Fastlink Jordan dials up business continuity with EMC solution

The new infrastructure is provided by EMC Corporation, the world leader in information management and storage.

Fastlink's Chief Information Officer, Medhat Amer, shared his perspective on the company's approach to information lifecycle management (ILM) or the ability to cost-effectively manage data from its creation to disposal, at EMC's annual telecoms summit, which is taking place on March 1-2. Amer joined decision-makers from more than 20 regional telco operators to hear firsthand about EMC's solution roadmap for the industry.

"The volume of Fastlink's customer and call data is more than tripling every year, requiring additional capacity to store and manage that information while using it to create tailored customer services," said Medhat Amer, during his case study at the EMC Telecoms Summit.

"Our new EMC infrastructure has already demonstrated that back-ups and retrieval of information that previously may have taken up to 10 days with our earlier system can now be done in less than 10 hours, yielding considerable cost and time savings,"

he added.

Fastlink's new data management strategy is based on a tiered approach with two main information sites that can be used for 'failover' when any unplanned downtime occurs. Using EMC hardware and software to create a storage area network, the mobile operator can now match protection levels to the business value of its data, across its entire lifecycle.

"With our new system, our most vital data is accorded with the highest level of protection in case of a system failure. Less critical data is managed in a more cost-effective but still secure way. Ultimately, customers expect their telecoms operator to be continuously available, and that's the goal we are achieving through our EMC strategy," added Fastlink's Amer.

Amer said Fastlink has succeeded in expanding the scope of its services during the past year and was able to render the mobile phone into the leading means of communications in Jordan, all due to the advanced technologies and services the company has made available to subscribers, based on market studies and the needs of the various sectors.

The EMC solution, delivered to Fastlink in less than three months, includes high-end EMC Symmetrix DMXTM, and mid-range CLARiiONTM hardware as well as software to manage archiving, replication, and email storage. By choosing EMC, Fastlink has joined the ranks of the world's leading telecoms operators to minimize data loss and reduce operational costs.

"Mobile providers such as Fastlink are under constant pressure to enhance their networks and roll-out new services while reducing operational costs. By moving to an ILM strategy, Fastlink can directly map the cost of managing their growing volumes of data to business realities including service levels and cost levels," said Mohammed Amin, regional manager of EMC Middle East.

During the two-day telecoms summit, EMC experts showcased the company's new software for enterprise content management, virtualization, and other offerings for the region's mobile and fixed-line providers. Attendees also heard commentary from EMC partners such as Nokia, Cisco, and Ciena on topics including network architecture.

"Since our 2005 telecoms summit, EMC has secured new business in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE, indicating the robust demand for data management solutions in the communications sector," Amin added.