Insurer Markel International Invests in Storage With ICM

Insurer Markel International has invested in a new IBM storage solution from ICM, part of the Phoenix IT Group plc. Markel has purchased two IBM XIV storage systems to support its business expansion programme.

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The switch over to a new storage system is part of Markels current global IT virtualisation strategy where servers, storage and PCs will be hosted centrally in its London headquarters, and accessed from all locations via thin client terminals. One IBM XIV will store all business data at HQ, while the second will be used to fully replicate the environment at Markel’s disaster recovery site to fully support its service provision and disaster recovery strategies.

ICM worked with the Markel team for a year to help it identify the correct storage solution and as part of the consultancy process, undertook proof of concept tests before recommending the IBM XIV solution.

Steve Fountain, Head of Solutions and Service Delivery for Markel International, said: "Having multiple systems and many PCs located around the world was proving to be an IT service provision and support challenge.

"The decision to move to one centrally hosted platform allows us to seamlessly support the corporate growth strategy by more easily provisioning new offices or integrate existing offices. It also allows us to provide an improved and consistent ‘user experience’ for all our colleagues; be they in remote offices, at home or travelling. Additionally, we can now implement and upgrade systems more easily, and reduce the maintenance and support overhead associated with our previous fragmented de-centralised model.

"Markel has long been an adopter and user of virtualisation technology. The IBM XIV has proven to be a highly resilient and high performance solution that has allowed us to replace ALL our old legacy systems without negatively impacting or adding risk to the business. concluded Fountain."

Rob Lockwood, Project & Professional Services Director for ICM, said: "The performance and scalability of the IBM XIV was fundamental to its selection.

"It has been designed to eliminate the complexity of storage administration and when you are running the IT for a global enterprise such as Markel, thats an important factor. The IBM XIV also provides a highly reliable information infrastructure with no-impact scalability for automatic capacity growth that will seamlessly support Markels continuing expansion plans."