A PARTNERSHIP with a niche technology company has seen the Port of Tyne strengthen its IT disaster recovery platform and adopt new technology to reduce its energy bills by £20,000.

SITS Group, based at Newcastle’s Quorum Business Park, is the region’s only dedicated virtualisation specialist, and originally won the tender to help the Port create a more resilient IT backup and disaster recovery platform across the 600-acre site.

As part of that project the team, went on to assess whether the Port’s server estate was structured efficiently, and spent four weeks conducting a detailed capacity planning exercise. They have now implemented the latest virtualisation technology from VMWare to create a leaner, more efficient structure, reducing the number of servers needed from 28 down to three.

One of the spin-off benefits of virtualisation is its ability to reduce carbon emissions, thanks to lower power, heating and cooling requirements.

Phil Cambers, commercial director of Newcastle-based SITS Group, said: “The Port’s previous server estate was generating 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year but the new structure has reduced that to 15 tonnes – that’s the equivalent of taking seven cars off the road every year, and this alone should save the Port over £20,000 in energy costs.”

Ian Blake, IT manager at Port of Tyne, said: “This is a key investment in improving the Port’s IT infrastructure.”