Spectrum Brands


Customer Story

Connecting a Continent

The Challenge
Spectrum Brands has a diverse portfolio of businesses, with headquarters, distribution centres and sales offices scattered across Europe. Its acquisition policy had given it conflicting connectivity solutions that relied on different suppliers in different locations. That made the IT estate time consuming and complex to manage. In addition, the various networks didn’t connect well together, making the solution inefficient. Employees at different sites had entirely different online experiences.
This situation was made more complex with the purchase of Russell Hobbs, the number one UK small appliance brand. Adding a large multi-site operator to the mix only made Spectrum’s European network more complicated and cumbersome.
The business knew it was time for a change. As it turned out, the best solution was staring it in the face.
The Vaioni Solution
Vaioni had been Russell Hobbs’ connectivity provider for a number of years. Vaioni designed and delivered a powerful and secure seven-site MPLS Wide Area Network (WAN) for the business, using a mix of Ethernet and broadband technologies tailored to the needs of each location.
This was a centrally managed solution that reduced management time and – crucially – created a single network rather than a jigsaw puzzle of unrelated connectivity solutions.
Vaioni realised that this was exactly the solution that Spectrum Brands required, albeit on a Europe-wide basis rather than just a UK one. Luckily, Vaioni has considerable experience when it comes to cross-border connectivity, utilising their own core network and the infrastructure of their European partners.
To summarise, Vaioni expanded the Russell Hobbs MPLS WAN to incorporate the different Spectrum Brand sites across Europe. The connectivity estate now comprises of Vaioni in the UK and Colt in Europe, with data centre and Ethernet solutions that are appropriate to the needs of each individual site, but connect seamlessly together. The network is managed centrally by Vaioni.
The Results
The move to Vaioni’s centrally managed network immediately solved a number of Spectrum’s challenges. For a start, it drastically reduced the time required to maintain the network, and freed up the company’s own IT staff for more productive tasks. It also gave the company one supplier, one point of contact, and one central support team should anything go wrong. The business now gets consistent speeds and a high quality online experience across its highly resilient network.
After upgrading their network, the business also thought it sensible to introduce a central security solution across its brands and sites. Vaioni now manages an enterprise-grade firewall for Spectrum’s entire digital estate in Europe, giving it far more robust protection than the piecemeal security previously in place.
Spectrum Brands relies on Vaioni’s expert management to connect and secure an IT estate that stretches the length and breadth of Europe. It knows it has a network that will scale with the business, and a connectivity partner that will support it as the company’s glowing portfolio of international brands continues to grow.



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