Wilton Re (US)
WILTON, CT. -- A brand new company formed in December 2004 by experienced executives in the life reinsurance industry, Wilton Re needed a robust IT infrastructure to support the launch and growth of the company. Instead of building an IT department one employee at a time, Wilton Re contracted with Logicalis to be its IT operations department and manage its total infrastructure; not as an interim measure during its start-up period, but as a deliberate long-term strategy.
Starting with sketches of an empty office in Wilton, CT, Logicalis Director of Business Development Mark Kelly and Service Level Manager Janice Denney worked closely with Wilton Re Chief Technology Officer Andy Wood to develop a comprehensive IT infrastructure that included integrated IP Telephony, and would be capable long-term, not only of running Wilton Re's current business, but also of scaling with the growth Wilton Re projected for the future.
"We truly are their IT operations department," says Kelly of Logicalis. "It was the most comprehensive offering we've ever done for a customer out of our Enterprise Business Operation Center (EBOC) in Cincinnati." "In the end," Denney adds, "the only thing they have in the computer room at the Wilton Re headquarters is one rack with a file/print server, a router, and a switch. Everything else is here with us."
High expectations
Wood came to the table with very high expectations. Basically, he wanted every function the typical IT operations department in a large corporation provides: 24/7 monitoring and management, desktop and laptop support, help desk support, server support, database support, security through an IDS intrusion detection system, network support, and support for Exchange and Blackberry; as well as a comprehensive Cisco VoIP phone system. Wood required affordability and rapid implementation.
The timeframe was exceedingly tight. Just 52 days elapsed from the signing of the agreement until the complete system was up and running; some of them, admittedly, very long days. Denney worked directly with local contractors to determine exactly where every connection went in every wall in the new office complex. To be personally assured that everything was progressing on schedule, Logicalis CIO Terry Laber joined in the daily conference calls that were like a virtual conference room connecting the entire team together during the implementation.
"We operate very much like an internal team," Wood says. "It's just that we work together...apart."
Teamwork
Wilton Re's IT development and application support team also includes Riverswave whose software processes EDI transactions between Wilton Re clients and business partners and data integration with other internal systems, and AdminServer whose software handles Wilton Re's traditional reinsurance administration. Wilton Re Technology Partner meetings are held every six months at each team member's site to ensure that they all understand Wilton Re's business and IT strategy, as well as each other's priorities and the overall project portfolio. Although they are a geographically and technically diverse team, there is never more than one place to go for help. Logicalis acts as the centralized help desk coordinating all upgrades, patches and repairs.
Wood says the Logicalis managed services solution has the unique advantage of giving Wilton Re an exact measure of what IT costs every month. "What we have represents the true cost of ownership; not the cost of building it. Every time we increase the services we use, it's value driven. If we add more users, that means we're doing more business. If we increase data storage, it's because we're capturing more data that are directly related to our core business processes and knowledge management. Our key internal skills are business analysis, process analysis, information analysis, project management and relationship management. That is what we do best. Logicalis is well positioned to provide the IT operation layer. That's what Logicalis does best."