Accommodation booking site picks Dell cloud to fix downtime issues

Eviivo, a UK-based online accommodation booking website, has placed its business-critical internal systems on a cloud platform powered by Dell and provided by Six Degrees Group.

After facing performance issues in its former cloud-based IT systems, Eviivo has refreshed its technology infrastructure and moved it to a reliable cloud platform that supports the company’s internal back-office systems with 24/7 availability, real-time updates and flexibility for future international growth.

Cloud is a vital part of Eviivo’s business, according to the company’s IT team. As a small company with a small IT department, Eviivo has used cloud services since its infancy – employing an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model to meet demand.

The online booking site holds a 25% market share of the independent accommodation sector in the UK. It works with small independent hotels, guesthouses and bed-and-breakfast accommodation providers to offer a hosted booking service, which then links to the world’s largest travel agents. 

The hosted booking service allows travel agents to manage room pricing and availability, check-in/out information and marketing – all through a single system.

This means its IT systems must be robust to offer a simple, secure and easy-to-use tool, with everything managed in one area – including rates, cancellations, refunds and invoicing. 

The company hosts its internal back-office and booking system on two separate external cloud platforms.

But issues with Eviivo’s previous cloud platform provider for its back-office systems – including frequent outages and lost emails – left the staff unable to do their work, which affected customer satisfaction. The company did not name the former cloud providers.

The IT team decided it was imperative the company refreshed its internal services cloud infrastructure if it wanted to keep ahead of the competition, said chief financial officer (CFO) for Eviivo Rob Pursell.

“We didn’t have stability in the network. At one point, we lost one week’s worth of emails because our email server was deleted and hadn’t been backed up as we had expected.

“With so much of our communication – both internally and with our customers – taking place via email, this was unacceptable. Our customers should not have to find themselves waiting for a response to a question because of IT system issues,” he said.

After considering a number of suppliers, Eviivo picked the joint proposal from Dell and its cloud partner Six Degrees Group to build its new cloud-based IT. Eviivo’s IT team migrated all 16 servers over a single weekend to achieve the smoothest transition possible, using tools such as Dell Migration Services.

For businesses such as Eviivo, which rely heavily on the back-end IT infrastructure to guarantee consistent service levels and real-time updates, downtime is not an option

Nick Hyner, Dell Europe

As part of its relationship with Dell and Six Degrees Group, Eviivo has also benefitted from 24/7 phone and email support from Dell. 

“It’s crucial we are there for our customers at all times,” said Pursell. “Hotels might experience issues such as guests failing to arrive or payment problems, and we need to have someone available to speak with them to resolve any concerns.”

The new cloud platform is flexible and allows Eviivo to expand the business internationally by simply adding capacity to meet customer demand, and then reducing it in the off-season. 

The company is also able to work more efficiently with its offices in France and Tunisia through shared networks and file-sharing, Pursell said.

“For businesses such as Eviivo, which rely heavily on the back-end IT infrastructure to guarantee consistent service levels and real-time updates, downtime is not an option,” said Nick Hyner, director of cloud services for Dell Europe.

Pursell said he no longer has users complaining about a service being down, preventing them from working efficiently. 

“Previously, I’d have to sort out IT problems. Now, I have senior managers – our customer services director, our sales and marketing director and our chief executive – coming to me and saying how much better the IT is,” he said.