Logicalis rings network changes at Phones 4U

Integrator designs and implements core network for mobile phone retail giant and wins LAN management deal as result

Following the success of a core network implementation at phone retailer Phones 4U, Logicalis has secured the firm's LAN management contract.

The integrator recently designed and implented a core network centered around Cisco technology, to replace ageing infrastructure that was unable to cope with the firm's rapid expansion, and was based on a flat network with no access switches or integration layer.

Dave Robertson, head of IT services at Phones 4u, said: "It’s fair to say we’d neglected our infrastructure and network in the past in favour of front-end platform and services. With our core switches reaching end of life, we were presented with the perfect opportunity to change that. This was a big project though, and so it wasn’t just about technology choices.

"During the tender, it was Logicalis’ people, implementation experience and depth of technical competency that really stood them apart.

“Working with Logicalis we’ve now seamlessly migrated all our services to a new infrastructure in which we have full visibility – because believe it or not, previously we didn’t know what was plugged in to our core switches or where – and one that makes it easy for us to add, move, scale and change services as we move forward.”

He added that the rollout went smoothly with no disruption to the business.

“Logicalis completed the infrastructure build with zero-downtime," he said. "The scale of the project was so large, and add to that the fact we didn't know what was plugged into what, it was layered with risk. However, Logicalis worked to ensure that we moved the servers without any impact on the business users.”

He added that the implementation was so successful that Logicalis has now won the deal to manage its entire LAN infrastructure.

“Logicalis delivered on time, on budget and without any impact on our users. We were so impressed, we’ve now contracted them for the service to manage not only the new switches, but our entire LAN infrastructure. As Phones 4u continues to grow as a business, our IT infrastructure will play an ever-greater role as an enabler. We’ve developed a good relationship with Logicalis for future needs, and we look forward to building on their integration and service expertise," he said.