Headquartered in Cheshire, with manufacturing and distribution sites across the Manchester region, Comfy Quilts has cushioned our sleep since 1973. The company has grown steadily over the years – and exponentially since its acquisition of Bedcrest in 2000. As a result, its existing IT infrastructure struggled to keep up with the steep rise in business growth. The systems would frequently crash, affecting every aspect of the business from production to dispatch.
In order to combat these challenges and help the business transition from an SME to becoming a larger corporate entity, Comfy Quilts approached NetApp’s partner LIMA with a brief to develop a modernised, robust IT infrastructure, who then engaged NetApp in the ambitious project. The solution included a new virtualised environment, capable of handling five times as many systems users while also supporting continuous production and ongoing business growth.
The installation included a FlexPod with Hyper-V clustered virtual environment running a dual-control NetApp FAS hybrid array, which immediately solved the server downtime by providing more server resources and storage, and laying the groundwork for the move towards a full virtual desktop infrastructure. Comfy Quilts also opted for disaster recovery using a NetApp FAS hybrid system with the ONTAP storage operating system for scalability, and integrated Veeam Backup and Replication to create a failover platform.
Jason Corfield, Head of IT, Comfy Quilts, said: “I looked at a lot of storage providers but ultimately chose NetApp. I had experience of working with NetApp in the past and knew that it wasn’t just a technology purchase but actually a complete solution. This made the difference.
“Our new system has given us the ability to make our production continuous, crucial for helping the business grow. It has dramatically reduced system downtime, and even manged to save us around ?150,000 every year in power and uptime costs. To top it all off, the installation process was very simple – the solution integrated perfectly with our existing infrastructure and immediately produced results against our existing challenges.”
Mohamed Bakeer, CTO, LIMA added: “As an award winning NetApp Gold Partner, our relationship with NetApp is a strong one. Our work with Comfy Quilts illustrates how this partnership enables us to provide our customers with the next generation of IT infrastructure and storage technology. We are proud to have enabled such a successful business transformation, and look forward to working with Comfy Quilts to utilise the full potential of its new digital solution.”
Matt Watts, Director, Technology and Strategy, NetApp concluded: “Comfy Quilts is an industry leader in Europe, bringing comfort to customers across the region with its portfolio of bedding companies and manufacturing outlets. Its drive to reinvigorate business by modernising its IT infrastructure is exemplary. As it grows and delivers products with increased efficiency, thanks to its new, scalable virtual environment, it is a clear benchmark in the true business value of digital transformation.”
