Ausbil

Professional services

“It’s absolutely critical for us to have reliable systems as we are a fund manager who needs to be active in the stock market. If we experience downtime, it can be a disaster. The Huon IT solution gave us exactly what we wanted.”

Laurence Burford

IT Manager of Ausbil Investment Management Limited

Industry:

Ausbil Investment Management Limited is an Australian equities specialist with approximately $11 billion in funds under management. Established in 1997, Ausbil’s core business is the management of Australian equities for major superannuation funds, institutional investors, and major trust clients.

Challenge:

To stay ahead of the curve, Ausbil adheres to a strict 3-4 year infrastructure refresh cycle. With staff distributed across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane, they required a sophisticated upgrade that could be implemented without interrupting their live trading capabilities. Furthermore, they needed a partner that offered the technical firepower of a large firm but the personalised service of a boutique agency, ensuring they wouldn’t become “a small fish in a big pond.”

Solution:

Huon IT deployed a “best of breed” private cloud solution using VMware vSphere virtualisation and HP Blade hardware to consolidate servers, paired with a high-availability SAN. A key element of the project was the “parallel installation” strategy: the new infrastructure was built and tested alongside the existing network, allowing for a seamless migration with zero operational downtime. Additionally, Huon IT engineered a robust Disaster Recovery environment capable of supporting the high rate of data change inherent in the stock market.

Ausbil has always understood the importance of solid IT to stay on top of their industry

They are one of the world’s leading boutique fund managers, backed by a global network. “We refresh our IT infrastructure every 3-4 years to keep things current and stable and to always have a best practice reliable system for our clients,” says Laurence Burford, Ausbil’s IT Manager.

Their story

Ausbil Investment Management Limited has 38 staff members in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. They need to be able to provide leading-edge IT across multiple locations. When Ausbil began the search for a new provider, they expected it to take months to find the perfect fit.

“We knew that to stay relevant and effective, we needed a new partner,” Burford says. “So we went looking for a technology partner that could help us maintain our competitive edge.”

The challenges

Burford says that Huon IT was the right choice because of their size: small enough to provide personalised service but large enough to keep up with Ausbil’s sophisticated demands.

“I was wary of bigger firms, as I knew we would be a small fish in a big pond with them. After meeting with Huon IT, I knew right away that they had the right combination of expertise and personal service that we needed,” says Burford.

The solution

Virtualisation and OS Upgrades

The project began with virtualisation, application and operating system upgrades. Huon IT deployed VMware vSphere as the platform for virtualisation. A HP Blade hardware solution was utilised to consolidate server hardware in a tightly managed enclosure, with a single point of management for all servers. In conjunction, a SAN (with failover functionality) served as the storage platform.

Keeping the business live and free of interruptions during the project was a major priority. Huon IT installed the new system alongside the current infrastructure, connected to the same network. This allowed the migration to take place with no downtime during work hours while all application and operating system upgrades were performed. “Our staff didn’t even notice that there was a major change going on behind the scenes, which was a great reflection of the detailed planning that went into the project,” Burford adds.

Improved Disaster Recovery

Perhaps the biggest benefit of the project was incorporating new Disaster Recovery protocols. With a high rate of change from the ‘live’ stock market and stringent confidentiality requirements, Ausbil ensured that they have a fast and safe way to recover should a disaster – natural or otherwise – occur.

The brief was to create a DR environment to work from any location. Huon IT customised the configuration so that everything worked according to the specs outlined – and more efficiently than Ausbil’s previous solution.

“Before Huon IT, it took 2-3 hours for system recovery – now it can be done in under an hour,” says Burford.

The results

Private cloud solution for multi-office organisation.
Sophisticated Disaster Recovery system.
Best of breed infrastructure.
Zero business downtime.
Scalable solution for future business growth.
Tailored, personal service.

“Huon IT was a pleasure to work with. Our systems are now far more flexible; if we undergo growth, it’s easily scalable, and it’s also a lot easier to implement new systems on the virtual platform. Our Disaster Recovery system has been simplified and is more efficient. All in all, we got exactly what we wanted.”

Laurence Burford

IT Manager – Ausbil

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