Toolbank
Toolbank
Toolbank is the leading specialist distributor of hand and power tools in the UK & Ireland, running a 24-hour warehousing operation. They required our expertise in order to implement a suite of services that would provide minimal impact for their customers in the event of a disaster recovery scenario.
The problem
Toolbank approached us to tender for a Business Continuity project. They required a stable, secure and highly resilient platform from which to run their business operations in the event of a disaster level situation. Toolbank had previously used a Southampton Data Centre for back-ups which was managed in-house, however this was no longer a viable solution. They had explored options provided from vendors such as VMware directly, but due to the lack of flexibility – particularly with the MPLS integration and DR testing – had decided that this was not a good fit for their requirements.
We have an excellent working relationship with Select, from their sales force to the support desk, their flexibility with our DR solution was extremely valuable and their understanding of our processes and what we have both achieved has been of the highest level.
Chris Ledson, IT Manager
The solution
Due to the excellent partnership we have with a UK Data Centre, we were able to design and deliver a convenient and flexible solution by providing access to a managed infrastructure, meaning Toolbank were able to easily remove this overhead from their internal resources. Unlike other options that were considered, the flexibility of our Data Centre partnership meant we were also able to offer completely unrestricted access for DR testing, as well as provide a Work Area Recovery (WAR) location from which Toolbank could coordinate a response to a disaster if required.
In addition to the infrastructure replication solution powered by Veeam and VMware, the project also produced a set of defined and controlled operating/invocation procedures and a 24/7 emergency response covering 363 days a year.
About the client
Since the opening of C. A. Clemson & Sons in 1972 by Arthur Clemson and John Twallin, Toolbank has developed to become one of the leading distributors of tools, accessories and hardware products to merchant, retail and e-commerce markets throughout the UK & Ireland.
Trading from 15 strategically sited warehouses, backed by central distribution, Toolbank provides their 12,000 customer outlets with 24/48hour service on over 30,000 products via their network of specialist logistical services. Their extensive range of brands and sources ensures they can provide products for every trade, task and budget.
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