United Utilities

Story Details

Experts in streamlining water delivery and wastewater processing, United Utilities needed to address the bottlenecks in its own datacenter where hundreds of Microsoft Windows-based servers vied for power and space. Each application demanded its own server, and utilization of the overall server plant was low.

A new contract between United Utilities and Sun Business partner Vertex mandated enhanced service level agreements and a model of computing that would eliminate dedicated, standalone service for each server. Vertex needed a shared service model for the future.

To cut the cost of all its surplus server capacity and regain control of its datacenter, Vertex on behalf of United Utilities issued a tender for a more cost-effective server solution. Competition for the deal came down to Sun, HP and IBM. Sun was the only contender offering a fully developed and tested consolidation and virtualization solution. It was based on high-performance Sun Fire X4600 servers with AMD Opteron processors and VMware emulating Windows servers.

In its decision to choose Sun, Vertex saw major advantages in the scalability of the Sun Fire X4600 server, which leads to longevity that protects investments and saves capital expenditures. Sun Fire X4600 server can be upgraded in cost-effective increments to add more processing power and adopt newer technologies. This translates into longevity, allowing Vertex to consolidate servers for years to come at a lower total cost of ownership.

The solution has resulted in the ability of United Utilities to drastically reduce the number of servers in its datacenter, reduce power and cooling costs, and provide powerful virtual servers to most application areas of the company. United Utilities is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 8 percent over the next 5 years. IT is expected to contribute to that reduction and the Sun and VMware consolidation solution will contribute to meeting that goal by saving 229 kilowatts of power and 1,000 BTU per hour. Corporate social responsibility is a subject that United Utilities takes seriously, and the Sun eco-responsible product line is helping the company make a difference.

A multiplatform support contract from Sun has provided support for all vendors’ products in the United Utilities environment. In operation for the past year, the contract has been a success in terms of responsiveness to the needs of United Utilities and Vertex and the ability to deliver technical expertise.

“Vertex and Sun operate as partners together in meeting the infrastructure needs of United Utilities, and United Utilities has great confidence in the ability of the two organizations to meet its needs,” says Kevin Power, head of IS Shared Services, United Utilities Group. In demonstration of its confidence in the Sun Fire X4600 and VMware solution, United Utilities is in the process of standardizing servers throughout the company to match the Sun Fire and VMware consolidation solution.