The transformation of legacy infrastructure to IaaS
A success story from Areas
The challenge
Areas needed to be able to quickly adapt to a market in a state of constant change, increasing their capacity to react and improving efficiency in complex processes. To do this, they needed to be able to consolidate and improve the management of large volumes of data.
The solution
We transformed Areas’ infrastructure from on premise to IaaS in a secure and transparent way. This allows Areas total flexibility and scalability in a secure environment with high connectivity. In addition, they have integrated cloud backup into their business continuity plans.
Areas is one of the world leaders in Food & Beverage and Travel Retail through its different brands, such as Deli&Cia, La Pausa, Pepito Grillo, Sibarium or Divers; and franchisees, such as Burger King, Rodilla or SantaGloria, among many others.
Their network has 23,000 employees and more than 2,000 restaurants and stores located in train stations, airports and highways in 12 different countries. 330 million customers pass through their establishments every year.
A success story in IaaS projects
Areas is one of the world leaders in Food & Beverage and Travel Retail through its different brands, such as Deli&Cia, La Pausa, Pepito Grillo, Sibarium or Divers; and franchisees, such as Burger King, Rodilla or SantaGloria, among many others.
Their network has 23,000 employees and more than 2,000 restaurants and stores located in train stations, airports and highways in 12 different countries. 330 million customers pass through their establishments every year.
The challenge in the case of Areas involved the management of an infrastructure with great risks and uncertainties: changing environments, operational complexity and permanent obsolescence. Their transformation involved investing in a new flexible and scalable virtual infrastructure.
In this video, the main managers and technological strategists of Areas are: Miquel Fernàndez, CIO; Marcel Jorba, IT Operations Director; and Javier Pulido, IT Director for Spain, Portugal and Chile; they speak first-hand of how the transition from an on-premise world to an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) environment has increased their ability to adapt to business needs without losing control and governance of processes and operations.
“The challenge is not so much to guess the future but to know how to adapt and have the flexibility to adapt to the changes that occur.”
Miquel Fernàndez, CIO Areas
A close client-technology partner relationship
Our relationship as Areas’ technology partner dates back to mid-2007. Initially, our mission was to design and implement the interconnection of the nearly 300 operational headquarters of Areas through MPLS and VPN networks. The project included international headquarters such as Mexico and the United States, and we even implemented a DPC node in Florida.
At the same time, Areas moved and implemented its entire IT infrastructure and core network in our data center in central Barcelona.
Currently, Areas is transferring its IT infrastructure, hosted in our data center, towards IaaS services in order to face the challenges of a constantly evolving market.
The challenges for Areas in a changing environment
Areas is by definition a very dynamic company. The management of a large volume of data combined with the complexity of the restaurant service for travellers requires speed and efficiency in decision-making. Those responsible for the IT area of Areas were very clear, from the beginning, what their main challenge was.
“The challenge is not so much to guess the future but to know how to adapt and have the flexibility to adapt to the changes that occur,” said Miquel Fernàndez.
Miquel Fernández, CIO of the company, knew that it was essential to avoid dispersed data and complex solutions. In a market with high operational complexity and constant development, a technological solution based on simplicity, standardization and flexibility is needed. Areas’ great challenge was having the ability to quickly adapt to a changing market.
To achieve this, Areas’ new virtual infrastructure had to improve reaction speed and efficiency in complex processes, guaranteeing the quality of service and improving competitiveness. Always, without losing sight of governance.
A major transformation process that would involve changes in ERP systems, the way of working and communications. The objective: improve the infrastructure at an appropriate cost.
“The challenge is not so much to guess the future but to know how to adapt and have the flexibility to adapt to the changes that occur.”
Miquel Fernàndez, CIO Areas
A new robust and flexible network infrastructure adaptable to any environment
Until now, Areas’ IT strategy was based on on-premise hardware. Their IT department was responsible for the security, availability and internal management of its own software and assets. They needed a technological partner with the necessary skills to create a flexible infrastructure that would allow them to adapt to a changing and constantly developing environment. As Marcel Jorba said, “We are a restaurant company, not a technology company.”
This is how Areas entrusted us with its transition from on-premise to IaaS and became one of our cloud users. Our team led the transition of Areas’ infrastructure from the physical world to the virtual world in a completely transparent and scalable manner, with the guarantee of rapid connectivity and the integration of all infrastructure into the same ecosystem.
The cloud service allowed us perfect adaptability to Areas’ systems plan, giving them the ability to grow quickly and flexibly. Jorba highlights the security, flexibility and accessible management with which the process was carried out despite the inherent risk and complexity.
In addition to having moved its services to the cloud, Areas also entrusted us with other complementary services such as backup, connectivity and monitoring, also collocated on our infrastructure.
“Areas is one of the world leaders in Food & Beverage and Travel Retail through its different brands, such as Deli&Cia, La Pausa, Pepito Grillo, Sibarium or Divers; and franchisees, such as Burger King, Rodilla or SantaGloria, among many others.”
Miquel Fernàndez, CIO Areas
A much more competitive organization
The benefits of the transition to IaaS have been visible since its start. Areas has managed to increase the level of service availability and has reduced operational complexity, thereby reducing costs. In addition, a very clear continuity and recovery plan has been created that has granted greater technical and operational maturity.
The Areas management team highlights these benefits as those that have had the greatest impact on the company:
- Improved flexibility and reaction speed.
- Reduction in operational complexity and greater efficiency.
- Greater control and governance of processes and operations.
- Greater availability of systems, currently at 99.9%.
- Achievement of technical and operational maturity.
- Lower cost thanks to pay per use.
A great benefit, although less tangible, says Miquel Fernàndez, is the reduction in opportunity cost. Taking 5 months, and not one, to implement a new service means 4 months of opportunity cost. A cost that, although difficult to quantify, is real.
Flexibility, speed, security and trust are the main achievements that were a turning point in Areas’ digital transformation, making it a much more competitive organization today.
“What would have happened if we had not had that flexibility to tackle projects with a certain speed?”
Miquel Fernàndez, CIO Areas