Partner Article

Technology firm helps client save £75,000

INJURY claims firm Insurance Medical Group (IMG) is on track with plans to push through the £12m turnover point, after calling in technology group ITPS to put a virtual ring of steel around the way it manages and stores medical data.

The project will see IMG save around £75,000 over the next five years, through a combination of reduced running costs and the ability to increase the capacity of its technology framework 20-fold, without the need for big investment.

The Durham-based company handles 110,000 medical reports and therapy bookings a year on behalf of its legal and insurance clients. Last year saw it launch two new service arms in addition to its core business, and it aims to create additional jobs over the next two years.

Gateshead company ITPS beat competition from several rivals to land the contract to help IMG boost its IT resilience and disaster recovery arrangements.

The new solution is based on IBM System Storage DS3300 virtualised servers using VMware software and supported by a storage area network (SAN). IMG now has eight virtual servers shared across two physical machines, either of which can manage the entire load if necessary.

The new infrastructure gives IMG the tools to expand capacity by another 36 disks, giving a storage capacity of up to 25 Terabytes – 20 times more capacity than its original system.

The backup system has been moved from tape to a direct disk-to-disk system and is done in a fraction of the previous time. An extra level of security is provided through DataDomain technology, which replicates the main storage backup system offsite, at ITPS’s secure data centre.

ITPS consultant John Birch said: “We are pleased to have been able to create a solution that meets IMG’s need for a secure, easily scalable IT infrastructure that can be expanded in line with anticipated growth, and at very nominal cost.

“Server virtualisation was the obvious choice for a multi-faceted business with ambitious expansion plans. By reducing the number of physical servers into a virtual bank, we’ve been able to help IMG dramatically cut the cost of purchasing, maintenance and support of their previous server estate.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .