Aaron Clayton, Deputy CIO, at The Midcounties Co-operative, said: “Six Degrees has the relevant certification and expertise to ensure that our data is properly, and legally, managed and protected. Our partnership with them not only provides us with complete assurance, but also the freedom to focus on achieving our core business objectives.”
Headquartered in Warwickshire, the Midcounties Co-operative has a primary retail focus in the Midlands, but also has a diverse portfolio that includes food, healthcare, funeral care, travel, energy, childcare, flexible benefits and the post office. Each of the Society’s products and services are underpinned by IT, so it’s crucial that all of its systems are up and running at all times. In addition, as three of the Society’s business streams – energy, healthcare and childcare – are heavily regulated, the Society must ensure that the data within each branch of its business is both secure and compliant in accordance with current and future legislation.
Six Degrees now hosts all of the Society’s IT services, as well as the primary instance of its data, including files, transactions and email servers, in its Birmingham South data centre. Security and management of the Society’s colocated data is also provided to ensure that it meets compliance legislation.
Nick Marshall, Head of Data and Colocation at Six Degrees, commented: “All three Six Degrees’ data centres are ISO 27001 accredited and PCI DSS certified, giving customers like the Society the assurance that their data is secure. The Midcounties Co-operative has a dedicated pod contained in a branded, locked area - essentially its own data centre, in its own space and environment, within the Six Degrees building - combining the increased security of a separate IT environment with the improved operational performance and economics of using a Six Degrees data centre.”
Six Degrees therefore ensures stable IT systems across the Society’s portfolio, with secure, protected and compliant data. This support of mission-critical systems enables the Society to deliver a seamless experience to its customers and allows certainty around the management of IT costs.
Benefits include:
· Convenient access to an enterprise-grade data centre that is just half an hour way from their head office
· High capacity, always available internet connection, power supply, secure space and cooling to ensure systems remain up and running
· High performing systems - thanks to effective, fast and low latency connectivity allowing the business to deliver services at the required speed to ensure customer satisfaction
· Data that is properly stored, managed, protected and compliant with data protection legislation again mitigating the risks of data breaches and any related impact to customer service
