Independent IT solutions provider LIMA Networks has helped one of the UK’s largest insurance brokers to revamp its data storage infrastructure, resulting in greater flexibility and impressive cost savings.
Autonet Insurance Services Ltd, Britain’s biggest independently-owned broker in the consumer and business van insurance field, called on Manchester-based LIMA Networks to help it move away from a storage infrastructure solution that had become expensive to maintain and grow, and difficult to administer.
As a financial services company with more than five million customer enquiries per month and a need to comply with industry regulation concerning data management and recovery, Autonet needed LIMA Networks to provide an IT solution that met all of the company’s various needs. This was achieved through a NetApp and VMware virtualised solution, which saw Autonet switch from using 30 physical servers to 15 virtual servers.
As well as reducing the company’s server estate considerably and improving efficiency and manageability, through the use of NetApp Autonet now has flexible disaster recovery technology which helps ensure business continuity.
Nik Potts, head of IT at Autonet, said: “I now have I now have real flexibility and have been able to achieve 90 per cent cost savings from year to year. I would wholeheartedly recommend NetApp to other firms.
“I feel a giant weight has been taken off my mind. I’ve genuinely been better able to sleep at night. I know I now have a very reliable data storage function matched by a full disaster recovery capability.â€
