Customer Success Story: STS Commercial
Customer Success Story: STS Commercial
Financial services | IT Infrastructure Design
Overview
STS Commercial are a financial services operation providing tailored finance packages and solutions in the UK and US. They manage a portfolio of credit brokerages that support their clients in securing the best loan offers on the market, and help brokers to connect their customers with reliable access to funding.
Issues / Challenges:
- Ageing IT infrastructure.
- Ever-growing storage demands.
- Bottlenecks in the network.
- High cost of system downtime.
Objectives:
- Validate the belief that ageing hardware was the root cause of system bottlenecks and poor processing performance.
- Implement a storage solution that would allow for company expansion.
- Reduce the number of bottlenecks and under-utilised virtual machines.
- Replace ageing hardware with the most cost-effective solution.
Project Background
STS Commercial was running ageing infrastructure, including HPE ProLiant Gen9 servers, which struggled to keep up with the workload of processing a large number of loan applications. It was our initial belief that the servers were limiting performance and creating bottlenecks, but to validate the need for an outlay in investment, we first used HPE’s CloudPhysics tool, which looks at any unused and underutilised resources.
Using HPE CloudPhysics, we identified that the company had its infrastructure configured correctly for its current environment, and more processing power was required to keep up with the ever-expanding workload. This evaluation piece gave the company confidence in their purchasing decision and encouraged the shareholders to release the required funds to update their servers. After assessing that the STS systems would have to be updated, we quoted a couple of solutions based on our findings, including a new retail solution based on Gen 11 servers, and a refurbished solution based on slightly older HPE Gen10 Plus servers.
STS also looked at migrating to the cloud, which quickly proved unfeasible. Initial pricing came in at over £185,000 annually to move to the cloud, making this an unsustainable long-term solution. Although it was felt that cloud solutions could eliminate some of their energy costs and simplify management, the on-premises hardware was calculated at a far more favourable price point.
Our Solution: Refurbished IT Hardware for Optimal Price and Performance
By sourcing high-quality, refurbished HPE hardware, we delivered a cost-effective solution. The HPE Gen10 Plus servers were equipped with high-performing Xeon processors, and an HPE MSA 2062 provided the necessary storage expansion. The hardware was installed onsite, and all the latest firmware was updated. Everything was connected in a testing environment prior to going live.
The solution met STS Commercial’s heavy processing needs and provided ideal longevity with a three-year lifespan. Through our Trade-In service, we also bought back STS Commercial’s HPE Gen9 servers, which gave them an even bigger saving than first expected. Ultimately, the project came in well under budget.
By choosing refurbished hardware over the cloud, the financial impact was substantial: more than £120,000 saved in the first 12 months, and up to £400,000 saved across the 3-year lifespan of their refurbished Gen10 Plus servers.
Recommending Steel City Consulting
“Steel City Consulting delivered exactly what we needed — clarity, confidence, and a clear plan forward. They helped us assess the true condition of our ageing infrastructure, identify performance bottlenecks, and validate the need for investment.
Our development team has been reinvigorated by the improved performance, and the entire process was handled with professionalism and transparency. I’d confidently recommend Steel City Consulting to any business.”
Will Sinclair, Director at STS Commercial
