MKBonlinediensten.nl is dedicated to providing customers in the Netherlands with online technology services to support business development and growth for local SMBs. As a Managed Service Provider (MSP), the company delivers a range of solutions offering a secure online workplace that enables customers to use and deploy the latest technology services in the industry. MKBonlinediensten.nl improves its customers’ services, offering reliable and tested solutions that meet the individual needs of organisations.
Looking to enhance IT services
Having decided to enhance its online service for the workplace and grow to the next level, MKBonlinediensten.nl looked at deploying a new solution that would enable it to support customer growth. In particular, the company also wanted to address installation time, ensuring quick and efficient customer service.
After researching the market, MKBonlinediensten.nl decided on a hyperconverged solution. The company wanted an environment that was easy to deploy and manage, and hyperconvergence offered the best fit. The company researched other hyperconverged solutions but found that some were very expensive and didn’t suit their requirements.
Proof of concept
After inquiring about other vendors in this space, MKBonlinediensten.nl discovered Scale Computing and after running a Proof of Concept (PoC) the service provider opted for Scale Computing’s HC3 platform. Scale Computing’s hyperconverged solution provides a complete data centre in a box with storage, servers, high availability and virtualisation combined into one solution. The appliance is easily deployed, has no external licensing fees as its virtualisation is built on the KVM hypervisor and it also enables enhanced disaster recovery with snapshots, cloning and replication. Richard Druppers, owner of MKBonlinediensten.nl, noted, “The Scale Computing solution was very easy to handle, manage and deploy. It was much simpler [than others] and it suited all of our requirements.”
Improving customer service
Since the deployment, MKBonlinediensten.nl has not only benefitted from simplified and enhanced IT infrastructure but it has enabled smoother business processes. The Scale Computing solution did not replace an existing storage element but instead has added an enhanced offering, enabling MKBonlinediensten.nl to pass these benefits onto its customers. A major selling point has been the ability to dramatically reduce the installation time of new solutions, enabling MKBonlinediensten.nl to respond quicker to customer requests. Druppers explained, “Previously what would have taken us three – six weeks can now be built in a matter of days. Not only can we provide quicker services to our existing customers, but this has freed up a lot of our time allowing us to work with new businesses.”
MKBonlinediensten.nl has also been able to provide new services to its customers since deploying Scale Computing’s HC3 platform. With its ease of use and reduced management time, building a temporary server is simple, quick and easy. Druppers commented, “Previously we didn’t offer this as a service, however, now we can build temporary servers as and when needed upon request. Scale Computing has allowed us to be more flexible. We can also take advantage of adding resources to VMs from a central pool, adding storage, processor or memory when needed is really simple.”
Druppers continued, “When we set out to look for a new solution, we wanted to offer increased services to our customers and take the next natural step to innovating our online workplace and the Scale Computing solution has allowed us to do this.”
HEAT – increasing speed and performance
In addition, MKBonlinediensten.nl has also benefitted from increased performance and speed with Scale Computing’s native HEAT feature – HyperCore Enhanced Automated Tiering. Druppers explained, “With the HEAT feature, we can add increased speed as and when is needed by a simple bar feature. It’s incredibly easy to use and allows us to adjust the speed to our unique requirements. As a service provider, each of our customers has a different set of needs and it’s great to be able to adjust to meet these demands.”
Business continuity and eliminating downtime
The HC3 solution also enables replication, snapshots and cloning, providing business continuity. Druppers said, “With our previous IT environment we needed to patch up the system and reboot our IT which would take time. Scale Computing has completely eliminated this with regular, simple updates.”
Cost savings and reduced management time
The Scale Computing HC3 solution is designed to be simple and easy to use, organisations can also scale out as and when needed, increasing capacity which avoids the need to overprovision storage. Druppers concluded, “The Scale Computing solution is easy to use and requires minimal effort. The interface is simple and it offers everything we need. The time we have saved can now be spent on enhancing our services and working with customers, rather than managing the IT.”
