It’s early December 2014 and Carlos Zambrano has a right to feel uneasy. His company, the Colombian fuel distributor, Terpel, is about to transfer its computing estate to a new data centre. One false move and his business might suffer; not to mention his career.

But he’s dealing with BT, which means it takes just four hours to migrate a vital SAP database and then everything’s back to normal. And service station users don’t notice a thing. In future all they’ll experience is even more resilient IT systems in the only Tier 4 data centre in Colombia … owned by BT.

Data centre fuels growth of gas station business.

Case study - Terpel.

BT doesn’t only supply data centres. It supplies availability, sustainability and scalability.

Carlos Alberto Zambrano SmithDirector of Technology Resources and Information Security Terpel

BT Advise Compute reduces risk for Colombian gas station operator as it shifts up to Tier 4 data centre.

Case Study - Terpel.

Volatile foundations for an ambitious business.Dealing in flammable products like airline fuel and petrol, it’s little wonder Terpel, one of the top oil and gas distribution companies in Colombia, knows all about risk.

This extends to its data centres too. The business was increasingly reliant on information housed in less than ideal locations. The company’s primary data centre was in a residential area of Bogotá, exposed to threats like terrorism and earthquakes. Its back up facility was not the supplier’s core business and was ringed by communications masts and high-voltage power lines.

Carlos Alberto Zambrano Smith, Director of Technology Resources and Information Security at Terpel, says: “We’d recently upgraded our data centres for high availability. But the location problems were an ever-present danger. We could be without IT services for hours or even days, leading to a critical loss for the business.”

Such a prospect was unthinkable for a company that had publicly set out to be number one for service in its market.

Efficient Tier 4 data centre with full redundancy.Terpel evaluated international data centre best practice standards. “For peace of mind, we needed a Tier 4 facility,” Zambrano says, “because the service had to be present on a 24-hour basis.” That helped narrow the search from 26 potential providers to a shortlist of three. Terpel chose BT after a risk analysis of the Bogotá region, which showed the Tocancipá Free Zone in the Cundinamarca department as the most secure.

That was precisely where BT had put its Naos purpose-built cloud and data centre, serving customers across Latin America. No coincidence.

Naos was the first data centre facility in Colombia to achieve Tier 4 certification and is one of the most efficient in Latin America, with features like hybrid cooling and modular power systems. It’s connected via a superfast fibre ring to the BT Nimbus facility, about 40km away in the Bogotá Fontibón Free Zone. Full redundancy is assured.

Data connections between the previous backup facility and the primary data centre, and the company’s operations in other Latin American markets, had been very costly. “With the new data centre there are no hidden costs,” Zambrano confirms.

Ultra-fast move with zero business interruption.Finding the right location was just one step, however. Terpel still had to move its equipment to the new facility. Not a trivial affair. Terpel has two mainframes and a significant IBM X6 server farm. Zambrano says: “We don’t have as much equipment as a bank, but we handle just as many transactions.”

It was critical to carry out the transition without business interruption. “BT was the only supplier that bought into our 27-day migration methodology,” Zambrano recalls. In the event, Terpel was able to transfer its high-availability equipment inside 22 hours and its operational kit within four, both with zero downtime. The migration began at 10 p.m. on a Friday in December and was completed by 5 p.m. the next day.

Working with BT is a world away from what we were used to. The thinking is the same as you’d find in leading European and American markets. There’s also knowledge transfer, which helps my people raise their own capabilities.

Carlos Alberto Zambrano SmithDirector of Technology Resources and Information Security Terpel

We get lots of proactive information from BT about the behaviour of the machines. That means my team only has to get involved occasionally.

Carlos Alberto Zambrano SmithDirector of Technology Resources and Information Security Terpel

Case Study - Terpel.

This coincided with a weekend when Colombians traditionally take to the roads, stopping at service stations along the way. But a BT Advise Compute professional services team had smoothed the way by preparing the data centre space to receive all Terpel equipment. Everything was preconfigured. LAN connections were already in place and tested.

During the migration the Terpel SAP database couldn’t be accessed for four hours but, since the migration took place at night, the impact was negligible. “Previous moves had seen up to 120 hours of downtime,” says Zambrano.

Reliable service and support underpins further expansion.With everything in place, what is noticeable since the move is … nothing. “Not a thing,” Zambrano confirms, “because there’s such reassurance in the reliability of the service.

We get lots of proactive information from BT about the behaviour of the machines. That means my team only has to get involved occasionally.”

Freed up from having to handle data centre affairs, the IT function is now able to focus on projects more important for the business. That helps improve innovation in the company. Performance has also shot up, reducing costs and downtime.

With operations already in Panama, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, as well as Colombia, as it further expands across Latin America Terpel is looking forward to co-operating with BT.

“Working with BT is a world away from what we were used to,” Zambrano sums up. “The thinking is the same as you’d find in leading European and American markets. There’s also knowledge transfer, which helps my people raise their own capabilities.”

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Core services.• BT Advise Compute professional services

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September 2015

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