Scalable Communications
We wanted to achieve a unified approach toward our IT infrastructure, and in doing so, hoped that this would help reduce complexity. Scalable had already demonstrated their expertise in deploying IP technologies, and we felt that they could provide an end-to-end service for all our IT needs.
Martin Brokers
When Martin Brokers needed to implement an IT architecture to support the real-time demands of the financial market, they turned to Scalable Communications.Background
One of the oldest money broking firms in the UK, Martin Brokers’ expertise spans over 100 years. The first money broking companies to be floated on the London Stock Exchange, Martin Brokers specialises in forward foreign exchange, arbitrage and domestic sterling, and employs more than 200 staff.
Building its success on the integrity and availability of its data, Martin Brokers’ IT architecture has to support the continuous transfer of real-time, and often bandwidth-heavy, financial data. In this environment, Martin Brokers’ IT platform is intrinsically linked with the growth and overall business strategy of the organisation.
The Challenge
In an industry where the value and accuracy of your data will acutely influence the outcome of a brokered deal, communication is critical. Ensuring the availability and performance of those communication channels, therefore, is a priority.
For Scott Martin, Network Manager at Martin Brokers, these challenges ensure his IT strategy is constantly evolving:
“Given the time-sensitive nature of financial trading, our network infrastructure has to flex and change to support peaks and troughs in traffic flow and priority applications. We also have to ensure that we’re one step ahead of our competitors and can offer clients the tools and processes that will allow them to interact securely with the data generated by our employees. As such, we are continually seeking out where we can gain greater value from our systems, and add new applications, without disrupting the day-to-day processes of the company.”
In this instance, business continuity plays an essential role at Martin Brokers. Downtime is simply unacceptable and, therefore, Martin and his team dedicate a significant chunk of resource to round-the-clock maintenance.
“Applications such as our mainstream money and securities broking systems carry a non-stop flow of live market information. The slightest delay can be detrimental to our clients’ business.”
Adding, “The piecemeal method in which our network has been built has resulted in complexity and it’s getting harder to retain visibility of how our applications are performing. As a consequence, we have to sink more of our budget into maintenance.”
The Solution
In the first instance, the priority for Martin Brokers was to deploy or upgrade to a network architecture that would afford the performance and quality of service the company requires. Martin Brokers chose Scalable Communications as consultant and integrator for the project.
Scalable Communications opted for an Extreme IP-based infrastructure. IP offers the performance, resilience and scalability required to support bandwidth-heavy applications, but also investment security, enabling the easy deployment of innovative new services.
The successful implementation of the IP network resulted in Scalable Communications becoming the preferred IT provider for Martin Brokers, Martin explains:
“We wanted to achieve a unified approach toward our IT infrastructure, and in doing so, hoped that this would help reduce complexity. Scalable had already demonstrated their expertise in deploying IP technologies, and we felt that they could provide an end-to-end service for all our IT needs.”
The next step was to support Martin Brokers’ business continuity challenges
Using SSL VPN technology, Scalable implemented a secure, remote working solution that would negate the need for 24/7 on-site maintenance staff and significantly reduce resource expenditure.
However, Martin Brokers was keen to adopt a more proactive stance to securing business continuity. Undertaking a thorough evaluation of network monitoring software, Martin Brokers selected Scalable Communications’ Proactive Monitoring service.
Based on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model, Proactive Monitoring actively monitors networks, services, applications and bandwidth capacity in real-time. Coupled with an online customer portal and email/SMS alerts, Scalable’s Proactive Monitoring further enables a remote maintenance strategy.
The Result
Whilst having an IP network has significantly improved the performance of Martin Brokers’ network, gaining visibility and control of their network architecture has also made a huge difference to the company. Explains Martin:
“Scalable’s Proactive Monitoring has given us a valuable insight into how our servers, applications, networks and bandwidth are performing, and provided an instant return on investment. We are able to analyse each layer of the network, and eliminate trouble-spots before they impact upon the end-user experience.”
In doing so, Martin and his team are able to redirect time and effort toward the research and development of communications tools and services to the brokering team, and support the overall growth of the business.
Martin concludes, “As a fully hosted solution, Scalable’s Proactive Monitoring service was quick to deploy, requires no onsite hardware, and very little management. In fact, Scalable’s support team are also able to investigate and resolve problems remotely, helping to further increase network performance, and reducing the burden upon us.”
For more information on Martin Brokers, visit www.brokerweb.co.uk
01628 852 500
