Centro Computer, through the offer of a new dedicated server infrastructure, value-added solutions and consultancy services, allows OMG Srl to operate with maximum system reliability, guaranteeing collaborators the efficiency that facilitates productivity
Centro Computer, a consultancy company specializing in IT products, services and solutions for companies, supported OMG, a leading company in the production of special forklifts, to allow it to improve the reliability of company servers, increase the speed of response times of applications and initiate business continuity processes.
OMG is an Italian company that has been operating for 50 years on three business lines: production of standard and custom electric forklifts for handling any type of goods, marketing and maintenance of industrial closures and industrial painting and sandblasting service. These three operational areas coexist within the company, operating both abroad and in Italy, where it is present with four factories in Gonzaga (MN), Cinisello Balsamo (MI), Montemurlo (PO), Palidano di Gonzaga (MN) . During 2015 OMG was acquired by the Caloni family, owners of the historic Seregno company founded in 1939, specialized in the national and international transport of goods by road and logistics. In 2018 OMG laid the foundations for its future and further expanded its commercial offering with the relaunch of the Fiora brand and projects, a historic manufacturer of electric sideloaders.
In 2018 OMG, after having suffered some IT incidents due to viruses that damaged company systems and applications, decided to review the entire IT infrastructure, evaluating with particular attention the new virtualization methodologies envisaged for servers. Thus starting from an analysis carried out with Newton, a group company focused on the provision of services on AS400, OMG turned to Centro Computer, the company with which an internal manager had already collaborated, for the analysis of the various opportunities offered on the market. The main need was to manage the assessment activity to be able to verify which failover technologies allowed maximum protection and security both for backup and for any restore, the optimal scalability for adding or removing resources to a server based on needs, and the best economic savings achievable.
Centro Computer's consultancy led to the definition of the new solution which was implemented in the first months of 2019 and is based on: server HP DL380G10, the latest generation of servers in terms of security, expandability and performance; virtualization with Hyper-V; system of Veeam backups with NAS repository and external RDX support for dual copy; storage HPE MSA 1050; Palo Alto firewall PA220 in high reliability for all locations. System services were also provided for the migration of systems and the definition of the new IT platform to ensure VPN connectivity between the headquarters and the branches.
Among the further elements that pushed OMG to turn to Centro Computer, we highlight the company's need to be able to bring innovation to the assembly lines, where unfortunately the mechanics were no longer able to use the most modern CAD applications, since the IT infrastructure could not handle the new network loads.
"We were immediately very impressed by the professionalism and the commercial technical skills demonstrated by the experts at Computer Center - highlights Enzo Falco, IT Manager of OMG – and the economic proposal that was formulated to us responded perfectly to our needs. The main request was to optimize the costs of our servers, significantly gaining in terms of high reliability and security thanks to the help of virtualization technologies and we are more than satisfied with the stability obtained from our systems which today are more performing and ensure good speed of applications, as we have reduced bandwidth latency by 25-30%.”
To define the services to be provided, Centro Computer started by drafting an assessment of the client's existing infrastructure, delving into the issues of networking, storage, security and calculation, to evaluate and define all the agreed objectives. Subsequently, a personalized and complete proposal for migration and re-platforming of the entire system was outlined. Centro Computer then provided support and assistance for the configuration, installation and implementation of the new architectures with geographical reliability services between the branches in a guaranteed manner and provided in parallel on all the offices, preparing OMG for the migration in a logical of future business continuity.
"Computer Center selling hardware and software products is only the initial part of the service - debut Roberto Vicenzi, Vice President of Centro Computer – The relationship with OMG was immediately interpreted as consultancy, design and research for the best solutions on the market, to ensure that the technologies implemented could be managed effectively, responding to the required KPIs. The success of the project was confirmed by the subsequent request to manage the integration of other geographical services regarding server replication and backups between the different sites. We will continue to support the company with personalized services, to increase the availability and reliability of the infrastructure, obtaining performance in line with business needs and simplifying the management of ICT environments."
“In the past we were slow and often had to manage machine downtime or latency, which today no longer occurs, on the contrary, we have started to work at a modern pace with an increase in user satisfaction, also significantly increasing our productivity” – he concludes Falco OMG -. “Furthermore, we were surprised by the great availability shown by Centro Computer consultants, who listen to you, support you day-by-day, are capable and proactive in intervening promptly. We certainly plan to interface with them in the new project on Industry 4.0 topics that we are evaluating and which will allow us to use IoT sensors for remote assistance on our electric trucks."
