CASE STUDY
Modern IT infrastructure and disaster recovery from Advania gave Harrison Spinks the performance, resilience, and scalability needed to support innovation.
Harrison Spinks is an internationally respected, fifth-generation family business manufacturing beds, mattresses, and pocket-sprung furniture in the UK since 1840. As five-time winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, it maintains the highest standards of quality and innovation. When it needed to modernise its IT infrastructure, they chose Advania as its technology partner.
Industry:
Manufacturing
Size:
International family-run business
Solutions:
Data centre & networking
Harrison Spinks needed to update its ageing IT estate and modernise its server, storage, and network infrastructure to create a more agile and scalable foundation. As a company that prides itself on honesty, ethical-mindedness, and innovation, it required an IT partner who reflected these same values while providing first-class technical expertise.
Following the initial infrastructure refresh, Harrison Spinks identified the need to build on this foundation and improve business resilience with a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy. Its existing Dell EqualLogic solution was encountering performance and reliability issues, creating potential weak links in its infrastructure that needed addressing.
We worked closely with Harrison Spinks IT team to convert network, server, and storage systems to the latest HPE technology through a carefully phased refresh that didn’t impact users. Our approach involved evaluating each individual challenge and demonstrating impressive technological expertise at every stage.
For the disaster recovery requirements, instead of simply recommending another expensive 3PAR solution, we proposed HPE Nimble storage, offering 99.9999% reliability at a fraction of the cost. This included comprehensive demos and working with the team to determine the perfect configuration.
A 20TB hybrid-storage array was implemented that blended flash storage and traditional disk, conducting 98% of data reads from SSD while providing ample headroom for future backup requirements. Combined with Veeam backup software and HPE StoreEasy devices, we created a five-layer disaster recovery strategy spanning multiple locations.
The new HPE Nimble solution delivered major improvements in performance, resilience, and ease of management. Deployment was fast and seamless, with no need for on-site engineering.
Since go-live, Harrison Spinks has experienced zero unplanned downtime. Automated issue detection and resolution via InfoSight has reduced reliance on third-party support and streamlined maintenance tasks like firmware updates.
The infrastructure also supports high-performance test and development workloads without affecting backups – adding additional value and scalability to the environment. The result is a future-ready IT foundation that underpins the company’s continued innovation and growth.
Our expertise in designing cost-effective, high-performance solutions helps manufacturing businesses achieve the reliability they need without over-engineering. Contact us to put the Advania Advantage to work for your infrastructure transformation.
