Data Infrastructure
Stepnell
Streamlining Infrastructure and User Experience
Stepnell
- Industry: Architecture, Engineering & Construction
- Size: 200 – 500 Employees
- Annual Revenue: £50 Mn
- Locations: 6 Sites
Solution
- Chose a hyper-converged platform to replace the existing SAN
- Ensured compatibility with multiple hypervisor environments
- Enhanced DR capabilities with a cloud-integrated backup
- Maximised value from previous investments by integrating and repurposing existing infrastructure
Challenge
- Traditional Block SAN Nearing Capacity
- Surging Data Volumes Straining the System
- Hindered Performance Affecting End Users’ Experience
Results
- Established a scalable infrastructure
- Enhanced data security and resilience
- Improved DR capabilities and operational resilience.
- Enabled seamless teamwork
About Stepnell
Stepnell, a part of the Stepnell group of companies, is a £93 million turnover building and civil engineering business headquartered in Rugby that undertakes construction projects from £10,000 to £30 million in value. Established in the 1870s, the company is a family-owned business that operates through a network of regional offices across central and southern England.
With over £50m net assets, Stepnell is a reliable construction partner with proven project life-cycle expertise.
The Challenge
Stepnell, on the brink of expansion, encountered significant challenges as their traditional Storage Area Network (SAN) environment approached its capacity limits. The surging volumes of data not only began to strain the system but also started to hinder performance, noticeably affecting the end users’ experience.
This situation unfolded at a critical juncture in Stepnell’s growth trajectory, presenting the company with a crucial decision. They found themselves at a crossroad with two options:
- Continue expanding their existing infrastructure
- Take a bold step towards adopting a strategic shift into a modern, next-generation architectural approach
Given the ambitious growth plans the business had in place for the future, Stepnell chose to embrace innovation, opting for the latter option.
At a critical juncture in their growth trajectory, Stepnell found themselves at a crossroad with two options:
- Continue expanding their existing infrastructure
- Take a bold step towards adopting a strategic shift into a modern, next-generation architectural approach
The Nephos Solution
Following a thorough analysis of the challenges faced, our team began an evaluation process exploring a broad spectrum of storage solutions. These ranged from traditional block SAN methods to all-flash arrays and various hyper-converged systems, to assess their commercial and technical viability.
Considering the project’s constraints and the customer’s desire to leverage their existing infrastructure investments, we identified a hyper-converged platform as the best replacement for the current SAN setup. This choice not only preserved the existing SAN but also enhanced the business’s Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities, supported by a cloud-integrated backup solution.
Key factors driving this decision included:
- Compatibility with multiple hypervisor environments
- Scalability in predictable, modular increments
- The ability to integrate and repurpose existing infrastructure
- A significant reduction in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over the lifespan of the infrastructure.
”Nephos’ approach meant that we could work with a single partner to deliver the right solution for us, regardless of the underlying vendors.
Anthony FrancisHead of IT
The Results
Nephos’s approach led to transformative results in several key areas.
First, we established a scalable infrastructure that supports gradual growth while keeping costs predictable, ensuring the system can adapt to changing business requirements. This infrastructure also guaranteed consistent and reliable service as demands increased.
The introduction of a collaborative platform, designed especially for Building Information Modelling (BIM), enabled seamless teamwork. Furthermore, we enhanced data security and resilience significantly by implementing a robust data protection strategy, which included a cloud-based backup solution for file data.
As a result, we delivered an improved data protection framework to them, enhancing their disaster recovery capabilities and operational resilience.
