Case study 1

Leading High Street Retailer

A leading high street retailer specialising in Clothing and Home Furnishing, operating 200 franchises worldwide.

The Issues
For a company of this size, it is imperative that the IT systems are fully optimised, transactions are processed and records updated in real-time. Our client needed to upgrade their existing hardware and software systems whilst ensuring existing systems and applications were fully supported. They also felt their existing supplier was not providing the level of service they required. With limited skills in-house, our client decided outsourcing was still the best solution being more cost effective than employing a full-time Database Administrator.

The Solution
The solution was to provide comprehensive support of the retailer’s Operating System and existing database software. Our client spoke to a number of suppliers and after several meetings and reviews, Quantix were successful in securing the contract. Quantix were tasked with providing comprehensive management of our client’s Oracle database systems that run at their Head Office in London.

The Oracle Managed Service essentially comprises several key activities. At the outset of the contract, a full technical review of the client’s database environment was performed. This was an in depth analysis of the current databases, their function, performance, backup and recovery procedures. This review ensured that all staff within the support centre had a comprehensive understanding of the system architecture and support could be provided to the highest levels. Through a series of scheduled Monthly Dial-in Maintenance Sessions, Quantix perform health checks on the Oracle databases and provide a detailed report highlighting trends, potential problems and a series of recommendations that needed implementing. Areas covered include database performance, space usage, backup and recovery and maintenance tasks. Any recommendations are then implemented in agreement with our client. Our client also has a Hotline Escalation Service in place, giving them the ability to raise any issues or queries with the Oracle consulting team during normal working hours.

The Benefits to the Client
Our client now have peace of mind that their systems are being fully managed and maintained by a specialist service provider. The regular healthchecks identify any potential problems, ranging from CPU utilisation to back-up and recovery issues. As a result, fully optimised systems ensure that as workload increases, the systems continue to perform with maximum efficiency.

The Clients Opinion
“ The all encompassing solution we have in place with Quantix provides high resilience with minimal fuss. The service has been seamless and allowed our staff to concentrate on their core business activities. Should we need assistance, we know that we have their expertise to call on and this will be dealt with efficiency and the upmost importance.” Infrastructure Manager, Our Client

The Next Stage
Quantix will continue to provide the structured Managed Services, ensuring that as our client’s business grows, database performance is not compromised.

Summary
Quantix, currently provide comprehensive Management and Maintenance of our client’s Oracle databases. This managed service ensures a level of efficiency and cost effectiveness that could not be gained via the employment of an in-house team.