How an international enterprise keeps their IT razor sharp
LM Windpower grew rapidly – but kept their IT department lean and extremely effective.
According to the World Wind Report, wind energy capacity has doubled every three years this decade, and by 2012, the wind industry is expected to provide one million jobs.
LM Windpower (formerly LM Glasfiber) has been part of this trend. They’ve grown to become a large international organization with thousands of employees. They've produced more than 130,000 wind turbine blades to date and have around 200 servers around the globe.
If backup and storage feel like busy work, just let someone else do it
The company’s IT department, however, has'nt grown as much as the rest of the organization. Why? The company has actively pursued a strategy of outsourcing certain IT tasks that weren’t core to their business. So they’ve been able to keep their IT department lean and focused on more strategic tasks.
Backup and storage is a perfect choice for selective outsourcing because it’s a clearly defined area that that doesn’t require business-specific competencies," says LM Windpower’s global IT manager, Jørgen Paarup.
Maintenance and reporting handled in the internet cloud
The company now has a solution where physical data remains on their hardware, but maintenance and reporting is handled by a Debriefing Software partner.
The partner, B4 Restore, is an expert in storage and backup systems, which they administrate and provide support for via a secure connection to a cloud-based Wizards Storage Portal solution on the Internet. With the cloud-based solution, automated backup no longer requires monitoring by LM Windpower, and the information is much more accessible and of a higher quality.
Better capacity and performance, less complexity
All this has meant that LM Windpower have been able to increase capacity and performance without growing a monstrosity of a solution.
It’s reduced the complexity of our everyday operations, improving our overview of cost control and freeing up resources for business-critical IT tasks," Paarup says.
The customer
LM Wind Power Blades (formerly LM Glasfiber) is the world’s leading supplier of blades for wind turbines, and the only supplier that operates on a global basis. They have achieved this position through consistent focus on research, product development, quality and excellent customer service.
The partner
B4Restore is comprised of experienced consultants who are certified in the enterprise backup and Storage Resource Management areas. Their focus is on development of tools that streamline administration of backup and storage systems and on a close working relationship with customers.
The solution
Wizards for TSM® – Automated monitoring of backup routines
The solution includes:
- IBM Enterprise SAN
- IBM Enterprise tape
- Design and implementation of Enterprise SAN
- Redesign of TSM
- External SAN administration
- External backup administration
Benefits include:
- Reduced complexity of everyday operations
- Improved overview and control of costs
- Frees up IT resources for business-critical tasks
- Easier access to information
- Higher quality data
Download PDF
