Holland Colours Opts for Hybrid Cloud Solution From Proact

Holland Colours NV, a Dutch company specialising in the production of colour concentrates and additives for the coloring of plastics and paints, has opted for a hybrid cloud solution from Proact IT Group AB.

The organisation has concluded a three-year contract.

The current infrastructure of Holland Colours was outdated and could not sufficiently meet the demands and requirements of the business. Instead of carrying out a traditional renovation with new hardware and software, the company looked for a partner that could provide a more flexible (hybrid) cloud solution, with the goal of improved services to the business 24×7.

Wilfred Van Essen, IT manager, Holland Colours comments: “Thanks to the success of our business and the fact that we are operating internationally in different time zones, it became increasingly difficult to provide our business with flexible, cost-effective and highly available IT services. By choosing Proact, we are unburdened 24×7, and can focus primarily on what is important for our business.“

Within the cloud solution, Holland Colours has opted for a converged data centre infrastructure solution from Proact, implemented in the Holland Colours data centre, supplemented with backup and DR services from Proact’s data centre. All this is completely under the management of Proact, so that HCA can primarily focus on the (business) applications.

The solution can be scaled up or down, and the IT infrastructure can thereby be adapted to the specific needs of the organisation. Not only is the cost flexible and scaled to their current needs, but a reduction of the IT costs over the entire contract period will also be achieved through the consolidation and rationalisation of various data centre components.

The architecture is based on FlexPod, which consists of the well-known market leaders Cisco Systems, Inc., NetApp, Inc. and Vmware, Inc. This involves the delivery of a complete pre-validated solution, consisting of network, storage, compute and security, which are pre-matched to each other and are already used by more than 2,500 Proact customers. Holland Colours are safe in the knowledge that they are obtaining a solution and, in case of an emergency, can also fall back on the supplementary backup and DR services for maximum BC.

“Companies nowadays want IT to operate increasingly in the service of the business and to organise its key processes. The cloud is an important enabler here, but a customer-focused approach in terms of service from the service provider and the design of the environment is crucial for success. In addition to the SLA agreements, HCA also benefits from a distinctive approach to ensure user and customer satisfaction (eXperience level agreement), rather than just an SLA. Proact works in a partnership as an extension of customers such as Holland Colours, thereby allowing the IT department to focus on innovation and the development of new, business-related IT services,” says Lucas den Os, MD, Proact Netherlands.