Riding the wave to success
How a luxury motor yacht business scaled up its IT operations whilst reducing costs
Established in 1969 in Poole, Dorset by brothers Robert and John Braithwaite, Sunseeker International is a global manufacturer of hand-built, hand-finished, luxury motor yachts. Employing more than 2,000 highly skilled designers, engineers and master craftsmen, the company is supported by a worldwide network of over 80 retail and service locations, exporting approximately 140 yachts yearly.
Services
Fully Managed Service
Cloud Services
Cyber Security as a Service
The Brief
As Sunseeker experienced significant growth, its ageing core infrastructure and hardware were becoming unfit for purpose, posing a significant risk to the business. Understanding that substantial investment and an IT infrastructure refresh was required, Sunseeker turned to its decade-long partner Nasstar to support the project.
Armed with in-depth knowledge and experience of the business’s infrastructure, Nasstar presented a forward-thinking, end-to-end solution designed to deliver the stability and 24/7 support that Sunseeker required.
The Benefits
Both projects were completed on time and within budget, with Nasstar providing flexible and secure systems that can be scaled up or down as the business evolves.
With a robust DR solution, round-the-clock assistance available and proactive Watchpoints in place, Sunseeker can now operate without the worry of IT failure disrupting the business.
Sunseeker commented: “The infrastructure refresh projects were a significant decision for the business. Important factors in our decision-making process included Nasstar’s professional technical assessment and solution design, combined with the long-term partnership and flexible support framework received over more than a decade.”
The Solution
Nasstar implemented a £0.5 million Enterprise solution, comprising technologies from VMware, HP, Citrix, EMC and Veeam. This leading technology delivered improved performance, enhanced resilience, and room for future expansion in-line with Sunseeker’s ambitious growth strategy.
Sunseeker utilised Nasstar’s Colocation services, moving its Disaster Recovery (DR) and Backup solution to one of Nasstar’s UK-based data centres. The benefits of this include:
- Lower operating costs
- Diesel-generated backup power
- Enhanced security
- Fast connectivity for key Sunseeker sites in any DR situation
Sunseeker needed a solution that would plug the gap in its technical network knowledge after an experienced member of staff had left the company. Nasstar’s Fully Managed Service including Proactive Network Monitoring and 24/7 Service Desk proved to be more cost-effective than recruiting and training a new member of staff. As Sunseeker operates across multiple time zones, round the clock support and maintenance is crucial to ensure the smooth running of operations.
Sunseeker operates an expansive supply chain, therefore security is imperative. Nasstar’s Cyber Security as a Service was tailored to suit Sunseeker’s requirements and designed to protect the business from ever-evolving cyber threats.
Nasstar not only designs strong and cost-effective technical solutions but also manage implementations from start to finish, ensuring minimal impact to the business despite the overall complexities.