By Insight Editor / 5 Aug 2022 / Topics: As a service Migration Consulting services
Facts at a glance
Client industry
Government
Challenge
Restabilize IT operations and modernize after a cybersecurity incident.
Solution
Cloud-like consumption with NetApp® Keystone as a service
Insight provided:
- First-ever instance of managed NetApp Keystone in the public sector
- Strategic solution design for NetApp Keystone
- Migration services
- Data center implementation across two sites
Insight services:
- Consulting services
- Managed services
Outcomes:
Download the client story
- Ability to meet mission-critical objectives at the national level with never-before-seen flexibility
- $800K savings in legacy maintenance fees for the year
- Increased IT agility with new architecture
- Reduced technical debt
- Strategic, cost-effective approach to growth
- Improved performance and operational efficiencies
After a data breach in 2015, this federal agency began a seismic shift to IT modernization — a journey that would be filled with growing pains for the first several years. Between challenges with resource allocation, technology strategy and changing leadership, it was time to chart a new path to stability once and for all.
Across the public sector, one of the biggest barriers to progress is balancing a lack of budget flexibility with strategic IT objectives. “Nobody has visibility into a five-year budget,” explains Insight’s practice director for data center transformation and hybrid cloud. “This was the case for our client. It was spending over $800K for the year to maintain infrastructure almost a decade old. It was done with the long-term contracts and technical debt that were holding it back.”
The agency had unique considerations that made the ability to pivot crucial. Due to organizational changes, a large amount of data needed to be migrated to another agency temporarily, then moved back in the future. This meant the agency needed to reduce its risk of under- or overprovisioning. The agency had also seen a revolving door of CIOs, and with it, shifting priorities and varying visions of success.
Enter the agency’s partnership with Insight and as-a-service consumption — a model that would help the federal agency finally take control of its data and IT operations.
Insight worked with the client to position a best-fit solution. The client was at a crossroads: Renew its aging infrastructure for another year or move to NetApp Keystone®. When the options became moving to a twice-as-costly cloud platform or buying infrastructure outright, the consumption model of as a service met the agency’s vision for the future.
Together, we determined that Keystone would provide the most flexibility and long-term benefits. Our team took a strategic approach to the solution design, considering needs from capacity to data migration
“This is the power of CapEx in the public sector space,” adds Insight’s practice director. “Our client now has the ability to scale up and down depending on needs that can and will change.” The organization’s Windows® Server Operations team is now leveraging its new solution to support critical data on platforms ranging from Microsoft® Exchange to SharePoint®, Active Directory® and beyond.
At a time of rapid change and growth — and with a promise to better serve the country’s federal workforce — the agency is better positioned to pivot with peace of mind.
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