Softsource

hardware and house it on-site. Centralising
technology in a data centre allows Softsource to
provide clients of all sizes with the best possible
equipment and solutions available, employing
multi-tenanted systems to increase utilisation and
reduce costs to customers.
From day one, the intention has been to build the
country’s most state-of-the-art data centre. This would
deliver Softsource three clear benefits: bring
leading-edge solutions to the New Zealand market,
open up services to new market sectors, and, in light
of growing environmental concerns, adopt world-
class green credentials.
Plans were drawn up to start work on a new facility
in Auckland.
Building the vision
This was no vanity project; there was clear business
demand for such a resource.
“Certainly, the growth of cloud computing has given
us the ability to bring world-class infrastructure to a
variety of New Zealand businesses at a very low
entry level cost. We saw an opportunity to realise
the potential of cloud technology for their business
and to use our expertise to help them enjoy these
benefits,” says Softsource general manager, Pablo
Garcia-Curtis.
Assessing the build requirements for this Tier Three
facility would be critical. Softsource had already
investigated how 3PAR’s storage solutions could be
integrated prior to HP’s acquisition of 3PAR. With the
technology already proven at an international level,
and with HP and Softsource working together since
2004, a decision was made to build New Zealand’s
first HP Converged Infrastructure data centre.
Garcia-Curtis says Softsource wanted to tap into the
world-class infrastructure that HP could provide.
“From a server, storage and networking point of
view it made commercial sense to provide everything
with the interoperability afforded by HP’s different
product sets.”
The inclusion of HP 3PAR storage elements, designed
to deliver a multi-tiered, multi-tenant storage platform,
proved a huge differentiator for the data centre.
3PAR technology provided the agility Softsource
needed to align application requirements with data
Quality of Service levels precisely and on demand.
The data centre architecture was built on the HP
Networking E5412 fabrics, providing the necessary
flexibility, with 10Gbps connectivity and a dual
IPV4/6 base operating system. The build itself was
completed very quickly as there were few
compatibility issues due to the use of
industry-standard hardware. Construction of the
building began in September 2010 and staff shifted
to the premises by mid-January. Work then began on
the data centre which was officially launched in
June.
The data centre has been set up as essentially a
plug-and-play system where the floor capacity for
equipment, power and cooling has already been
built in to allow expansion through new racks and
systems which can be easily added to those already
in place.
The ability to add capacity not only benefits
Softsource’s clients, but also allows the company to
work on expanding its own operations. There was
an increase in staff numbers to coincide with the
data centre launch. The company has no intention of
resting on its laurels.
“We aim to continue leading New Zealand in cloud
technology and that is an area we will continue to
invest and develop to ensure the technology gets
better and cheaper,” Garcia-Curtis says.
Timely solutions
The New Zealand economy is not immune to global
economic pressures. Growth has slowed, and though
there are signs of recovery, business confidence is
fragile. Organisations have struggled to justify
large-scale capital expenditure, particularly on IT
projects.
“Budgets are tight and we’re finding customers have
fewer people and less money to spend, but still need
to achieve more,” Garcia-Curtis says.
“Part of the service we’re putting together - is the
ability for people to expand their business without
having a huge capital outlay.
“We’re finding a lot of customers are holding on to
all types of technology and not replacing it as
quickly as they used to. There is huge benefit in
giving customers the ability to grow with technology,
without being stuck with one system for a four or five
year period then having to make a massive leap to
the next level. Our infrastructure allows businesses to
grow with us, removing those headaches.”
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