Virtual data centre with security solution for FIEGE

FIEGE has been operating on the Czech market since 1995. It currently manages over 100,000 m2 of warehouse space in four locations and employs more than 500 people. Its key service is the provision of contract (warehouse) logistics. It focuses mainly on textile and footwear logistics, industrial and manufacturing logistics, tyre logistics or non-food FMCG. One of its key competitive advantages is the provision of reverse logistics and a range of value-added services. It offers domestic distribution and international transportation, both by truck, air and sea. It develops logistics concepts for its customers that are tailored to their specific needs.

It was important to find a solution that would meet security standards and maintain connectivity across the company at a similar financial cost to the previous vendor. One of the key factors was to maximize the resulting efficiency of all employees. The main objective was to "have everything in one place". The availability of the required technology, the proposed SLA and the price of the service were the main factors in favour of the solution offered by DataSpring. One of the main goals was to make the company's IT service costs as efficient as possible while maintaining security standards and simplifying the work and communication of all employees.

The company decided to move to a virtual data centre concept and change the approach to running the infrastructure. The main benefits of the solution were perceived as increasing the stability of IT systems operation, gaining more flexibility associated with the growth of the branch network and enabling the IT department to focus more on the needs of managing higher layers of systems. Another benefit was the acquisition of the necessary security standards required of companies under the GDPR regulation.
 

The first step in the transition to the new concept was to move the applications that were previously running on outdated physical servers to the DataSpring cloud environment. This step ensured that the infrastructure was running in a Tier III certified data center and provided the need for flexible computing power on a virtualization platform. Individual dealership branches are now accessing the cloud environment and as a result, the load on the lines at the central location has also been reduced. Part of the services provided by DataSpring includes the collection of data from client-side devices, which they further analyze to prevent problems and potential threats from within the network environment.

The next step was to change the original branch WAN to MPLS technology with a central Firewall with UTM capabilities. The central Internet access point provides DDoS protection for the entire perimeter, and the central firewall provides easier management of security policies and faster rollup of the branch network. Additional functionalities such as IPS and webfiltering enhance the security of user access to the external environment. The move to supported VPN connection platforms has also proved successful; the original openVPNs were a source of frequent errors and were complex to manage.

An entirely new network setup and moving all digital content, services and software to the cloud proved to be a suitable solution to these problems. This also minimised security risk and simplified the way users worked with files and internal programs.

The first phase of the project dealt with setting up access to a virtual data centre (VDC) for all Fiege employees in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, access via VPN, more efficient file sharing, setting rights, applying GPOs or a shared print server. The second phase brings MPLS connectivity (more stable connectivity towards the VDC and the parent company) and better management of all end devices. The goal is to connect all branches into one easily managed "big company".

The implementation took place from January to September 2017, and the second phase - creating MPLS interconnection between DataSpring, Czech Radio Communications and Fiege - started in May 2018. All these steps were planned in advance and the planned budget and schedule were successfully met. Technical support for potential problems was always addressed in advance. The implementation project would not have been possible without the active cooperation of the staff on the client side. Their main role was the complete configuration of the systems and the physical connection of the active elements at all sites, including their configuration. DataSpring was then involved in the smooth transition from the old infrastructure to the new one so that any outages would not affect Fiege's business or its customers.

Services provided:

• Iaas - Infrastructure as a Service - Resource pool
• Housing
• Connectivity - MPLS peering, Internet
• BaaS - Backup as a Service
• Security - VDC, Webfiltering, IPS, LogDock Advanced, DDos Guard