Technology has been continuously evolving from being an operational necessity to a business enabler, but it’s only recently that there has been a very noticeable move to a closer collaboration between CIOs and CEOs in enterprises across all industries.
But what is obvious to us – the importance of the two working side by side in finding ways to optimize IT for business needs and growth – is not always obvious to others. That’s why I really love that Isilon is working closely with a company that really gets it. Industrial Color is a top-notch creative production company that creates the colorful images for Victoria’s Secret (it has other customers, but this one is most memorable for some reason).
Added cool factor – they are based in New York City, and boast the 3rd largest data center in Manhattan. And since we all know Manhattan is only as big as its two river banks, the importance of preserving data center space becomes paramount.
Originally, Industrial Color was using an old NAS system from NetApp to power its GLOBALedit Web offering to clients. GLOBALedit allows customers to manage work-in-progress videos and images via a Web app, so said customers don’t have to store those huge files in their data centers, and can quickly share the data across branches for collaboration and further editing.
- Example: Victoria’s Secret can basically store, share, edit, and enhance all those photos of Adriana Lima and videos of the annual Angels fashion show via GLOBALedit. Or they could have just asked me to borrow my Mac… but I digress.
Ultimately, the old NetApp platform got tapped. Too many bits and bytes, not enough capacity – and certainly not performance – in the legacy system. So they transitioned GLOBALedit to an Isilon X-Series system, creating a shared storage resource for clients around the world.
But did Industrial Color rest on their laurels? No. And here is your exempli gratia of IT folks attuned to their company’s growth opportunities. Instead of going on vacation they created another online service, FileSociety, a hosted service providing high-speed file transfer for clients to move content around. And what happens? Continued technological innovation and value-add services make for happier clients. And happier clients make loyal clients.
So when I see companies like Industrial Color, who are constantly looking ahead, to where the growth is, to where their customers may need them, and do so cross-section – from sales, to marketing, to ops, to IT, I smile. Thanks to the right piece of technology installed at the right time, Industrial Color was able to create new client offerings and grow its business in a pretty cut-throat creative production industry. It’s a win-win, no matter how you slice it. And that’s the bottom (or the top?) line.
Want to hear more about Industrial Color? Check out SearchStorage.com’s profile on their use of Isilon here.
