HP blades sharpens toy company's cutting edge
HP blades sharpens toy company's cutting edge
Hewlett-Packard centralised the IT infrastructure of Creata Promotion, an Australian-based toy company, enabling the business to adjust to any environmental changes quickly, by integrating ProLiant BL 10e-Class server blades in under a day.
Creata Promotion specialises in developing promotional toys, games and other brand-enhancing items for major companies such as Kellog and McDonalds. It was established in 1973, but has since faced problems managing its IT infrastructure because it has expanded so rapidly over the years.
Through the use of HP ProLiant BL 10e server blades, the company's users accounts, system access, verification and asset management is now managed by a central authority, which has reduced costs, saving time and providing users with a seamless system interface and the opportunity for online collaboration.
Michael Ashby, vice president of Creata's global information systems, explained why the old system, consisting of 30 to 40 servers, was not capably of taking on further IT growth. "We were basically isolated offices with only our email enabling online business communication between the countries. Some of our small international offices, such as Rome, only had about four staff members but still required IT support to help remove or set up staff members' user accounts.
"HP provided a real upgrade path and having previously implemented other ProLiant servers we knew that the company's service was second to none."
The ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack allowed Creata to easily configure and install Microsoft Active Directory using imaging technology. This mainly automated process used HP ProLiant DL360 server to deploy the images across to each blade server.
It took half a day to establish the first configuration image, then just 15 minutes for each of the subsequent images to be installed.
Two of the servers are dedicated to Creata's domain and the remaining eight are back-up servers to the company's domain servers.
The mobile work forces can now log in without having to make set-up arrangements, taking the inconvenience out of business travel. The system automatically provides new IP addresses, reorganises laptop settings and delivers Internet access.
The company aims to further develop the collaborative capabilities of its global team, such as providing seamless customer and supplier Internet sites designed to provide real-time information on the status of projects and accounts.
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