Zespri ditches server room, gains ‘drive in’

23 November 2015

Zespri ditches server room, gains ‘drive in’

A move to the cloud creates innovative space for leading New Zealand exporter

Auckland, 23 November 2015 – A 1950’s style drive in movie theatre is open for business after Zespri International got rid of its physical servers and transformed the extra space created.

One of New Zealand’s leading exporters, the Mt Maunganui based company, has migrated 95 per cent of its global computer infrastructure successfully to Microsoft Azure. No longer requiring physical servers to store information, Zespri worked with Microsoft to do something out of the ordinary.

A collaborative effort by Microsoft, Zespri and creative agency Y&R, the Server Room Reboot project highlights one of the many benefits of moving business infrastructure to the cloud.

Zespri’s Global Manager of Information Systems, Andrew Goodin, says migrating 95 per cent of the global SAP platform and other applications to Microsoft Azure means Zespri can meet the growing IT demands of its business. Azure gives Zespri the scalability and flexibility to handle more work seamlessly, requiring less regular maintenance and interruptions.

“As we grow, Azure gives us the confidence that comes with knowing all our data in New Zealand and the 54 countries where we sell premium Zespri Kiwifruit is secure and managed in regional data centres. Zespri is growing quickly and we are confident with Azure there will be less interruption to our business operations, and we have found it to be fast and reliable. The Azure move also saves us money both now and in future, as technology changes and consolidation options become evident.

“After moving to Azure, we had the opportunity to refurbish an old, tired, windowless room into a unique space for staff to take a break or have a meeting. Microsoft has fitted the room with a Smart TV so it works as both a high-tech meeting room and breakout area,” says Goodin.

Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Lead, Dirk Develter says the use of cloud is inevitable in the future workplace, whether it’s completely migrating businesses or having a hybrid tailored solution.

“It’s becoming increasingly important for organisations to be flexible and have the ability to quickly scale up or down, maintain best practice security, the mobility to work from anywhere and allow for predictable, transparent costing. We wanted to start that conversation and reflect this by showing some of the benefits physically.

“It also reflects the modern workplace with people wanting options about how they work, where they work, and expectations that workplaces will be dynamic and engaging,” says Develter.

The 1950’s drive-in movie theatre theme evolved from a ‘dragons-den’ style pitch process where Zespri employees were put into teams to come up with and present ideas to a panel of judges. The winning team then had a workshop with Y&R’s production team in Auckland to finalise the idea, look and feel.

Y&R’s Managing Director, Steve Kane, says the agency was blown away by the level of engagement and the range of creative suggestions submitted by Zespri staff for rebooting their extra space.

“It was fantastic to see so many outrageous and outlandish suggestions for how the space could be used, everything from a yoga bar, to a petting zoo to some kind of zero gravity buffet. I know from having worked with the Zespri team behind the idea that the drive-in movie theatre will get plenty of use which is brilliant as that’s the whole point behind the Server Room Reboot campaign,” says Kane.

To learn more about Server Room Reboot go to: https://www.serverroomreboot.com/

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