COMBELL GROUP NV - www.combell.com
For further information on this article: [email protected], or call 0800-8-567890
Selligent fi nds a strategic hosting
partner in Combell
Some customers host Selligent software in their
own data centre; others choose the SaaS (Soft-
ware as a Service) solution and entirely outsource
its hosting to Selligent, which works with Combell
for this service.
Strategic long-term thinking“Customers entrust us with the processes that
are critical for their e-business,” explains Ben
Vloemans, CTO at Selligent. “If our IT infrastruc-
ture fails, this has direct consequences. That is
why our customers are very demanding on this
point, and quite rightly so. About a year ago, we
therefore chose to offer our services in a more
structured manner.”
An increasing number of customers choose
Selligent’s SaaS solution. Continuous availability
of their online services and a strong protection of
them are therefore even more important. Also, as-
pects like e.g. a clear central management and a
long-term capacity planning of the entire platform
are essential elements to achieve this.
The right interlocutor“First and foremost, we were looking for an exter-
nal partner who would not only supply a reliable
IT infrastructure, but who could also offer the
necessary support on a strategic level. We found
the right partner in Combell. Confronted with the
specifi c needs of our customers, Combell sug-
gested we switch to a ‘private Cloud’. That would
guarantee the necessary fl exibility to fulfi l the
ever-increasing capacity needs of our customers.”
Selligent’sISSUE • Better security and 24/7 availability of
• online services.
• Easily scalable IT infrastructure to support
• continuous growth.
• More effi cient management of a fast-
• growing group of SaaS customers.
• An external hosting partner with strong
• technical credentials and strategic insight.
Combell’sSOLUTION A private Cloud platform composed of more
than 30 servers (both physical and virtual),
linked to a dedicated SAN infrastructure and
virtualized with VMware vSphere. Double-
layer dedicated fi rewall protection. Selligent
enjoys the 24/7 services of a dedicated
and personal support team, which can be
reached directly.
CONVERSION MARKETING INTERACTIVE CRM
Selligent Interactive Marketing provides conversion marketing and interactive CRM soft-ware solutions. Their software enables marketing departments to analyze customer data and transactions before initiating a personal interactive dialogue with them.
www.selligent.com
customer case
COMBELL’S ASSETS ACCORDING TO Selligent
Experts with an advanced knowledge of
security, storage and cloud computing.
Very strong, on a technical as well as on a
strategic level.
Fast, fl exible, thinking along with the custo-
mer, accessible.
“We can now very easily
handle future growth. During
the fi rst 6 months, we
already fl awlessly doubled
our capacity.”
COMBELL GROUP NV - www.combell.com
For further information on this article: [email protected], or call 0800-8-567890
A fast and effi cient transition to a private CloudIn a fi rst phase, Combell analyzed Selligent’s
existing IT infrastructure.
They mainly investigated how compliant it was
with the customers’ current and long-term needs
and expectations. In a second phase, Selligent’s
and Combell’s technical staff constituted a team
that drew up the IT architecture. Their different
types of expertise seemed to perfectly comple-
ment each other.
Mr. Vloemans: “The entire project was completed
without encountering serious obstacles. The
migration process to the private Cloud, which
took about six months, was mostly performed
by our own people. That was a very intensive
period. During the transfer of our data centre,
clients were physically moved. We mostly worked
at night, in order to minimize the impact on our
customers.”
He continues: “Combell’s experts closely followed
up on everything, reported bottlenecks and provi-
ded practical advice. The actual implementation
time therefore amounted to only three months,
which is very fast. Throughout the entire process,
Combell also made continuous adjustments,
remaining at all times fl exible and responsive to
our needs. Combell kept all its promises.”
Scalable and manageableIT infrastructureSelligent’s private Cloud fulfi ls the pre-established
objectives. The company is very satisfi ed with the
end result. Even though it used to be hard to plan
capacity on short notice before, Selligent is now
even prepared for customers that will only join in
6 months. A new client can thus be connected as
early as tomorrow, so to speak.
Mr. Vloemans: “Thanks to Combell’s advice during
the capacity planning stage and the company’s
expertise in cloud computing, we can very easily
handle future growth. During the fi rst 6 months,
they even fl awlessly doubled our capacity.”
The futureEverything works stably. Selligent’s in-house IT
team takes care of daily maintenance. Com-
bell offers support where needed. Concretely,
this means that Selligent’s technical staff very
regularly discusses plans with Combell’s experts.
Optimization and the possible expansions of the IT
cloud infrastructure are among the most frequent
topics. On that level, Combell’s expertise is used
to the fullest.
Ben Vloemans, Technical Director with Sel-
ligent: “The migration to a private cloud was an
investment for us, but was certainly justifi ed on a
strategic level. The reliability of our IT infrastruc-
ture makes our new major customers perceive
SaaS as a valid solution. I’m convinced that this
investment will be benefi cial to us in the long
run.”
Nowadays, the Selligent-Combell team is deve-
loping a Full Disaster Recovery Plan. One of the
possibilities under study is to launch a second
data centre in case the primary one should go
down.
“First and foremost, we were looking for an external partner who wouldn’t only supply a reliable IT infrastructure, but who could also offer the necessary support on a strategic level. We found the right partner in Combell.”
IDENTIKIT SelligentSelligent Interactive Marketing delivers
conversion marketing and interactive CRM
software solutions.
The company has its headquarters in Brai-
ne-l’Alleud, but also has offi ces in France,
Germany, Spain, Italy and China. In 2010, its
150 employees generated a turnover of 20
million euros. Selligent’s clientele includes
renowned companies from various sectors
(telecom, retail, media, automobile and
healthcare industry), like e.g. Telenet, Kine-
polis, VMMa and D’Ieteren.
“Combell’s experts closely
followed up on everything,
reported bottlenecks and
provided practical advice.
The actual implementation
time therefore amounted to
only three months, which is
very fast.”
“The migration to a private
cloud was an investment for
us, but was certainly justifi ed
on a strategic level.”
More info about this solution? Contact one of our account managers on
0800-8-567890