British Land opts for utility computing solution with hSo

• Leading integrated communications provider to supply and manage hosted computing platform
• Scalable outsourced rental model offers increased flexibility, resilience and transparency
• British Land to benefit from improved operational efficiency

In a move to enhance IT scalability, resilience and efficiency, leading property investment company, British Land, has selected hSo, to supply a remotely hosted, high availability, dual datacentre computing platform on which to run its core business applications.  The solution is being provided on a rented ‘utility’ basis, enabling British Land to focus on the application of IT to its business and establishing maximum business benefit, rather than daily operational IT issues.

Following a successful one-year trial of the ‘Cloud Computing’ initiative, British Land selected hSo over a number of alternative suppliers as its chosen outsourcing infrastructure partner.  Based on an innovative utility computing model, the three-year contract will see hSo provide, own and manage all the server and networking infrastructure for British Land’s applications for a consolidated per server monthly charge. The charge covers licensing, security, backup, disaster recovery and ongoing monitoring, and allows British Land to match its IT operating cost to the level of its activity.

Among the applications being hosted is British Land’s award winning property portal, a secure online framework for the company’s business processes, document management and collaboration channels.  The portal supports a range of processes encompassing the property lifecycle from acquisition through the asset management process, and through to disposal.  Other core processes such as expenditure authorisation and tracking, and corporate social responsibility reporting are also included.  The portal is accessed via the Internet not only by employees across a number of sites, but also by those business partners carrying out outsourced activities for the company, such as managing agents.

The deal also includes hSo:VAULT, an innovative online data back-up and disaster recovery platform, providing British Land with a higher level of business continuity,  enabling staff and external third party partners to work with minimal interruption in the event of a disaster.

Peter Earl, Group Head of IT at British Land's head office said: “Outsourcing our IT infrastructure has a host of benefits but was a major decision, so it was critical that we found a partner with the right skills to maintain a high quality of service, whilst helping us maximise the benefits from this approach.

We did initially look at a wide range of alternatives including a number of other suppliers, but after an extensive trial and appropriate due diligence, we opted for hSo since it not only offers excellent value but also, more importantly, is flexible enough to provide us with a tailor-made solution.

Chris Evans, Managing Director at hSo, added: “This is an exciting announcement for hSo, and we look forward to working with British Land and helping it to achieve its business objectives from this project. The company has opted for a route that will allow for improved efficiency whilst maintaining transparency and control.

This type of utility computing platform is one normally selected by large organisations. British Land’s decision, however, reflects the current market and the fact that companies – both small and large – are beginning to focus on managed services and flexible utility IT models when looking to build scalable IT infrastructure to support ambitious growth targets.

To find out more call us today on 020 7847 4510

hSo, Epworth House, 25 City Road, London, EC1Y 1AA
http://www.hso.uk.com

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