Server Virtualization Gives Reinsurer Reliable Base for Cost-Effective Data Access, Storage

Background

PMA Capital Insurance Company (the ‘Company’ or ‘PMA’) is a domestic property and casualty reinsurance subsidiary in run-off. In conjunction with an overall effort to streamline the company’s IT infrastructure, PMA sought to dramatically reduce its server count without sacrificing speed, capacity or data integrity. In addition, PMA was looking to partner with a technology consultant that could take over the day-to-day support requirements that had previously been managed by an in-house IT department.

The Challenge

Prior to IT Solutions’ (ITS) involvement, PMA was managing over 35 servers, 7 switches, and a storage area network device (SAN). The age of the hardware and changes with the user base meant they were due for an upgrade and consolidation. But reducing these resources would have to be carefully planned and deployed so as not to disrupt the regular business workflow or risk loss of critical data in the migration process. ITS had to work closely with the application support staff to verify that their custom systems would function properly in a virtual environment.

Being a new vendor for PMA, ITS had to demonstrate appropriate expertise and reliability through references and the sales process – always a bigger challenge than working with an existing client. Also, PMA had been working with consultants to supply helpdesk and network support for a number of years. Not having any direct involvement in the project, these resources did not have the detailed knowledge and time to devote to the project that a typical in-house stakeholder would bring to such an effort.

The Solution

Following a thorough inventory and understanding of the existing environment, ITS planned and managed an extensive migration of 30 physical servers down to five. Server virtualization, driven by industry-leading software VM-ware, was the primary goal of the effort. To support the new severs, a new firewall, switching environment, and SAN had to be installed and configured. Once the new hardware environment was up and running and stable, the numerous applications and data could be carefully migrated. An off-site disaster recovery/business continuity solution was implemented along with upgrades to the backup systems and the Microsoft Exchange Server.

Overall key milestones that were achieved in the effort included: installation of a clustered VMware solution for high performance and fault tolerance and installation of a high-performance SAN to provide fast data throughput and meet future expansion needs cost effectively. Following more than four months of careful analysis, hands-on installations, configurations, and testing, much of it on nights and weekends to minimize company downtime, the virtualization upgrade project was brought to successful closure.

For ongoing maintenance and support, PMA enrolled in the ITS SharedVision Guardian plan. What made Guardian the most appealing option to PMA was full coverage for both servers and workstations at a predictable flat-fee cost. Now PMA has complete technical support services available 24x7 to keep the network running optimally at all times.

The Return

In addition to a significant reduction in maintenance and cooling costs, consolidating the server infrastructure on the latest hardware and software technologies gave PMA the sound foundation needed to move forward with a network that operates with minimal interruption. By choosing ITS for the ongoing support role, the Company gets the collective knowledge of a certified team at a fraction of the cost of an in-house IT staff. Additionally, they get the benefits of the technical know-how without the overhead and management responsibilities associated with full-time resources.

“The outsourced onsite and helpdesk support offered by IT Solutions is a great fit for PMA,” says VP & Controller Frank Pantazopoulos. “For about what we paid for a full-time network and help desk consultant, we now get a whole team of IT Solutions engineers who we don’t have to recruit, train, manage, or cover for when they’re out of the office.”