Flagship Solutions Group (FSG) Shines in Data Center Migration for International Jewelry Chain

The Client

Birks Group is a leading designer of fine jewelry, timepieces and gifts and operator of luxury jewelry stores in Canada. As of March 2022, the Company operates 24 stores and e-commerce under the Maison Birks brand in most major metropolitan markets in Canada, one retail location in Calgary under the Brinkhaus brand, one retail location in Vancouver operated under the Graff brand and one location in Vancouver under the Patek Philippe brand. Bijoux Birks fine jewelry collections are also available through Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths locations in the United Kingdom in addition to several jewelry retailers across North America and Europe. Birks was founded in 1879 and has become Canada’s premier retailer and designer of fine jewelry, timepieces and gifts. Additional information can be found on Birks’ web site, www.maisonbirks.com, and www.brinkhaus.com.

The Challenge

As Birks Group’s managed services provider for over eight years, FSG was tasked with migrating the company’s data center operations in Atlanta, Georgia to a new state-of-the-art facility in Massachusetts. The goal of the migration was to increase capacity and performance, enhance Birks Group’s security posture against outside threats, and implement a disaster recovery (DR) system.

In addition to upgrading and installing new hardware, the project would require the creation of an updated IBM iOS version, assistance with licensing, upgrading applications, and ensuring vendor compliance. There was also a requirement for a DR site as there was none in the Atlanta location. Everything had to be done without an interruption in service.

The Flagship Solution

FSG initiated the migration in September 2021 by creating a new environment for Birks in their Massachusetts data center. FSG not only upgraded the existing IBM operating system platform, but they updated and debugged all Birks Group applications, ensuring compatibility with the new system. FSG also assisted Birks with licensing and compliance across multiple platforms and partners.

Business Outcomes

FSG streamlined the process for Birks Group IT personnel, handling all aspects of data center migration from Georgia to Massachusetts. Licenses were examined for redundancies, expired applications, and inactive vendors to reduce costs. Software applications were vetted and tested for performance.

The upgraded systems came online in January 2022 without experiencing any service interruptions, and Birks has had zero issues with implementation or performance to date.

The new resilient and redundant system has given Birks the peace of mind that their new environment will meet the availability needs of their business. With FSG managed services, Birks operating costs are now predictable and within their budget.

In addition, Birks Group now has the capacity to build a parallel DR site in Massachusetts. Plans call for FSG to develop a Data Risk Plan (DRP) which will allow the enterprise to be up and running within 24 hours of an unexpected service outage or cyberattack.

To learn more about Flagship and our skills working with IBM, please email us at: info@flagshipsg.com or call us at: 561-208-3941.