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1. IBM Systems and Technology Computer Services
Case Study
Academica Oy finds cloud
is the way to grow
Offering smarter customer services with help from
IBM and ICT Group Oy
With 60 employees and an annual turnover of $19 million, Academica
is one of the leading managed service providers (MSP) in Finland,
Overview
specializing in managed and co-location services, consulting, and
The need support.
Leading Finnish managed service
provider Academica wanted to support
business growth and offer its customers Gaining capacity for growth
the freedom to provision their own virtual Academica wanted to gain the ability to grow its business, but its
environments. legacy systems were too complex and costly to scale out effectively.
The solution The company’s most popular services are cloud hosting – including file
Implemented a private cloud based on an hosting, virtual desktop services, and virtual server hosting.
IBM Flex System™ solution with nodes
running Citrix XenServer and connected
Kalle Koski, Data Centre Manager at Academica, explains: “As the
to an IBM® XIV® Storage System.
number of cloud customers we serve grew, it became more difficult to
The benefit optimize the utilization of our physical server and storage resources
A self-service web portal empowers
when provisioning new environments. Additionally, exploding volumes
customers to provision their own
servers and storage online. Expected to of customer data were rapidly pushing our legacy servers and storage
accommodate business growth over ten towards capacity. We realized that if we did not develop a cost-effective
years. Reduced maintenance workload by way to scale out our environment, we might be forced to turn away new
30 percent.
business.”
Following a full review of the existing infrastructure, Academica
determined that it could greatly improve the manageability and
scalability of its environment by refreshing its hardware with an
enterprise-class private cloud solution. As the company’s customers
use Citrix XenClient to connect to their virtual environments, it was
vital that the new solution was compatible with XenServer hypervisor
technology.
Increasing access granularity
Academica also wanted to empower its customers to provision and
de-provision storage independently. “In the past, we used the iSCSI
network protocol to facilitate data transfers,” says Koski. “This
protocol did not support the security features we needed to enhance
our customer services.

2. IBM Systems and Technology Computer Services
Case Study
“We wanted to move to a Fibre Channel storage network that would
support a fine granularity of access to storage management options
Solution Components
– offering our customers the ability to securely provision storage
Hardware resources themselves rather than by calling our customer service
• IBM Flex System™ department.”
• IBM® System Storage® DCS3700
• IBM XIV® Storage System
Choosing a scalable solution
Software
After visiting the IBM Mainz Briefing center in Germany to see a
• I
BM Flex System Manager™
• Citrix XenServer
demonstration of Citrix XenServer on IBM Flex System and IBM XIV
technology, Academica engaged IBM to design and deploy a private
Services cloud infrastructure. IBM Global Financing facilitated the cloud
• IBM Global Financing
solution by enabling Academica to spread payments over 36 months,
IBM Business Partner with no payments until after a six month deferral. Engaging IBM
• ICT Group Oy Global Financing allowed Academica to accelerate the implementation
of the project.
“We were extremely impressed by the straightforward scalability of
the Flex System nodes and XIV storage system,” says Koski. “Today,
when we need to add new storage or compute capacity, we can simply
connect an additional Flex System node or XIV system, and the system
will do the bulk of the configuration work automatically. Whenever
we do need to perform a manual configuration task, IBM Flex System
Manager™ software enables us to manage both software and hardware
resources from a single interface.”
Working with IBM and IBM Business Partner ICT Group, the
company implemented seven IBM Flex System x240 nodes, each
with 256 GB of main memory. These are connected through a Fibre
Channel SAN to an IBM XIV Storage System; with an IBM System
Storage® DCS3700 array functioning as a high-speed backup and tier-
two storage utility.
Koski comments: “Thanks to the modular design of the Flex System
and support from ICT Group, the implementation of the private cloud
environment went very smoothly – every stage was completed on time
and within budget.”
Reducing IT management workload
Since installing its IBM solution, Academica has experienced a dramatic
improvement in system performance and ease of manageability.
“The IBM Flex System Manager interface is so intuitive that it feels
like we’ve been using it for a lot longer than we have,” says Koski.
“Because our IT team can manage all server and storage resources
through a single interface, we’ve reduced the IT management
workload by 30 percent, freeing our IT team to focus on more valuable
activities. We have also experienced a 20 percent boost in our system
performance – translating into a better service to customers.”

3. IBM Systems and Technology Computer Services
Case Study
Secure future in the cloud
Academica’s private cloud solution has enabled the high level of security
“The IBM Flex System the company needs to continue to ensure the resiliency and high
Manager interface is so availability of its hosting services.
intuitive that it feels like
“Our data is our business,” says Koski, “Because of this, it was vital
we’ve been using it for a that we chose a storage solution that would enable us to protect our
lot longer than we have. mission-critical customer data. The IBM XIV delivers on this, raising
Because our IT team a support ticket with IBM automatically whenever the system requires
maintenance. We have been extremely impressed with the excellent
can manage all server level of service from IBM, and the robustness of the XIV platform.”
and storage resources
through a single interface, By switching from standard storage disks on iSCSI to IBM XIV on a
Fibre Channel SAN, Academica has gained better network isolation
we’ve reduced the IT than was possible in the past, enabling a finer granularity of network
management workload access, and greater overall security. Building on this functionality, the
by 30 percent, freeing our company is developing a self-service portal for customers.
IT team to focus on more Koski comments: “When deployed, our web portal will give our
valuable activities.” customers the ability to self-provision services on multiple different
servers, and choose between varying grades of service level agreements
—Kalle Koski, Data Centre Manager, Academica depending on their individual requirements. This new functionality
will help us win new customers while boosting satisfaction among our
existing clients.”
Looking ahead
Working with IBM, Academica has gained the capacity to grow its
business in a private cloud, expected to serve the company’s needs for at
least the next ten years.
“We are already planning the deployment of a second Flex System and
XIV array at another of our Helsinki data centers,” concludes Koski.
“By continuing our strong collaboration with IBM, we are well-placed
to further improve performance and develop our service offering as the
business grows.”
For more information
To learn more about IBM Flex System solutions, contact your IBM
sales representative or visit: ibm.com/puresystems.

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2012
IBM Corporation
Systems and Technology Group
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Produced in the United States of America
December 2012
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This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed
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The client examples cited are presented for illustrative purposes only. Actual
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