TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Alviva shares leap higher on R3-billion take-private offer

      30 June 2022

      Datatec to sell Analysys Mason for as much as R4.1-billion

      30 June 2022

      Futuregrowth launches start-up fund, targets R600-million raise

      30 June 2022

      Eskom is killing the rand

      30 June 2022

      Eskom ramps up load shedding as crisis deepens

      30 June 2022
    • World

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022

      Bitcoin just had its worst quarter in a decade

      30 June 2022

      Samsung beats TSMC to 3nm chip production

      30 June 2022

      Napster plots crypto comeback

      29 June 2022

      Pictures: Chinese spacecraft acquires images of entire planet of Mars

      29 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Sections»Cloud computing»Stefanutti Stocks moves cloud seamlessly back home

    Stefanutti Stocks moves cloud seamlessly back home

    Cloud computing By Routed26 July 2021
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    The construction industry hasn’t changed in centuries and is ultimately still laying bricks and building buildings. Yet construction giant Stefanutti Stocks has not only been able to transform the face of its IT department as an early adopter of the cloud, but has also managed to face work-from-home disruptions without missing a beat with the migration of its VMware cloud environment from Europe to South Africa.

    Stefanutti Stocks is a major listed player in the South African and sub-Saharan African construction markets. It employs 7 500 people and earns billions in annual revenue, with projects running from Cape Town to Dubai. Its sheer scale and the geographically dispersed needs of its on-site teams, which run hundreds of projects simultaneously, have been the catalyst for transforming its IT team’s role to that of service provider.

    “Our IT group acts like a service provider, or a reseller, providing different services for around 16 companies and 200 to 300 projects at any given point. So, we have to be agile and efficient and ensure access to systems no matter where the construction crew lands,” said Kevin Wilson, GM of group IT services.

    We wanted a partner that could emulate what we had (in the cloud), take ownership of our cloud architecture, and get on with it

    In 2015, Stefanutti took the stance that a private but offsite cloud would aid its approach. A long-time user of VMware, it migrated to a vCloud Air solution hosted in data centres in Europe. The move let it port legacy applications without significant expense and conduct a virtual lift-and-shift migration into the cloud to deploy more modern cloud services and enable other technology services. However, latency issues required Stefanutti’s investment in network acceleration equipment and the establishment of its own interconnect sites (one of the first in South Africa).

    Faster

    According to Wilson, the pressure was mounting for IT to provide faster application performance but maintain the construction industry’s reputation for being gun-shy with technology investment. This led to an investigation into local, certified VMware cloud provider partners that would offer the same VMware experience at an improved cost, had the skills to support the company, and provided the flexibility to manage, operate and innovate in its environment. It was at this point that it selected VMware Cloud Verified and Principal Partner Routed.

    “We wanted a partner that could emulate what we had (in the cloud), take ownership of our cloud architecture, and get on with it. I don’t want to build my own cloud architecture, nor do I want to know how providers will keep my environment up and running. I want it to work. As a long-term user of VMware, both on-premises and in the cloud, I know that it is the best solution for this approach because, ultimately, your application doesn’t know where it is. It’s highly available, properly backed up, and lives in the cloud,” said Wilson.

    Crucially, the complete and certified VMware stack at Routed delivered a more reliable and predictable migration. In addition, Routed’s full-stack VMware Cloud Director embodies features Stefanutti needed for its IT-as-a-service approach, such as a complete self-service experience using the user interface and application programming interfaces. As expected, the move to local vastly reduced Stefanutti’s latency issues, led to much lower costs and afforded it the flexibility needed to run services for hundreds of projects in different locations.

    “Stefanutti are such a unique client. While they are a construction business at heart, they are also, in theory, a cloud service provider where IT provides services to the business on demand,” said Routed MD Andrew Cruise. “Our teams work exceptionally well together and are technically in sync at any given point. They always looked for a partner that could support their journey and not just push services at them. So, by providing Stefanutti with full self-service access and control with support, and aggregating our knowledge when they need it, we make a great team.”

    Stefanutti and Routed managed the seamless and speedy completion of a lift-and-shift of legacy systems from one cloud environment to another. This included the migration of all the companies “moving parts” and third-party applications and software such as Veeam. It was also all up and running by the time the pandemic forced a more remote working model – which Wilson added had no real impact on access to systems as it was a model the business was already comfortable using.

    Left to right, Routed’s Andrew Cruise and Stefanutti Stocks’ Kevin Wilson

    “Our industry hasn’t changed in centuries. We are still laying bricks and building buildings. Many of our systems are older, as are the applications we use, because change is slow in this industry. Looking ahead, we are tinkering with new systems and solutions and hoping to build applications that support our IT-as-a-service model. At Stefanutti, we rip out 60% of our networks every year because projects conclude, and sites change. This needs a high degree of agility, reinforced by 4IR elements, a capacity we have been building for years on VMware environments,” said Wilson.

    About Routed
    Routed is a true cloud provider. Secure, robust and reliable, the Routed cloud platform is vendor neutral and offers scalable, full or hybrid cloud hosting. Engaging directly or within a channel, Routed delivers cloud and infrastructure solutions to enterprise customers, wholesale partners, resellers and affiliates.

    Founded in 2016 in response to a growing demand for data centre hosting solutions following the rapid growth and penetration of fast, reliable connectivity services in South Africa, Routed is led by industry veterans with over 35 years of experience in delivering and managing secure cloud and infrastructure solutions both locally and internationally. For more, visit www.routed.co.za.

    • This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned
    Andrew Cruise Kevin Wilson Routed Stefanutti Stocks VMware
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleFree APN migration ensures 50% saving with execMobile’s managed mobile data
    Next Article Level-3 lockdown regulations: What they say

    Related Posts

    Alviva shares leap higher on R3-billion take-private offer

    30 June 2022

    Datatec to sell Analysys Mason for as much as R4.1-billion

    30 June 2022

    Futuregrowth launches start-up fund, targets R600-million raise

    30 June 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Billetterie simplifies interactions between law firms and clients

    30 June 2022

    Think herding cats is tricky? Try herding a cloud

    29 June 2022

    How your business can help hybrid workers effectively

    28 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.