Citrix application delivery system—developed and managed by IT Weapons—FirstOnSite’s mergers and acquisitions group now looks at their IT infrastructure as an enabler for corporate growth. This stands in sharp contrast to the traditional perception that introducing new users and rolling out applications are expensive anchors, hindering a company’s ability to integrate new acquisitions efficiently.
IT Weapons Offers Strong Foundation for Outsourced Infrastructure Management
FirstOnSite was attracted to IT Weapons’ Proactive Infrastructure Management services because they wanted their IT team to focus on business intelligence and end user optimization, rather than infrastructure ‘plumbing’. With IT Weapons’ 24 hour real-time view of FirstOnSite’s system assets, their internal IT team can be sure that any early symptoms of trouble are mitigated before a problem becomes severe. The remote system monitoring and management done by IT Weapons makes great business and operational sense for multi-site organizations like FirstOnSite. They no longer need to ensure they have IT staff available to troubleshoot at every location. In the end, FirstOnsite gains around the clock access to expert technical knowledge and market-leading solutions, enabling them to grow smoothly and increase their profitability.
Fully Managed, Low-Cost Network Connectivity
Since FirstOnSite is such a geographically dispersed and time-sensitive company, a robust and stable network is essential to their operations. As a CRTC regulated telecom reseller, IT Weapons provides highly redundant, centralized route points that allow FirstOnSite to choose the most cost-efficient private WAN provider site by site. The IT Weapons Data Centre then routes those WAN providers for them. This eliminates the need for FirstOnSite to purchase costly links from each site’s local telecom providers in order to access their Data Centre resources. They rely on IT Weapons to deliver and manage all network connectivity; ensuring they receive low-cost, high-availability access to their data and applications from anywhere across Canada.
A Lower TCO and Greener Operations
By virtualizing their server workloads in the IT Weapons Data Centre, FirstOnSite has saved over $15,000 in energy costs alone. They’ve reduced the annual energy consumption of their Data Centre equipment from over 80,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to less than 8,000 kWh per year. And since they’ve radically reduced the number of physical components, they’ve reduced their CO2 emissions by at least 13 tons annually. By tapping into the IT Weapons Cloud infrastructure, FirstOnSite also avoids the regular maintenance and management of costs for nearly all hardware and software. They’ve also virtually eliminated the need to forecast large refresh expenses or maintain cash reserves to cover unexpected equipment replacement. They are keeping their IT operations leaner and greener.
FirstOnSite Restoration is Canada’s largest independent disaster restoration company. They provide unsurpassed emergency response, restoration and reconstruction services to the insurance industry, residential, commercial and industrial customers. With coast-to-coast coverage and 24/7 emergency service, they offer a wide range of services that remediate conditions caused by fires, floods, winds, mould, environmental hazards, accidents and other casualties at any type of facility.