Simnet

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of an IT consulting company that works with different focus areas through the cloud, managed services, end-user computing, and security.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Virtuozzo?

Virtuozzo offers an infrastructure platform called VIP, which is a hyper-converged software solution that doesn’t tether users to hardware. We leveraged that product to provide our users with a wider array of backup and disaster recovery services.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Virtuozzo for the use of their VIP product to give our clients more options for their cloud and storage needs. Further, Virtuozzo addressed our internal questions regarding our uses of the cloud.

For the first project, several of our customers were unhappy with their backup options, and some didn’t have a disaster recovery policy at all. We ended up leveraging VIP on the backend to help in those cases. As another example, one client wanted to do virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) in-house instead of in the cloud, so we used VIP to give us more flexibility with the software and the backup solutions.

In the second, we relied on Virtuozzo to conduct a total cost of ownership analysis to determine the best cloud options for ourselves. At the time, we had depreciated hardware and were unsure of what we wanted to do. We knew that replacing the hardware would cost millions of dollars, and we didn’t know if we wanted to go to the public cloud or the private cloud.

They ran us through a workshop to identify our options and then made several recommendations. They were agnostic in terms of steering us toward solely AWS or Azure, for instance, which we appreciated. In the end, we decided on a multi-cloud approach where we use AWS for our developers and Azure for our infrastructure. We also have some on-premises stuff remaining, as well.

What is the team composition?

I interfaced with an account manager, an SME, and the operations manager. We’ve worked with firms in the past that have had large, overwhelming teams. It was nice to have a smaller group to work with.

How did you come to work with Virtuozzo?

I learned of them through a referral from a friend. He knew they did fantastic work in the cloud space and suggested I get in touch with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May 2018–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The most significant piece that came out of this engagement was our ability to leverage automation opportunities based on the workflows that they helped put together. Not only did the migration to a multi-cloud environment streamline our processes, but it also saved us money by allowing our Azure machines to power on and off as necessary.

On the AWS side, our developers are much more proficient at quickly setting up sandbox environments to test different solutions. This has made our job immensely easier and more productive.

How did Virtuozzo perform from a project management standpoint?

The project couldn’t have gone more smoothly. There were bumps in the road, but we caused those while making sure that they had the necessary resources. Virtuozzo’s project management, however, was fantastic. Strong communication will make or break a company, and we had no complaints. In fact, they sometimes over-communicated, which I loved. They were always a phone call or email away if we needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service sets them apart. They asked for our opinions based on their recommendations at every step. Working with Virtuozzo was a breath of fresh air.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not for this project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We found it useful to make our key stakeholders available to discuss our processes so that Virtuozzo could easily gather helpful information.