Ideas4retail (Мир Hamleys) (IT-Grad Cloud)

• Project:IDEAS4RE (Cisco Unified Communication Manager)
• Project:IDEAS4RETAIL (Microsoft Exchange Server)

What services does the large retailer take out in a cloud?

Geography of activity of Ideas4retail group very extensive. Shops of recognizable brands are located in the different cities of Russia, containing in total about 80 outlets. Each shop is the remote platform connected to highly reliable virtual infrastructure where the client for obvious reasons demands providing high-quality and first-line support with reliability assurance and fault tolerances of the IaaS-platform.

Virtual infrastructure of Hamleys retail network

Thanks to the available opportunities of virtualization and cloud solutions, the large retailer can afford absolutely quietly transfer in a cloud of any services. The example of that is completely virtualized Hamleys infrastructure. All tools, necessary for business, are its part, the most significant of them are given below.

# the Virtualized domain infrastructure

For the central office of the company the virtualized domain infrastructure provided by several controllers of domains in a cloud of IT-GRAD is unrolled. Using domain authentication users can address necessary resources and applications. As for sales points, at each of them there are workstations which integrate in corresponding "working groups".

# Certification centers of certification

Certification centers of certification are responsible for process of issue and validation of the certificates used under different tasks of marketplaces.

# Mail services

As the mail service which is taken out in a cloud Microsoft Exchange which at the same time performs function of the server of client access (CAS) and the transport hub (HT) is used.

># Protection against viruses and spam

The Spam Titan server acts as the boundary server spam-protecting and the malicious software. IT specialists of Hamleys have access to the administration console that allows to manage settings of filtering and rules without the address to technical support service of IT-GRAD.

# System of communications

At cloud infrastructure of Hamleys retail network there are systems of unified communications based on Cisco Unified Communications presented in the form of the software package Cisco Unified Communications Manager (UCM) and Cisco Contact Center Express (CCX). These solutions allow the staff of Hamleys to use the single system of communication which is smoothly working regardless of a physical location.

# Boundary protection

The boundary gateway Microsoft Forefront TMG provides protection of infrastructure of the organization and is used as reverse proxy for access to Microsoft Exchange.

Connection of outlets to a cloud

And some more words about how there is "linking" of remote outlets of Hamleys retail network to a cloud of "IT HAIL". Let's begin with the fact that at each shop there is iron Cisco ASA with the selected external static IP address, and the equipment Juniper is installed on the side of "IT HAIL". Each device is connected to provider via the corresponding interfaces, between remote points the IPSec-tunnel will be organized and traffic in both directions is allowed. As for VPN, it no other than Site-to-Site IPSec with a preset value of a preschared-key.

Practically in each shop there are computers, cash desks and the Cisco BP phones. All this will be organized in a local network using switches and connected to Cisco ASA. Internet access from each outlet is provided through VPN too, i.e. actually all traffic passes through the Palo Alto firewall in a cloud of "IT HAIL" that allows to monitor traffic of applications, to control actions of users and the transferred contents.

Scheme of connection of outlets Ideas4retail to the remote platform of IT-GRAD

Via the VPN channel IT specialists of Hamleys retail network can execute remote deployment of required services and manage them.

Outsourcing of the first support line>

Outsourcing of the first support line is an opportunity quickly and with the minimum costs to organize the round-the-clock user support in the company. The Ideas4retail group went on this way and transferred the first support line to outsourcing. Schematically everything is simple: if the outlet has any problem, the employee of shop calls on the selected number, getting to a support service of "IT HAIL". All requests of users of Hamleys are registered and processed by specialists of "IT HAIL" in the ITSM system of the client, Hamleys retail network.

The first support line of "IT HAIL" redistributes the registered tickets, escalating them to the second Ideas4retail line to the corresponding groups of specialists according to areas of responsibility. If the problem is solved on the first line, the ticket is successfully closed by employees of "IT HAIL".

Cloud telephony for retail network

How telephony works? On client side the system of unified communications is implemented and if more precisely — integration of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) into Microsoft Lync is executed that allows to make calls and to manage them from the Cisco IP phones installed in shops. By means of the cuci-lync console there is a transfer and setting to deduction of a call and also switching from the hardware device to the software client and back. Using Cisco UCM it is possible to execute switching of calls and to manage connections in different conditions, providing support of a virtual work place. Advantage of such approach consists in flexibility and simplicity of connection of any new shop to the adjusted system of communications regardless of arrangement.

That everything earned, we installed the server Lync, Cisco UCM with the included LDAP synchronization and authentication, the client Microsoft Lync and a set of specialized software from Cisco. It was not also without application of Cisco Contact Center Express (CCX) which using IVR (Interactive Voice Response) executes processing and distribution of incoming calls.

In conclusion

Answering a question of what services the large retailer can take out in a cloud, it is possible to tell surely that all. The example of Hamleys retail network confirms that complete transfer of all IT infrastructure in a cloud is justified for years of smooth operation (IT infrastructure of Hamleys retail network in Russia is placed more than four years in a cloud of IT-GRAD IaaS-provider). On the other hand, we see that lease of infrastructure (IaaS) and applications (SaaS), how many complex outsourcing of tasks of providing a reliable IT landscape which includes not only "cloud" tasks is behind the marketing term "cloud" not so much.