Thirteen Group - VMware Upgrade & Microsoft Licensing

Thirteen used a VMware vSphere 5.5 hypervisor platform to provide virtualized infrastructure and run several business-critical workloads. With it, they experienced two problems: security and productivity. 

The version they were running had reached End of Support Life, so it no longer benefited from new maintenance updates, bug fixes, or security patches to keep their infrastructure running efficiently or securely. Alongside this, their team experienced regular performance issues when performing basic administrative tasks within the vSphere vCenter console, impacting their productivity.

Thirteen called in boxxe and their team of technology specialists, to help them upgrade their VMware to the latest version. Separately, Thirteen also wanted to renew their Microsoft licence agreement after being underwhelmed by the services offered by their previous licensing solutions provider.

Following a successful tender which met the required cost, timescale and scope of the project, Thirteen chose boxxe as its partner to support both projects.

For the VMware upgrade, one of our Platform Solutions Architect met with Thirteen to discuss the project and gather diagnostics information to understand their infrastructure better. Agreeing that an upgrade to VMware 6.7 would be the best solution, our specialist presented an upgrade strategy to Thirteen who were happy to sign off on the work required.

Initially, Thirteen wanted to use their existing hardware to host the updated platform, but it soon became obvious that this wouldn't be suitable. Our Platform Solutions Architect supported Thirteen with a specification of what was required to complete the project, and once in place, our Platform Solutions Architect completed the upgrade whilst minimising downtime to production systems.

A member of the Thirteen IT team shadowed the process from start to finish, so that they could complete similar projects in the future, in-house. 

With the right hardware, software and training, we’ve given Thirteen all of the tools and knowledge they need to make the most of their solution. 

Alongside the VMware 6.7 upgrade, we now provide them with Microsoft licensing. What’s more, Thirteen have been so impressed that we’ve continued working together to optimise their systems and processes! Using our experience as a Microsoft Gold Partner to improve their document management with Microsoft Sharepoint and Power Automate.

It’s another brilliant example of our team harnessing their strong communication skills with technological expertise, to deliver solutions fit for purpose – technology that works for the customer, and their every need.