Overview
The inoxision GmbH, founded in 2006, offers with “inoxision ARCHIVE” modern archiving systems for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Branche
Software development, Software-as-a-Service
Users
5000+
Partners
350+
gridscale products in use
• Public Cloud
• Storage
• RESTful API
The goal
The archiving specialist inoxision was looking for a new cloud provider with more consistent performance, easier-to-use technology and, above all, significantly better customer support than the previous hyperscaler – inoxision was quickly disappointed by the latter’s mix of high complexity and limited support.
Challenges
Maximum scalability and fail-safety are among the most important criteria for central business software such as inoxision NOW. After all, archiving systems are closely integrated into the communication and process chains of companies, manage millions of data records and require uninterrupted availability in IT operations. The stability and performance of the infrastructure should therefore not be subject to any major fluctuations. In addition, there are strict requirements with regard to the German Data Protection Act (DSGVO) and audit security, since the documents and information to be archived generally also include personal data, which is accorded a particularly high level of protection in business transactions.
The solution
The DSGVO-compliant cloud from gridscale. Thanks to redundant provisioning in several German TIER 3 high-security data centers and AI-supported monitoring and predictive maintenance procedures in IT operations, both 100% availability and compliance with all data protection regulations can be reliably mapped. Comprehensive sizing and scaling options allow seamless growth of almost any storage capacity in the archiving process; subsequent data access or even a full-text search can be realized in less than one second at the same time.
Key Results
Data retrieval in milliseconds
Flexible and unlimited storage growth in real time
Auditing security and DSGVO compliance
Archiving is by definition a long-term and security-oriented topic. Therefore, a cloud provider based in the local legal area and under the German data protection regime was mandatory for us.
Andreas Reichmann, Managing Director of inoxision GmbH
A special feature of inoxision is the distribution via more than 350 partners, mainly system houses, which have built up a large customer base for the software provider. The cloud offering inoxision NOW is also offered exclusively via the partner companies.
As a preferred cloud provider, gridscale is the first choice for operating the application and already manages many millions of archived emails and documents of inoxision customers. According to inoxision, the simple handling of the gridscale platform, the constant performance parameters, but also the productive collaboration at eye level make the difference to worldwide providers and anonymous mass services.
Initial situation and objective
As a fail-safe enterprise IT solution, the operation of inoxision NOW is distributed across two data centers. For primary application operation, the software manufacturer initially relied on the offerings of global cloud computing services.
“The mix of high complexity and limited support quickly disappointed us with the large platforms,” recalls inoxision CEO Andreas Reichmann. “In addition, there were large fluctuations in the stability and performance of the infrastructure. For us, a no-go for a business software as central as inoxision NOW from the customer’s point of view.”
More consistent performance, easier-to-use technology and significantly more customer support were therefore at the top of the list when selecting a new preferred provider as a recommendation to the inoxision partners in summer 2017. In addition, there have been stricter requirements with regard to DSGVO, data protection and audit security.
“Archiving is by definition a long-term and security-oriented topic,” adds Andreas Reichmann. “Therefore, a cloud provider based in the local legal area and under the German data protection regime was mandatory for us.”
Using the test environment on the gridscale website, we configured a suitable cloud infrastructure in a very short time, and two hours later the first machines were already running. We also received competent answers to our queries within just 15 minutes. And that on a Saturday.
– Andreas Reichmann
Realization
gridscale came to the software manufacturer’s attention through a Google search. “Using the test environment on the gridscale website, we configured a suitable cloud infrastructure in a very short time, and two hours later the first machines were already running”. Andreas Reichmann is still impressed: “Within just 15 minutes, we also received competent answers to queries we had. And that on a Saturday. Actually, our selection process was already as good as complete.”
Migration and rollout in record time
Since then, the deployment of inoxision NOW has been based on the gridscale cloud platform. Thanks to the visual user interface, the appropriate infrastructure could be planned and rolled out in a very short time. Since both the application and the cloud platform are implemented as open and multitenant architectures, the migration was completed quickly and without any problems. From the user’s point of view, both software variants – whether operated locally or used as SaaS – look identical and are operated via the same web-based user interface. The software can be integrated into other commercial applications such as CRM or financial accounting via an integration client.
EU data protection in German data centers
Medium-sized companies in particular are skeptical about cloud services from the U.S. market leaders and insist on a high level of data protection. This is especially true for business-critical applications such as archiving software. By providing software and storing data in gridscale’s certified TIER 3 high-security data centers, inoxision NOW customers can rely on a high level of conformity with all the rules of the DSGVO and also adapt even demanding specifications for compliance and audit security. With the Trusted Cloud certification of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), gridscale has also been recognized as a particularly trustworthy cloud provider.
Archiving requires flexible storage
Archiving applications also have a peculiarity: they use comparatively little computing capacity, but place high demands on data storage. There is also a permanent base load for mail archiving, since companies archive their e-mails directly when they arrive. The very large e-mail inbox inflow therefore corresponds to a large share of the daily workload of the cloud solution. In addition, new documents are added regularly. The storage area per customer is therefore designed for large volumes and permanent growth. However, it is difficult to predict how quickly the storage capacity will grow. Thanks to the almost unlimited sizing and scaling options of the cloud platform, additional demand can be easily configured via the gridscale panel during operation.
Data retrieval in milliseconds
Regularly, inoxision NOW customers need to be able to access documents in their archive quickly. With gridscale, the storage structures in the data centers are available as quickly as with local data storage on hard disks. “Currently, many millions of documents are stored and managed via inoxision NOW,” explains Andreas Reichmann. “Even with a full-text search, search speeds are well under one second and occur in near real-time. ” This way, the fast data retrieval enables an immediate response to inquiries and audits about business transactions or personal data dating back a long time.”
Summary
In addition to the technical performance parameters of the cloud platform, project success and long-term partnership are usually decided by trusting and uncomplicated cooperation in everyday business. “As a medium-sized company, we also want our partners to be highly flexible and to have a pragmatic view of the essentials,” summarizes Andreas Reichmann. “Particularly in the business-critical enterprise IT environment, reliability and consistency have a high priority. Anonymous mass services are not an alternative in our view.”
Thanks to consistent billing based on resource utilization, costs also remain flexible. Larger investments and fixed expenses, as with in-house IT operation, are avoided – often a decisive competitive advantage for the economic success of an attractive software-as-a-service offering.
For the future, the software house is therefore focusing on expansion and plans to further extend its cooperation with gridscale. The stronger utlization of the gridscale Platform-as-aService options, but also the employment of sophisticated private cloud scenarios are the focus of attention here.
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