Blue Chip was established in 1987 as a specialist organisation delivering IBM midrange support services. Through organic growth, Blue Chip is now the largest independent provider of IT services in the UK. From freehold owned Tier 4 Design and Tier 3 Design Data Centres, Blue Chip now also deliver cutting edge managed, backup and remote solutions. At the forefront of these solutions is a unique POWER Cloud, boasting in excess of 1.5 million CPW and supported by the largest independent pool of IBM skilled workforce in the UK. Today, our aim is to leverage the eco credentials of our Data Centres and our Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) of 1.1 to help our customers achieve stability through green IT.
As a Data Centre service provider, we appreciate the impact our facilities can have on the environment and have implemented both the latest technologies and local community schemes to not only reduce this impact, but also benefit our customers. Blue Chip have made power hungry Data Centres a thing of the past. Adiabatic cooling, 1200mm floor voids, cold aisle containment and warm air recycling all contribute towards our PUE of 1.1 and our reputation for building some of the greenest facilities in Europe. The resulting reduction in power usage both benefits the environment and allows Blue Chip to deliver stable contracts to its customers, that are not as exposed to the increasing cost of power. As a business, Blue Chip also appreciates its potential impact on the local environment and as such delivers a unique solution to reducing carbon footprint, by partnering with The Forest of Marston Vale in a far reaching tree planting programme. The Forest of Marston Vale are rejuvenating the local area that has been scarred by decades of clay extraction and brick making. Blue Chip s commitment is to plant 750,000 trees (2000 for every rack that we manage). This policy has been recognised by the Carbon Trust and Blue Chip are delighted to host customer and staff tree planting days on a regular basis. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY Stability through green IT; Stability of cost, our Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) allows us to reduce our overheads, delivering stable contracts that are not subject to increasing power costs Freehold ownership of Data Centres, ensuring stability of premises and your IT Guaranteed stability of service quality, as we employ all of our own Engineers and Technical staff Stability of power, communications and quality of service from our Data Centres, through Tier 3 and Tier 4 standards
Certificate of Grant of Patent Blue Chip are a PCI DSS level 1 Service Provider for the provision of managed hosting services and have been certified against the latest version of the standard. To achieve this, Blue Chip have been certified by an external Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and are therefore able to offer the full range of PCI Compliant managed service options to customers. Patent Number: Proprietor(s): Inventor(s): GB2477739 Blue Chip Customer Engineering Limited EcoCooling Limited Andy Rounding Alan Beresford For those companies who process payment card transactions, PCI compliance is a requirement, however all of Blue Chip s Data Centre customers benefit from the added security and governance of a PCI compliant facility. From regular monitoring and testing of networks to implementing strong access control measures, Blue Chip s Data Centre is now independently certified as meeting the highest standards of security. Full details of the requirements of PCI DSS v3.0 are as follows This is to Certify that, in accordance with the Patents Act 1977, a Patent has been granted to the proprietor(s) for an invention entitled Data center cooling using combined evaporative and refrigeration based cooling disclosed in an application filed 10 February 2010. Dated 13 August 2014 John Alty Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Intellectual Property Office The attention of the Proprietor(s) is drawn to the important notes overleaf. Build and Maintain a Secure Network and systems Protect Cardholder Data Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program Implement Strong Access Control Measures Regularly Monitor and Test Networks Maintain an Information Security Policy 1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data 2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters 3. Protect stored cardholder data 4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks 5. Protect all systems against malware and regularly update anti-virus software or programs 6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications 7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need to know 8. Identify and authenticate access to system components 9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data 10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data 11. Regularly test security systems and processes 12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel Blue Chip are also registered as a Merchant Agent with Visa Europe, details of our listing can be found at www.visamerchantagentslist.com
ISO 27001 Defining security controls that protect information ISO 14001 Ensuring our environmental impact is measured ISO 9001 Ensuring we meet and exceed customer expectations SOC 2 Delivering internal controls that protect your data PCI Level 1 Meeting the strict standards of the Payment Card Industry IBM MSP Verification by IBM of Blue Chip s POWER Cloud CERTIFICATIONS
BLUE CHIP DATA Tier 4 Design Primary Data Centre At the heart of Blue Chip s Data Centre Services is our Primary Data Centre. Designed to Tier 4 standards, this purpose built, freehold owned facility boasts unrivalled levels of resilience and a reputation as one of the greenest facilities in Europe. Power to the Data Centre is delivered by 2 (N+1) redundancy per external feed Communications is delivered via two separate communications rooms, both with resilient links via multiple Tier 1 telecommunications providers Cooling is delivered primarily by N+1 eco cooling, but also complimented by Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) as a secondary system where required. Maintained by Blue Chip Engineers and monitored by Blue Chip Operators 24 x 7, our Primary Data Centre is replicated seamlessly to our Data Management Centre via live/live dual Network Operations Centres (NOCs). Tier 3 Design Data Management Centre Mirroring the Primary Data Centre via live/ live Dual Network Operations Centre s is our Data Management Centre. Designed to Tier 3 standards and freehold owned, this facility allows Blue Chip to compliment world class Hosting services with truly resilient Availability and Backup services. Replicating data from either your own site or our Primary Data Centre, our Data Management Centre is designed to ensure the availability of CENTRES your data in all circumstances. This availability of data is further complimented by our recovery suites, providing functional office space and ensuring the continuity of your business in even the most extreme of circumstances. Power, Communications and Cooling are all delivered to the same resilience standards as our Primary Data Centre, while the facility is again managed and monitored by Blue Chip Engineers and Operators.
MAINTENANCE Blue Chip was established in 1987 to provide IBM midrange maintenance, support and lifecycle services. We have the largest independent IBM skilled workforce in the UK and all of our engineers are trained to the highest standard. Blue Chip can provide support and parts for both the latest POWER to legacy x86 systems. Our team of engineers are supported by logistics and parts depots distributed across the UK, and it is the engineer that determines the parts required to resolve a problem, whether that be multiple parts or an entire system. Where a rapid response is not sufficient and the customer requires an added layer of protection for business critical systems, Blue Chip will hold a stock of critical parts at the customer s site. Our service desk is manned 24x7 and will accept any call from a Blue Chip customer, regardless of whether the system is currently covered by a maintenance contract. However, it isn t our service desk that defines the severity of a fault or the importance of a call, our customers define their own calls priority level, where required using Blue Chip s simple and documented escalation procedures. Regular system health checks by your dedicated engineer are coupled with 24x7 remote monitoring through Dual Network Operation Centres, ensuring faults are not just responded to quickly, but actively prevented.
Building on expansive IBM technical resource and delivered by Tier 4 and Tier 3 Design facilities are Blue Chip s hosting solutions. Whether placing your business critical systems in a dedicated Managed Service or Co-Location Data Hall, you can rest assured that live/live dual NOC s, independent A&B dual power feeds, Blue Chip Connect (direct access to multiple Tier 1 comms providers) and bespoke business process monitoring through Itheon will all combine to deliver an unrivalled level of service. Our PUE of 1.1 and reputation as being among the most eco friendly facilities in Europe allow us to deliver competitive hosting solutions with stable contracts within stable facilities. Managed Hosting Dedicated Managed Service halls are designed to deliver uninterrupted IT to your business, while allowing your internal IT resource to focus on business improvements. Whether you require a single rack or an entire data hall, Blue Chip can configure power consumption, infrastructure and communications to meet your specific requirements. ECO HOSTING
MULTI-PLATFORM Blue Chip s Cloud is a unique Private Cloud offering, delivering both x86 (Windows/Linux) and a unique IBM POWER Cloud (IBM i & AIX). Based in the UK and maintained by UK technical staff, Blue Chip s Cloud delivers the flexibility of a Public Cloud coupled with the guaranteed security and availability of a Private Cloud. Boasting over 1.5 Million CPW and already supporting a range of customers from around the world, the flexibility of this OPEX solution ensures that your IT infrastructure is fully utilised and grows with your business. Behind Blue Chip s Cloud is a huge investment in both people and infrastructure. Having provided maintenance services since 1987, Blue Chip has a pool of expert talent, including the largest independent IBM skilled workforce in the UK. This talent is on hand 24x7, ensuring the optimal performance of Blue Chip s Tier 4 and Tier 3 Design facilities, the infrastructure behind the Blue Chip Cloud. Both facilities are owned as a freehold by Blue Chip and benefit from Live/ Live Dual NOC s, providing a constant view of the entire Blue Chip estate from multiple locations. This complete ownership of the solution from infrastructure to people allows Blue Chip to identify the exact location of a specific customers data, design bespoke cloud solutions in line with customer requirements and deliver commercial terms such as pay per usage or fixed price. Your dedicated Project Manager will guide you through your journey into the Blue Chip Cloud, providing assistance with migration, bespoke application and business process monitoring (as required and defined by you) and any specific back up requirements you may have, whether they be physical backup to tape or virtual backup to an additional site. CLOUD
RECOVERY Blue Chip Recovery solutions are designed to deliver the most effective way to protect, store, restore and backup your data. Our approach is to define your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) to determine what amount of down time you can afford before your organisation becomes seriously impacted. This together with your Recovery Point Objective (RPO), which defines how much data your organisation can afford to lose in the event of an outage, determines the most appropriate solution or combination of solutions. Our wide solution portfolio and capabilities range from Tape Storage to High Availability, allowing Blue Chip to take a consultative approach towards meeting our customers specific needs. As the only UK organisation able to deliver end to end High Availability solutions for iseries, pseries and Intel systems, Blue Chip can deliver its entire range of solutions for a single business critical server or an entire estate, without limitations. High Availability Through high frequency snap shots that can be replicated either at your own site or to Blue Chip s Tier 3 and/or Tier 4 Design Data Centres, Blue Chip s High Availability solutions can significantly reduce your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO). Fully scalable in line with your data volumes and with the ability to deliver fast and frequent Disaster Recovery testing, a Blue Chip High Availability solution is able to ensure the complete continuity of your business in the event of a disaster. Disaster Recovery Underpinning all of Blue Chip s Recovery solutions is our ability to provide Business Continuity seats and warm start recovery from our Data Management Centre. In the event of a disaster, you have the option to move to an environment that is designed to emulate your business, taking your latest recovery point and ensuring the availability of your data in a way that is familiar to your employees.
Regardless of your current infrastructure environment; virtualised, non virtualised legacy or new, Blue Chip can fulfil any product requirements that you may have. We supply product for complete technology refresh projects through to individual servers and upgrades. Our economies of scale allow us to provide highly competitive quotes for new and used IBM iseries, pseries, Intel servers, IBM parts and printers. If you are already operating a virtualised environment for your IT infrastructure but require new software or hardware to improve its efficiency, enhance its capacity or consolidate your servers, Blue Chip are able to work with you to establish what your precise requirements are and meet them accordingly. Whether that is new software or the purchase of new servers, we can help. Blue Chip also have vast experience in project managing infrastructure site moves, from single servers to entire Data Centre migrations, Blue Chip offer a complete end to end relocation solution. This includes; A full logistical survey at required destinations Site preparation and migration planning Removal and disposal of packaging and redundant equipment which is in compliance with the WEEE directive Secured vehicles and high specification tail lifts Specialist handling equipment, protective packaging materials and floor protection plates. HARDWARE
ITHEON Itheon Business Process Monitoring (BPM) is designed to deliver a single view of your company s core revenue driving activities. Whether these activities are delivered by a single server, clustered processing platforms, a Windows OS or a Linux OS, Itheon BPM delivers a consolidated view of your estate and uses intelligent filtering to deliver alerts that are critical to your business. Itheon understands how each of your activities and assets interact and how they combine to deliver critical services to your business. Whatever your business relies on, we can monitor, whatever your business needs, we can manage. Features and Benefits of Itheon Monitoring from Blue Chip Easy to use view of Business Service State Clear view of ROI from IT Prioritised alerts Immediate, role specific alerts on issues SLA conformance real time graphs Incident simulation for testing changes to IT infrastructure Marquee Products such as SQL Oracle Exchange, Jd Edwards, Figaro monitored out of the box Bespoke applications monitored by simple Configuration Functional as an out of the box solution, Itheon BPM doesn t just monitor for failure, it actively prevents it.
Features and Benefits of Itheon Monitoring from Blue Chip Easy to use view of Business Service State Clear view of ROI from IT Prioritised alerts Immediate, role specific alerts on issues SLA conformance real time graphs Incident simulation for testing changes to IT infrastructure Application Monitoring Running 24x7, our application monitoring and automation software never misses mission critical events. Any issues are met with role specific notifications and intelligent, automated actions that would otherwise have to be performed by an experienced operator, taking up precious time and resources. The key features include: Performance monitoring of all network devices Every Metric Available from every device Autodiscover Alerting, tracking and Reporting Availability monitoring 24x7 Connectivity monitoring 24x7 Role specific incident reporting OS Monitoring Itheon BPM constantly monitors and reports on all aspects of Operating System performance and resources. From headline data to the nano-detail your teams need to manage and maintain every aspect of each operating system is covered. For example; Every Operating System metric available to our solution. Operations, such as whether critical services are running or applications have started Performance criteria, such as CPU, I/O and memory Storage criteria, such as free disk space, database size and log file size Long term data analysis or real time analysis Marquee Products such as SQL Oracle Exchange, Jd Edwards, Figaro monitored out of the box Bespoke applications monitored by simple configuration Functional as an out of the box solution, Itheon BPM doesn t just monitor for failure, it actively prevents it. Buildings & Infrastructure Monitoring Simple to deploy, flexible and easy to use, our infrastructure monitoring solutions allow for the monitoring of all aspects of your business, buildings and infrastructure. Itheon BPM Service Delivery In the event of any problems occurring within your IT infrastructure, our monitoring software immediately delivers a clear presentation of the affected areas, the priority of the problem, its potential impact on your business and its affect upon compliance with any SLAs. This is coupled with relevant and role specific notifications, meaning that technical, management and stakeholders in any server related process are informed of any change in service delivery in a way that is meaningful to their role.
NETWORK Blue Chip Connect As an alternative to dedicated customer Wide Area Network (WAN) connections, Blue Chip Connect revolutionises the traditional connectivity methodology employed by providers of managed hosting services by removing the requirement to deploy network architecture on a per customer basis. Blue Chip Connect offers customers the ability to interconnect to multiple national and international carriers existing private networks without the need for any additional physical networking equipment. This avoids the need for costly leased lines, network bearers, and routers, hence dramatically reducing implementation times and the ongoing costs of maintaining an externally hosted infrastructure. With Blue Chip Connect a fully resilient and highly available architecture provides guaranteed Service Levels and ensures the availability of data and business critical systems at a standard monthly charge dependant on the bandwidth used.
Blue Chip Connect delivers resilient access to multiple Tier 1 providers, reducing costs and lead times
REMOTE MANAGED Blue Chip Remote Managed Services deliver full administration, support and management of your systems, all underpinned by 24x7 monitoring. Blue Chip typically gain access to remotely manage a system via a VPN connection, which can also be used by Blue Chip s hardware maintenance service monitoring solution, offering customers an integrated solution for both hardware maintenance and system support. Our Remote Managed Services are designed to deliver all of Blue Chip s expertise direct to your doorstep and include handling of any critical incidents outside normal working hours, PTF management, operating system upgrades, administration during normal business hours and full support for your systems. The system monitoring tool used by Blue Chip is Itheon, a tool that was designed, developed and is completely owned by Blue Chip. Monitoring your estate 24x7, Itheon reports directly to Blue Chip s dual Network Operations Centres (NOCs), which are staffed 24x7 and act as the first level of support. Itheon is designed to automate fixes where possible and quickly respond to messages and/or other events, frequently identifying potential problems and delivering a fix before any impact on a customers system. SERVICES
Where a fix cannot be remedied by Itheon or first line support, Blue Chip maintains clear and quick escalation procedures through specialist technical teams right up to the senior management and Board. This transparency delivers reassurance to our customers that should something go wrong, there is always someone to call, who will drive a solution. Blue Chip s Service Desk System will log any incidents referred by Itheon or a customer, forming the basis of discussions with a customer s Service Delivery Manager in regular service review meetings. The aim of the Service Delivery Manager and these meetings is to proactively identify any repeated incidents, reducing the risk of ongoing service problems. Further to business as usual service delivery, Blue Chip can also deliver recovery solutions, by managing the entire fail over process, Blue Chip are able to ensure a quick fail over to the recovery environment, whilst also assessing and resolving the issues that have caused the failover. With Blue Chip delivering an end to end remote managed service, our customers can rest assured that their systems are working efficiently and their critical business processes will not be impacted, even in the most extreme conditions. Our Remote Managed Services are designed to deliver all of Blue Chip s expertise direct to your doorstep
Blue Chip Customer Engineering Ltd Franklin Court, Priory Business Park, Bedford, MK44 3JZ 01234 224400 www.bluechip.co.uk