Growing without the Growing Pains: MSI Builds Centralized IT Infrastructure with Room to Grow

YORK Label executives made a strategic move over the past year to consolidate the highly fragmented pressure-sensitive label and tag market, which historically has been served by many small providers. YORK is on track to grow through acquisitions and become the dominant player in the market. At the same time, YORK executives knew the company's IT infrastructure needed an overhaul if they were to ensure a smooth, transparent, "no-worries" execution of their plan.

The Challenges

Consolidation required a well designed, one-stop solution that would centralize all of YORK's data center components-including backup storage, servers, software and facilities-as well as provide flexibility, availability and disaster recovery with plenty of room to grow the company both organically and through future mergers.

IT Optimization

Growing without the Growing Pains: MSI Builds Centralized IT Infrastructure with Room to Grow

In just one year, YORK has completed a merger of four companies: YORK Label Holdings, Inc., Industrial Label Corporation, LSK Label Company and Quality Assured Label's Asheville, NC facility. Headquartered in Omaha, NE, YORK is now one of North America's largest label producers and the country's third-largest producer of prime, pressure-sensitive labels.

To accommodate this growth, the new infrastructure had to provide the necessary standardized email and networking, build a foundation for disaster recovery through centralized backup, and provide offsite vaulting of tapes. YORK was moving many applications off a LAN to a WAN, and also needed to guarantee agreed-upon levels of performance throughout the merger and future acquisitions. In addition, any back-end changes had to remain transparent to YORK's label customers in all geographies, even through mergers. Finally, YORK wanted more flexibility as the business transforms.

The MSI Solution

MSI designed an all-inclusive IT Optimization solution leveraging the power of IBM technologies to prevent growing pains. First the MSI team conducted a comprehensive evaluation of all of YORK's existing components:

• Data center and other facilities
• Data, voice and video networks
• Storage hardware and data management
• Servers (both Intel® and IBM System i)
• Microsoft® software

This discovery process uncovered critical requirements and data through interviews with key personnel, document gathering, site visits and quantitative tools. MSI then developed solutions for various phases of each IT infrastructure layer and delivered a comprehensive, life-cycle management plan covering every phase of the project-from strategy through ongoing support.

The solution employed centralized, automated tape backup and cost-effective System i replacements for a great number of Intel® servers. Also included were two System x servers, Citrix software, IBM TotalStorage Management (TSM) software, one IBM Tape Library and one System i upgrade for Fibre Channel attachment to the Tape Library.

Together, Citrix and System i give YORK maximum on demand performance and access to applications. A client/server application can be easily moved off of a LAN and accessed through a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) WAN backbone, placing all servers in a central location. Without Citrix, YORK's application performance would have been unacceptable.

In conjunction with the Citrix services, MSI also provided the skills to implement Microsoft Active Directory®, Microsoft Exchange, CISCO data network and VoIP, and partnered with AT&T to deliver carrier and co-location services for a fully integrated, single-source solution.

Future YORK plans include a centralized IBM disk solution that will allow the client to grow and centrally manage their disk environment using TSM and Citrix software on the System x servers. The servers replace incumbent Dell® hardware based on performance and cost advantages.

The Benefits

YORK Label's new "no-worries" IT infrastructure provides a more cost-efficient, scalable, flexible, productive and reliable foundation through which the company can continue to effectively grow its business.

"MSI has been exemplary in the practice and execution of an IT infrastructure strategy for YORK Label," said YORK CIO Chris O'Brien. "MSI has the breadth of service that YORK Label required to complete an infrastructure consolidation allowing YORK to consolidate our existing infrastructures while continuing to acquire businesses with minimal effort."

The co-location project was the key indicator, enabling YORK to operate at $2,400 per month compared to the fixed, upfront cost of $340,000 required to build and manage its own solution. This on demand payment schedule allows YORK to link into new networks immediately and significantly improve communications with newly acquired facilities, without the additional budget strain. YORKis starting with a base investment of two racks in the first year and will have the business flexibility to expand to eight racks as needed to support a growth pattern for new acquisitions.

As YORK continues to add new locations, everything will continue to be backed up at a central location so YORK can focus on the business aspects of the mergers rather than losing efficiencies in IT. With the power of Citrix and System i, backups are significantly faster, setting the stage for enhanced staff productivity. Plus, with the formalization of disciplines delivered by MSI's Managed Services team, YORK was able to complete all of the work without having to add IT staff during an already busy business cycle of mergers and acquisitions.

There's an external benefit here as well. Now YORK can better respond and adapt to market conditions and improve customer focus. Centralized backup offers the muscle to handle additional growth, yet keeps the mergers' disruption transparent to customers in all geographies.

MSI provided YORK with a true one-stop-shop process for on demand business. With a long list of IBM certifications under their belts, MSI experts designed and managed the solution, coordinated the move with third-party vendors and partners, and executed professional tasks for the customer at every phase.

"MSI has performed up to expectations while maintaining a level of integrity I feel is unparalleled in the industry," O'Brien said. "MSI doesn't tell you what they want you to hear-or what you want to hear-but honestly assesses where you are and what you need to do to get where you want to go, whether it benefits them directly or not."

For additional information on how MSI Systems Integrators can help your organization, call 800.640.4674 or visit www.msiinet.com.