DCConnect

DCConnect brings in Logicalis Hong Kong’s expertise to boost connectivity and stay future-ready

Selecting Logicalis as an Expert Technology Service Provider

In Asia Pacific, DCConnect was looking for a trusted service provider that could help the company continue to innovate and deliver world-class services for its expanding customer base in the Asia Pacific region.

Running a 24x7 non-stop network and technology environment, a key objective of DCConnect was to continue improving the technology infrastructure to ensure resilience, flexibility and scalability with the goal of minimising any service interruption for its customers.

In January 2021, DCConnect selected Logicalis Hong Kong as a technical service provider for the company and its customer, who was also providing cloud services to their own users.

DCConnect had evaluated and chose Logicalis based on trust and confidence in the company’s capabilities and strong track record. Logicalis had previously deployed network equipment for DCConnect in Hong Kong and in the US.

Logicalis Hong Kong provided DCConnect with a comprehensive network design, framework and roadmap to achieve the organisation’s objectives. This proposal was also sent to DCConnect’s customer to get their acceptance. Logicalis was able to distinguish itself from the strong relationship built with DCConnect from the past and a value proposition that went beyond what the competition could offer

Implementing the Solution

Describing the journey in the solution implementation, Raymond Fong, Technical Director of Logicalis Hong Kong, said the team first met with DCConnect to understand what was required. Logicalis understood that among DCConnect’s key priorities were the need to robustly protect their customer’s applications on the private cloud; and for the bandwidth to be able to scale and grow dynamically when the business expands.

“We formed a security team which started pre-staging work on the network equipment and collected information from DCConnect on what they wanted from their connectivity. We were able to integrate the new solution into DCConnect’s existing network. An on-site installation was next done in the Hong Kong data centre and across DCConnect’s customer sites. The whole migration went seamlessly,” said Logicalis’ Fong.

The next step was helping DCConnect’s customer deploy the solution. We then provided training for its end users so they can learn the skill set to manage the firewall by themselves.

The Result

The implementation by Logicalis included the breakthrough use of Check Point’s Hyperscale maestro solution, comprising the Hyperscale Orchestrator 140 and Quantum 6600. The Maestro hyperscale solution is significant and noteworthy in that it has only been deployed in less than a dozen projects in Hong Kong. Key advantages of the Maestro solution were the ease in security management and simpler data centre workflow orchestration.

Maestro was also able to leverage the agility and elasticity of the cloud on premise by providing an efficient N+1 clustering. The rapid deployment and automated management capabilities of the Maestro box also made scaling out easier.

As a cloud operator, the business goal of DCConnect’s customer was to reduce any downtime in any capacity adjustment and to maximise cost efficiencies by extending the lifespan of the new hardware.

DCConnect’s customer was also able to save on upfront CAPEX costs. Downtime was further reduced as there was no longer a need to replace the router or firewall or do another extensive migration. The infrastructure was also more cost efficient and sustainable.

Another business benefit was that the Maestro hyperscale solution was already proven in the industry and can be extended to more DCConnect users. The same design and solution that resided on Logicalis’ architecture could be offered and resold to other customers, saving valuable time and resources as there was no need to do a further proof-of-concept, evaluation, design and testing when more users come on board

“We’re extremely satisfied with the performance of the network and the services that Logicalis have provided. Our customer, who is a cloud provider, can raise their capacity by adding additional processing appliances. There is no need to purchase an entire set of equipment and the best thing is that it won't bring any downtime to their operations.”

- Billy Fung,

CTO – Asia Pacific, DCConnect

Future Plans

With the Maestro deployment in place, DCConnect’s customer has a modern and secure network infrastructure that can evolve with their business needs in the foreseeable future.

Fung said that the customer’s cloud usage could grow by another 50 to 100 per cent over the next three to six years. “Working with Logicalis has enabled DCConnect to leverage hyperconnectivity and high-performance bandwidth in this project. The flexibility of the hyperscale solution will help our customer stay agile into the future and become more competitive.”

The success case in Hong Kong is likely to be replicated in other regions. Over the next few years, DCConnect expects to grow its data centre and cloud footprint in Asia Pacific beyond Hong Kong to other countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. “

As their technology consultant, we will always find a solution to fit DCConnect’s requirements, to help DCConnect to continue innovating and keep up with technology enhancements and their customer needs,” said Logicalis’ Fong.