Client
Frontier Economics
Who?
Europe’s leading economic consultancy
Port-P’s services
Frontier Economics is known for being an early adopter of technology – and that keeps our account managers and technical teams on their toes! As well as supplying their notebooks, computer accessories, printing solutions and servers for day-to-day use, Port-P has worked with Frontier to optimise their wide area network – and to put IT disaster-recovery plans in place so their data is always protected.
In 2006, we introduced an EMC Netwin (a network storage server) to Frontier, which was comprised of SATA (serial AT attachment – a storage interface for connecting host ‘bus’ adapters to mass storage devices) and fibre discs. This was replicated to a remote European location using a leased line (also known as a ‘private circuit’ or a ‘data line’), in order to serve Frontier’s other offices.
In early 2008, as Frontier’s European network grew, we introduced the company to Riverbed WAN optimisation technology, helping to enhance the performance of its bandwidth. During the summer of that year, we worked with storage system firm Data Domain to de-duplicate Frontiers data to reduce storage capacity as well as the amount of data that needed sending offsite for disaster recovery.
In 2009, we replaced Frontier’s old EMC information infrastructure with a Hewlett-Packard solution, to achieve greater capacity and performance in transmitting data.
Port-P also works closely with Frontier on the company’s software solutions, supplying them with Microsoft, Symantec, Adobe and Trend Micro products.
What the client says
“We always look to build a strong relationship with our suppliers, and it’s Port-P’s ability to understand the needs of our business, and to work with us as a partner that separates them from the competition. They fully understand the needs of our environment, the challenges of supporting a European network of offices and our desire to deliver the best possible experience for our employees.
Their knowledge of Microsoft licensing and server configuration – and their ability to go away and work on a problem with a vendor to determine the best solution – is second to none. Add to this the benefit of having the same account manager for seven years and Port-P not only saves you considerable time but ensures that you receive consistently good value. We regularly benchmark competitors, but Port-P remains consistently ahead in all aspects.”