Region's hosting leader sets new service standards with IBM technology

IBM's automated Tivoli offerings will allow EHDF to set new standards in the service level agreements with immediate benefits for its existing client base of blue-chip, regional and multinational companies.

"Our mission is to offer leading-edge infrastructure services that will help companies of all sizes and in any location around the world take full advantage of the information economy securely and cost-effectively. Today's announcement takes us one step closer to this goal," said Sameer Sadeh, Chief Executive Officer at eHosting DataFort. "The new Tivoli environment will play a pivotal role in helping us bring world-class outsourced services now and in the future."

eHosting DataFort allows organizations to pilot or deploy IT services as they need them, without having to buy physical infrastructure or software licences, with known costs, and technical issues taken care of by experts from the centre. EHDF can host a custom-designed system, an existing mix of technology systems, or a packaged solution such as an entire turnkey marketplace solution which could be up and running in a fraction of the time it would normally require.

The most crucial objectives of the Tivoli implementation for EHDF will be the deployment of the International Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standard and enhancements to EHDF's proprietary Universal Data Centre infrastructure. Tivoli will help resolve situations where system performance can be affected, such as critical file systems on a Unix box nearing disc capacity, or bottlenecks in its processing resources, can easily be resolved by an alert that is sent out to the appropriate support staff who can address the situation immediately. Another important feature is IBM's Tivoli Intelligent Orchestrator; a powerful solution that will help improve service levels by constantly monitoring resources and requirements for anticipated peak workloads and triggering the appropriate response according to set business priorities. In EHDF's deployment, Orchestrator will improve Service Levels across the company's Universal Data Centre.

"The eHosting DataFort is a very dynamic facility with powerful IT systems that form the cornerstone of its operations and the service level agreements it has with its customers. With Tivoli's single framework, we are confident that the solution will address the business requirements of EHDF for years to come," said Samer Shaar, general manager, IBM Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan. "Managing complex IT systems effectively and minimizing downtime is vital to ensure that technology decisions are taken based on sound information. It is also a crucial aspect to any business considering outsourcing today."

The implementation will be carried out in several phases by a team from IBM's Software Group, which will lay out the different components of the Tivoli infrastructure that will run the data centre. New enhancements of the system such as resource reservation and scheduling support enhanced reporting, storage provisioning and an expanded library of automation workflows aim to significantly improve the operations of the data centre.
The decision to use IBM's infrastructure management technology was a result of an extensive evaluation process by EHDF six months ago on finding the partner that could provide an open and scalable solution that would best integrate with its existing enterprise IT environment.

"We have a close relationship with IBM who have been a valued business partner for many years. We are confident that the new Tivoli environment will allow us to improve the availability and management of the EHDF and the services it provides to our customers around the world," continued Sameer Sadeh.