Consumers Credit Union Relies on VMware Infrastructure to Run All Business-Critical Applications and Grow Efficiently
Datacenter Had Been "Maxed Out"; Now Has Room to Spare
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), the global leader in virtualization
solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced that
Consumers Credit Union (CCU) has deployed VMware Infrastructure, the
industry-leading datacenter virtualization and management suite, as
the enterprise-wide business platform for its rapidly expanding
operations.
One of the largest credit unions in the Midwest CCU services over
50,000 Members and manages more than half a billion dollars in assets.
While 2008 has not been kind to many financial institutions, CCU has
grown considerably, recently breaking ground on its newest branch
office - its seventh. To manage its growth cost-effectively and with
maximum flexibility, CCU is building out virtualized IT
infrastructure. The credit union currently has 30 virtual machines
running on three physical hosts, for a 10:1 server consolidation
ratio. The company's business-critical applications are running in the
virtualized environment, including helpdesk management, RSA
multi-factor authentication, Fiserv IntellegEnt CRM, mortgage
origination, loan collections, Crystal Reports from Business Objects,
and Summit Teller Advantage for in-branch transaction management.
"We don't have the IT resources of a huge bank so we have to work
much smarter and more efficiently to provide our Members with the
service they expect," said Michael J. Mikkelson, vice president of
technology at Consumers Credit Union. "VMware Infrastructure has
allowed us to replace a nightmare of cables in our datacenter with a
more manageable, flexible and robust environment. Virtualization is
also helping us make much better use of our datacenter space. A year
ago, we were maxed out. There literally wasn't an available power
outlet in the datacenter. Today, thanks to VMware, we actually have
space, power and racks to spare."
CCU is also using VMware VirtualCenter to monitor and manage its
entire virtual infrastructure, and VMware's server templates have
enabled CCU to provision virtual machines in 20 minutes rather than
the full day it takes to set up a new box. Mikkelson noted that these
efficiency gains are freeing up the IT staff to focus on more
strategic initiatives rather than spend valuable time on application
and server management.
In addition, CCU is leveraging virtualization to bring disaster
recovery in-house for the first time in the company's history. "Prior
to going virtual, we had to outsource much of our disaster recovery,"
said Mikkelson. "Now we can replicate every critical application and
data store via our SAN thanks to VMware. A hardware-based approach to
disaster recovery wouldn't be possible for an institution of our size.
Virtualization has really helped us stretch our budget and our
resources. In fact, while we're already realizing substantial cost
savings by consolidating 10 applications onto each box, we have plenty
of processor capacity for even more consolidation."
It is now standard procedure for CCU to virtualize new
applications. The 30 virtual machines running on VMware Infrastructure
today support a combination of Windows, Red Hat Linux and Novell SUSE
Linux applications. In addition, the public-facing server that
supports CCU's online banking system is running on VMware Server,
which replaced Microsoft Virtual Server. The switch was made to save
money and improve system manageability.
About VMware
VMware (NYSE:VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions
from the desktop to the datacenter. Customers of all sizes rely on
VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business
continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2007 revenues of
$1.3 billion, more than 120,000 customers and nearly 18,000 partners,
VMware is one of the fastest growing public software companies.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is majority-owned by
EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) and on the web at www.vmware.com.
VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United
States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned
herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
VMware Public Relations
Renee Spooner, 303-942-4609
rspooner@vmware.com
or
OutCast Communications for VMware
RJ Bardsley, 415-345-4754
rj@outcastpr.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
