Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, key players in the business landscape have been working around the clock to maintain essential services.
Preserving critical supply chains has been a challenge for many Managed Service Providers (MSPs), yet the software-defined data centre at the heart of Blue Chip’s cloud service has remained fully operational.
In fact, Blue Chip is continuing to operate with minimum disruption.
So, how have they achieved this?
“Over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, when a lot of people were having to stay at home, we actually had a project team in full flight. We even transitioned a large managed service customer into Blue Chip Cloud,” explains Tim Stringer, Chief Information Security Officer at Blue Chip.
Having invested and created a data centre from the ground up a decade ago, Blue Chip can continue offering its world class cloud services to keep help businesses up and running. Also, Blue Chip Cloud’s flexibility means organisations can have fully functioning environments set up in as little as 48 hours.
One such customer, a highly regarded financial institution, was able to move their infrastructure into the Blue Chip Cloud without a hitch during the UK lockdown within safe and sensible parameters. Everything was facilitated remotely, says Stringer.
Stringer goes on to explain that everything was “delivered across a multitude of different technologies as code. We’ve got our cloud infrastructure across all the technologies such as AIX, VMWare, Wintel, networks, security, storage – everything. It was all done virtually and there was no need for a physical presence on site.”
In these unusual times, not all parts of the business landscape have been able to adapt. Some MSPs have had to postpone projects because the third-party data centres they depend on aren’t accessible. Some organisations, for example, have been unable to get backups out of the systems. Again, this has not been an issue for Blue Chip.
“Consistent investment within our services and team has enabled us to continue to operate as a business and deliver these projects remotely.
“But beyond that, we focus on ‘control’. We own our data centres and employ our own staff; this enables us to have control over our processes and their outcomes,” says Chris Smith, Director of Sales & Marketing at Blue Chip.
We can all agree that staying safe is the number one priority at the moment. Everyone knows that social distancing and other sensible precautions are needed to keep risks of infection as low as possible.
But what happens when a company’s IT infrastructure needs physical maintenance? Blue Chip’s Data Centre and Facilities Officer, Eddy Conway, emphasises that Blue Chip is well prepared for keeping visitors and staff safe:
“Our engineers can look at your system to make sure that it’s functioning well. If you need to bring in a third party, we will facilitate the escort duties so that you don’t have to visit the site. Everyone involved is employed by Blue Chip and your safety is our prerogative.”
(Blue Chip also invested in extra spare parts for their warehouse prior to the lockdown to ensure availability.)
Of course, it’s impossible to predict the challenges that may arise as we mitigate the impact of the health crisis on the global business landscape. However, Blue Chip is well-equipped to help customers remain operational and navigate through to the other side.
As Smith summarises: “In this scenario, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. So, what we’ve tried to do is remove the weak links and make sure we are self-sufficient.”
Freelance Content Writer & Strategist