Merthyr Valleys Homes, a Tenant and Colleague mutual housing association formed through a stock transfer from the local council, is committed to providing safe, high-quality homes and services for its tenants.
Over the past 15 years, they have partnered with Central to evolve their IT infrastructure and align with modern, cloud-first strategies. Merthyr Valleys Homes embarked on a journey to modernise their infrastructure, migrating from an expensive data centre (DC) to a more efficient, in-house solution while adopting modern networking technologies. In addition to these advancements, Merthyr Valleys Homes has embraced a progressive 4-day work week, enhancing colleague wellbeing and productivity while maintaining a high standard of service for tenants.
THE CHALLENGE.
Merthyr Valleys Homes faced several challenges in their IT transformation. These challenges highlighted the need for a comprehensive infrastructure refresh and migration strategy to optimise costs and enhance operational resilience
Legacy Infrastructure
Hosting applications on-premises in an outdated DC was costly and no longer aligned with their cloud-first strategy.
Cost Pressures
Maintaining infrastructure in a South Wales DC incurred significant operational expenses.
Disaster Recovery (DR) Limitations
Their existing DR solution lacked scalability and modern capabilities.
Need for Flexibility
Supporting a hybrid workforce required advanced networking solutions to enable secure, remote access.
THE SOLUTION.
Central partnered with Merthyr Valleys Homes to deliver a tailored solution that addressed their challenges and aligned with their strategic goals.
1] Data Centre Migration: Moved operations out of the costly South Wales DC to an updated, in-house infrastructure hosted at their HQ. Deployed new, modern hardware and routing equipment to support efficient operations.
2] Cloud-First DR Solution: Implemented a modern disaster recovery strategy using Azure’s SaaS-based site recovery services. Provided managed and maintained DR capabilities for enhanced resilience and reduced complexity.
3] Networking Modernisation: Deployed Meraki SD-WAN technology to streamline connectivity, improve network performance, and enable secure, flexible working for staff.
4] Office 365 Migration: Facilitated the transition to a cloud-first environment by migrating legacy applications to Office 365, reducing reliance on on-premises solutions.
THE OUTCOME.
Significant Cost Savings
Migration out of the South Wales DC resulted in substantial reductions in operational expenses.
Enhanced Resilience
Azure-based DR solution provided robust disaster recovery capabilities with reduced complexity and maintenance overhead.
Improved Flexibility
SD-WAN implementation enabled a secure, flexible working environment, supporting a hybrid workforce.
Future-Ready Infrastructure
Modern hardware and cloud-first strategy positioned Merthyr Valley Homes for long-term growth and scalability.
Operational Simplicity
Consolidating and refreshing infrastructure streamlined management and support processes.
"Central’s solution has streamlined our IT, cutting costs and enabling us to work smarter and more securely. We’re now in a better position to scale and innovate."
– Gemma Savill, Infrastructure & Security Manager, Merthyr Valleys Homes
