Bisnode, a provider of digital business information, with brands such as Hoppenstedt and D&B Deutschland, has decided against investing millions in a new data centre environment and instead chosen to use the Business Cloud from Pironet NDH. In an initial step, Bisnode Informatics Deutschland, the information service’s IT service provider, moved with its 110 servers to Pironet NDH’s data centre in less than ten weeks. All of the more than 200 Bisnode applications plus the business data of more than 200 million companies worldwide reside on these servers. Bisnode and its subsidiaries belong to the leading providers of business, credit and marketing information in Europe.
“As the information here needs to be protected, the security aspect was at the top of our list of priorities when selecting a suitable IT service provider,” explains Dominik Eul, Managing Director and Head of Business Development DACH at Bisnode Informatics Deutschland. “ISO 27001 certification was an essential criterion.” Pironet NDH is one of the few medium-sized Cloud Computing providers which is certified in accordance with this de facto standard for IT security.
“Nobody noticed the IT relocation”
The server transfer, for which employees of Pironet NDH and Bisnode Informatics Deutschland worked hand in hand, took place step by step at two weekends. To ensure that the transitional phase ran smoothly, Pironet NDH set up a special high-availability connection between the new data location in Hamburg and the previous server rooms in Darmstadt. According to Mr Eul, “The entire process was planned with military precision and functioned without a hitch. None of our 450 employees in Germany, our 2,500 colleagues in Europe or our customers and partners worldwide noticed that any changes were being made to the IT. And that’s definitely the best proof of a successful migration project.”
Bisnode and its subsidiaries supply their customers with more than 75,000 data records per day, for example information on creditworthiness and risks, as well as marketing and business data. The company’s customers include VW, Siemens and Zürich Versicherungen. Bisnode guarantees these companies a minimum availability of the data provided of 99.5 per cent. Bisnode demands an equally high failure safety performance from its service providers. To ensure this high availability, the head office in Darmstadt has a redundant 1-Gbit/s loop system connection to the Pironet NDH data centre in Hamburg since the switchover.
Standard technological language
Bisnode and Pironet NDH are currently planning the next step, the consolidation and virtualisation of the transferred IT infrastructure. This will enable Bisnode, for instance, to adjust its IT capacities flexibly to match current requirements. As this step had already been planned before the servers were relocated, Mr Eul, Managing Director of Bisnode Informatics, says it was important that both companies speak the same language at a technological level from the very outset. It will consequently be possible to execute the upcoming virtualisation project while investing significantly less effort in planning and administration than with other providers, and also more quickly.
About Bisnode
The Swedish Bisnode Group, which is headquartered in Stockholm, has over 3,000 employees in 19 European countries and is one of the leading providers of business information. Bisnode Deutschland employs 450 people at locations in Darmstadt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Munich and Freiburg. The portfolio comprises B2B products from D&B and Hoppenstedt. Bisnode Editorial Deutschland and Bisnode Informatics Deutschland are subsidiaries offering data collection, editorial and IT services. The company has comprehensive data on more than 4.7 million German and 25 million European companies, plus the D&B Worldwide Network to 200 million enterprises. In 2012 the Bisnode Group posted sales of 3.9 billion Swedish kronor (about 460 million euros/date: Dec. 31). For more information visit www.bisnode.de.
“As the information here needs to be protected, the security aspect was at the top of our list of priorities when selecting a suitable IT service provider,” explains Dominik Eul, Managing Director and Head of Business Development DACH at Bisnode Informatics Deutschland. “ISO 27001 certification was an essential criterion.” Pironet NDH is one of the few medium-sized Cloud Computing providers which is certified in accordance with this de facto standard for IT security.
“Nobody noticed the IT relocation”
The server transfer, for which employees of Pironet NDH and Bisnode Informatics Deutschland worked hand in hand, took place step by step at two weekends. To ensure that the transitional phase ran smoothly, Pironet NDH set up a special high-availability connection between the new data location in Hamburg and the previous server rooms in Darmstadt. According to Mr Eul, “The entire process was planned with military precision and functioned without a hitch. None of our 450 employees in Germany, our 2,500 colleagues in Europe or our customers and partners worldwide noticed that any changes were being made to the IT. And that’s definitely the best proof of a successful migration project.”
Bisnode and its subsidiaries supply their customers with more than 75,000 data records per day, for example information on creditworthiness and risks, as well as marketing and business data. The company’s customers include VW, Siemens and Zürich Versicherungen. Bisnode guarantees these companies a minimum availability of the data provided of 99.5 per cent. Bisnode demands an equally high failure safety performance from its service providers. To ensure this high availability, the head office in Darmstadt has a redundant 1-Gbit/s loop system connection to the Pironet NDH data centre in Hamburg since the switchover.
Standard technological language
Bisnode and Pironet NDH are currently planning the next step, the consolidation and virtualisation of the transferred IT infrastructure. This will enable Bisnode, for instance, to adjust its IT capacities flexibly to match current requirements. As this step had already been planned before the servers were relocated, Mr Eul, Managing Director of Bisnode Informatics, says it was important that both companies speak the same language at a technological level from the very outset. It will consequently be possible to execute the upcoming virtualisation project while investing significantly less effort in planning and administration than with other providers, and also more quickly.
About Bisnode
The Swedish Bisnode Group, which is headquartered in Stockholm, has over 3,000 employees in 19 European countries and is one of the leading providers of business information. Bisnode Deutschland employs 450 people at locations in Darmstadt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Munich and Freiburg. The portfolio comprises B2B products from D&B and Hoppenstedt. Bisnode Editorial Deutschland and Bisnode Informatics Deutschland are subsidiaries offering data collection, editorial and IT services. The company has comprehensive data on more than 4.7 million German and 25 million European companies, plus the D&B Worldwide Network to 200 million enterprises. In 2012 the Bisnode Group posted sales of 3.9 billion Swedish kronor (about 460 million euros/date: Dec. 31). For more information visit www.bisnode.de.
