APL consults and assists ARaymond with choosing a host

Customer name :	ARaymond
Area of business :	Manufacturing
Accompanying mode :	Auditing & Consulting
Type of service :	Auditing of existing systems, analysis of future needs - Consulting on hosting strategies

Founded in 1865, ARaymond is a French manufacturing company with a global reach that develops, manufactures and commercializes fastening and assembly solutions in the automobile, energy, agriculture and healthcare industries.
The head office's old data center (40 m²), located in an old building in the heart of Grenoble, was showing its limitations. While transferring one of its production chains to the outskirts of the city, ARaymond considered building a new data center that was better suited to its service level requirements. In the end, the company decided to host its IS with a third party.

Project objective

Given the disparities between bids, ARaymond asked APL to assist with selecting the host that would best meet its needs and requirements over the next 3–5 years:

Make each host’s bid comparable and transparent
Take into account the company’s overall IT transformation plan
Foster an atmosphere of trust between the in-house IT department and the future host

Services provided

Definition of hosting, connectivity, and associated service requirements over a period of up to 5 years
Identification and selection of a host that best meets the needs identified
Negotiation and implementation of the hosting contract

Client benefits

Decision-making aids: comparative studies, technical and economic analyses of bids, ancillary services and options
Assistance with negotiating and drafting the contract
Selection of a solution, with a medium- and long-term technical design, in line with the IT transformation plan
Implementation of a flexible, cost-optimized solution that is contractually scalable