Get A Free Consultant
Get A Free Consultant

TATE

Tate is an institution of a network of four art galleries, The United Kingdom’s national collection of British art and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a Government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sports.
The name ‘Tate’ is used also as the operating name for the corporate body, which was established by the museum of galleries Act 1992 as the ‘The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery’

The gallery was founded in 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art

  • Project Info

Client

TATE

Service

Complex Licensing Challenges at TUC

Situation

Tate’s project to replace their existing backup and storage solutions with specific objectives and scope reflects a strategic approach to enhance their IT infrastructure. Here’s a breakdown of the project objectives and scope:
Objectives:
  1. Integration of IT Infrastructure:
    • Achieve seamless integration of the Museum’s IT infrastructure, including the SAN, virtual environment, switches, and backup solution.
  2. Optimization of Resources:
    • Optimize the solution in terms of time, space, and minimize disruption to the production environment, ensuring efficient use of resources.
  3. Business Continuity Management:
    • Ensure quick restoration of business continuity services in case of a disaster, emphasizing the importance of a robust disaster recovery plan.
  4. Availability of IT Infrastructure:
    • Guarantee the availability of the IT infrastructure solution and services to maintain uninterrupted operations.
  5. Reliability, Flexibility, and Scalability:
    • Provide a solution that offers reliability, flexibility, scalability, and usability, designed to meet business needs for over 5 years.
  6. Onsite Backup and Cloud Replication:
    • Implement software capable of performing onsite backup and replication to the cloud, ensuring data redundancy and availability.
  7. Backup Software Performance:
    • Deploy and configure backup software solution for ease of monitoring, fault finding, and performance optimization, enhancing overall system efficiency.
  8. Management Solution:
    • Implement a management solution with a dashboard and central management console software for SAN, switches, blade chassis, tape library, cloud, and local backups. This centralization facilitates efficient monitoring and control of the entire IT infrastructure.
Scope:
The project’s scope encompasses:
  • Replacement of the existing NetApp FAS2552 and Carbonite solutions.
  • Seamless integration of SAN, virtual environment, switches, and backup solution.
  • Optimization of the solution with minimal disruption to the production environment.
  • Implementation of a disaster recovery plan for quick restoration of business continuity.
  • Deployment of a reliable, flexible, and scalable IT infrastructure solution.
  • Integration of software for onsite backup and cloud replication.
  • Configuration of backup software for monitoring, fault finding, and performance optimization.
  • Implementation of a comprehensive management solution with a dashboard and central console for various components.
By addressing these objectives and scope, Tate aims to enhance its overall IT capabilities, ensuring a resilient, efficient, and future-proof infrastructure that aligns with business goals and requirements.

Actions

Memtek and Lenovo took a systematic and collaborative approach in engaging with the client, to understand their needs and successfully deliver a solution. Here’s a summary of the key steps:

Engagement of Pre-Sales Tech Support Solutions Architects:

Memtek and Lenovo involved pre-sales tech support solutions architects to arrange team meetings with the client. This results in a focus on technical expertise and collaboration in the early stages of the project.

Customer Requirement - 3-Tier Architecture Refresh:

The customer approached Memtek/Lenovo with the need for a refresh of their 3-tier architecture, which had been in place for 6-7 years. This prompted the exploration of a comprehensive solution.

Discovery Call:

Initiated a discovery call to gather information about the client's existing infrastructure, assess its age, and understand the client's openness to different solutions.

Workshops and Needs Analysis:

Conducted workshops to delve deeper into the customer's requirements. These sessions focused on understanding specific needs, workloads, and preferences for the new infrastructure.

Scoping and Sizing Exercise:

Conducted a scoping and sizing exercise, indicating a thorough assessment of the existing environment to determine the appropriate specifications for the new solution.

Vendor Selection:

Engaged in the selection of vendors, ultimately choosing Lenovo. This step involved evaluating different vendors based on their offerings and alignment with customer requirements.

Solution Design:

Designed the optimal solution, which included selecting Lenovo as the primary vendor. Additionally, other software vendors, such as VMWare, were integrated into Lenovo's SKUs to enhance the overall solution.

Presales Activities:

Engaged in presales activities, which could include creating multiple configuration options, obtaining pricing, and ensuring alignment with the customer's budget.

Deal Registration:

Managed the deal registration process to secure the relevant product lines and inform the customer about available vendors.

Pricing and Discount Negotiation:

Justified additional discounts and escalated pricing negotiations to reach EMEA discount levels. This step demonstrates efforts to optimize costs while meeting the customer's budget.

Presentation and Agreement:

Presented the proposed solution back to the customer, addressing questions and concerns. Successfully won the customer's agreement to proceed.

Statement of Work (SOW):

Created a detailed statement of work, defining the roles of Memtek and Lenovo in delivering the proposed solution. This document likely provided clarity on project expectations and responsibilities. The overall process reflects a strategic and collaborative approach, involving technical expertise, customer engagement, and effective negotiation to deliver a successful end-to-end solution.

Outcomes

Memtek successfully executed the implementation of a new compute and SAN (Storage Area Network) solution, meeting the proposed timeline and budget. Here’s a summary of the key aspects of the project:
  1. Timely and Budgetary Success:
    • Memtek delivered the solution within the proposed timeline and budget, demonstrating effective project management and financial control.
  2. Replacement of Existing Compute and SAN Solution:
    • Implemented a new solution that supports all operating system types, including legacy versions required for systems designated as artwork (Windows, Linux, and macOS).
  3. Continuous Operation:
    • The new solution is designed to run 7 days a week, with the capability to handle both backups and internal maintenance tasks with minimal intervention required.
  4. Local and Cloud Backup Resilience:
    • Allows for critical system backups to be restored locally. In case cloud-based backups become unreachable, assumes a hybrid local/cloud backup solution for resilience.
  5. Backup Data Replication:
    • Implemented the replication of backup data across multiple sites and/or cloud platforms, enhancing resilience and data availability.
  6. Scalability:
    • The solution is capable of supporting large volumes of data, handling more than 20TB as a single backup job. Data deduplication is implemented across the entire backup set, optimizing storage efficiency.
  7. Support Contract:
    • Secured a 5-year support contract covering both hardware and software support. This includes the completion of training and handover documents.
  8. Consolidation of Support:
    • Moved all VMWare support to Lenovo, streamlining support services and providing a single point of contact for support issues.

These accomplishments showcase Memtek’s ability to design and implement a robust and versatile IT infrastructure that meets the specific needs of the client. The inclusion of features like data replication, support consolidation, and a comprehensive support contract adds to the overall resilience and long-term viability of the implemented solution.

Let’s Connect!

Let's Connect Subscription Form
Unleashing Potential Through Technology. At MemTek, we empower businesses with cutting-edge IT solutions that drive growth and efficiency. Learn more about our journey and ethos.

Let’s
Connect!

Questions? Reach out to our team for any inquiries or support
Footer Subscription Form
© MemTek Global 2023.

All Rights Reserved.