DX saves over $165k migrating to cloud

DX is a leading independent logistics operator in the UK and Ireland. Established in 1975, DX employs and contracts some 5,500 people and delivers approximately 200 million items a year from 73 locations. DX specializes in the secure delivery of valuable and sensitive items nationwide, providing next-day or scheduled delivery services for mail, parcels and two-man deliveries to business and residential addresses. With accreditations such as FORS, IS0 27001, ISO 9001 and Cyber Essential PLUS, DX is the preferred supplier for both public and private sector organizations.

System downtime is a serious situation for any business but in the logistics sector, it’s an immediate impact. If IT fails, manifests and route plans are not produced, meaning that vans can’t leave, and deliveries instantly grind to a halt.

Ensono has supported DX through turbulent times, not only by ‘keeping the lights on 24×7’ but also in a wider consultancy role which has become even more important following the recent formation of a new Board of Directors, heralding dramatic business consolidation and IT transformation.

“There is now much more focus on making sure that we start to retire old systems and are on current versions of software,” says Toon.

To help DX achieve its business goals, Ensono is re-architecting its environment onto different platforms. One project is to migrate some DX operations onto the scalable and highly available Ensono Cloud private cloud environment – a move that could bring annual savings of over $165,000 which can be re-invested in other projects.

“The main benefit of working with Ensono is improved system availability,” says Toon. “If things go down we have to make sure that the reaction is quick, that we can identify what the issues are and get them resolved as soon as possible and that is what our association with Ensono provides. It keeps the lights on for us very efficiently.

“However, the strong relationship we have with Ensono is more than that of a managed service provider. It’s much more strategic. Ensono provides thought leadership, advice and guidance on new technologies. We are able to bounce ideas and get very quick responses with unbiased advice.”

The aims are to improve platform scalability and the ability to work in a more agile fashion, speeding up development and test times and reducing time-to-market.