COMBELL GROUP NV - www.combell.com

For further information on this article: info@combell.com, or call 0800-8-567890

Selligent fi nds a strategic hosting

partner in Combell

Some customers host Selligent software in their

own data centre; others choose the SaaS (Soft-

ware as a Service) solution and entirely outsource

its hosting to Selligent, which works with Combell

for this service.

Strategic long-term thinking“Customers entrust us with the processes that

are critical for their e-business,” explains Ben

Vloemans, CTO at Selligent. “If our IT infrastruc-

ture fails, this has direct consequences. That is

why our customers are very demanding on this

point, and quite rightly so. About a year ago, we

therefore chose to offer our services in a more

structured manner.”

An increasing number of customers choose

Selligent’s SaaS solution. Continuous availability

of their online services and a strong protection of

them are therefore even more important. Also, as-

pects like e.g. a clear central management and a

long-term capacity planning of the entire platform

are essential elements to achieve this.

The right interlocutor“First and foremost, we were looking for an exter-

nal partner who would not only supply a reliable

IT infrastructure, but who could also offer the

necessary support on a strategic level. We found

the right partner in Combell. Confronted with the

specifi c needs of our customers, Combell sug-

gested we switch to a ‘private Cloud’. That would

guarantee the necessary fl exibility to fulfi l the

ever-increasing capacity needs of our customers.”

Selligent’sISSUE • Better security and 24/7 availability of

• online services.

• Easily scalable IT infrastructure to support

• continuous growth.

• More effi cient management of a fast-

• growing group of SaaS customers.

• An external hosting partner with strong

• technical credentials and strategic insight.

Combell’sSOLUTION A private Cloud platform composed of more

than 30 servers (both physical and virtual),

linked to a dedicated SAN infrastructure and

virtualized with VMware vSphere. Double-

layer dedicated fi rewall protection. Selligent

enjoys the 24/7 services of a dedicated

and personal support team, which can be

reached directly.

CONVERSION MARKETING INTERACTIVE CRM

Selligent Interactive Marketing provides conversion marketing and interactive CRM soft-ware solutions. Their software enables marketing departments to analyze customer data and transactions before initiating a personal interactive dialogue with them.

www.selligent.com

customer case

COMBELL’S ASSETS ACCORDING TO Selligent

Experts with an advanced knowledge of

security, storage and cloud computing.

Very strong, on a technical as well as on a

strategic level.

Fast, fl exible, thinking along with the custo-

mer, accessible.

“We can now very easily

handle future growth. During

the fi rst 6 months, we

already fl awlessly doubled

our capacity.”

COMBELL GROUP NV - www.combell.com

For further information on this article: info@combell.com, or call 0800-8-567890

A fast and effi cient transition to a private CloudIn a fi rst phase, Combell analyzed Selligent’s

existing IT infrastructure.

They mainly investigated how compliant it was

with the customers’ current and long-term needs

and expectations. In a second phase, Selligent’s

and Combell’s technical staff constituted a team

that drew up the IT architecture. Their different

types of expertise seemed to perfectly comple-

ment each other.

Mr. Vloemans: “The entire project was completed

without encountering serious obstacles. The

migration process to the private Cloud, which

took about six months, was mostly performed

by our own people. That was a very intensive

period. During the transfer of our data centre,

clients were physically moved. We mostly worked

at night, in order to minimize the impact on our

customers.”

He continues: “Combell’s experts closely followed

up on everything, reported bottlenecks and provi-

ded practical advice. The actual implementation

time therefore amounted to only three months,

which is very fast. Throughout the entire process,

Combell also made continuous adjustments,

remaining at all times fl exible and responsive to

our needs. Combell kept all its promises.”

Scalable and manageableIT infrastructureSelligent’s private Cloud fulfi ls the pre-established

objectives. The company is very satisfi ed with the

end result. Even though it used to be hard to plan

capacity on short notice before, Selligent is now

even prepared for customers that will only join in

6 months. A new client can thus be connected as

early as tomorrow, so to speak.

Mr. Vloemans: “Thanks to Combell’s advice during

the capacity planning stage and the company’s

expertise in cloud computing, we can very easily

handle future growth. During the fi rst 6 months,

they even fl awlessly doubled our capacity.”

The futureEverything works stably. Selligent’s in-house IT

team takes care of daily maintenance. Com-

bell offers support where needed. Concretely,

this means that Selligent’s technical staff very

regularly discusses plans with Combell’s experts.

Optimization and the possible expansions of the IT

cloud infrastructure are among the most frequent

topics. On that level, Combell’s expertise is used

to the fullest.

Ben Vloemans, Technical Director with Sel-

ligent: “The migration to a private cloud was an

investment for us, but was certainly justifi ed on a

strategic level. The reliability of our IT infrastruc-

ture makes our new major customers perceive

SaaS as a valid solution. I’m convinced that this

investment will be benefi cial to us in the long

run.”

Nowadays, the Selligent-Combell team is deve-

loping a Full Disaster Recovery Plan. One of the

possibilities under study is to launch a second

data centre in case the primary one should go

down.

“First and foremost, we were looking for an external partner who wouldn’t only supply a reliable IT infrastructure, but who could also offer the necessary support on a strategic level. We found the right partner in Combell.”

IDENTIKIT SelligentSelligent Interactive Marketing delivers

conversion marketing and interactive CRM

software solutions.

The company has its headquarters in Brai-

ne-l’Alleud, but also has offi ces in France,

Germany, Spain, Italy and China. In 2010, its

150 employees generated a turnover of 20

million euros. Selligent’s clientele includes

renowned companies from various sectors

(telecom, retail, media, automobile and

healthcare industry), like e.g. Telenet, Kine-

polis, VMMa and D’Ieteren.

“Combell’s experts closely

followed up on everything,

reported bottlenecks and

provided practical advice.

The actual implementation

time therefore amounted to

only three months, which is

very fast.”

“The migration to a private

cloud was an investment for

us, but was certainly justifi ed

on a strategic level.”

More info about this solution? Contact one of our account managers on

0800-8-567890