Highly secure hosting facility enhances server performance, reduces downtime
“Macquarie Telecom managed hosting solution enables us to expand our product and service
range and still ensure around-the-clock system availability for customers. Knowing that our
critical technology is in safe hands gives us immeasurable peace of mind.”
Craig McMaster,
Chief Executive Officer, Showbiz International
Overview
What do Robbie Williams, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, A Salute To Australia and The Lion
King have in common - all owe a significant degree of their incredible sales success to Showbiz
international, Australia's leading premium ticketing and packaging, sales and marketing company.
Showbiz operates high-profile websites that draw thousands of visitors every day. Customer
numbers jumped by 200 percent in 2003 while online ticket and show package sales increased
by 50 percent over the previous year. Online sales contribute up to 25 percent of the company's
gross annual revenue. And that's only the beginning.
Showbiz also manages the entertainment services component for a large number of corporate
loyalty programs. In 2002, it launched a new corporate hospitality service in a bid to become
the partner of choice for all major entertainment and theatrical events.
Due to increased customer demand, Showbiz chose Macquarie Telecom's complex managed hosting
solution to ensure the security and continuity of its ticketing system, websites, data servers
and email accounts.
“Our entire business is driven by and depends on technology,” said Showbiz CEO Craig McMaster.
“Macquarie Telecom managed hosting solution enables us to expand our product and service range
and still provide around-the-clock system availability for customers. Knowing that our critical
technology is in safe hands gives us immeasurable peace of mind.”
The Opportunity
Established in the early 1980s, Showbiz partners with concert promoters, theatre producers
and entertainment venues to sell premium tickets and packages to a diverse range of theatre,
concert, the arts, leisure and sporting events in Australia and around the world. The company
provides event packages to the wholesale and retail travel markets and a large range of corporate
loyalty programs, such as Commonwealth Bank Awards, Lexus Encore Box Office and Qantas Box
Office. In 2002, it introduced a new corporate services division to provide hospitality packages
for the commercial sector.
Showbiz realised it needed to assure the scalability, security and availability of its
technology infrastructure. It had recently implemented a new system that significantly streamlined
its ticketing and customer service processes. Ensuring 99.9 percent uptime for this platform
was critical.
Maintaining continuous service for a large number of partner websites was also important.
“We supply content and manage transactions for our partners' loyalty programs,” explained
Mr McMaster. “Qantas customers, for example, can earn frequent flyer points for tickets they
purchase on the Qantas Box Office website. We support this site so we have a responsibility
to our partners to ensure all transactions are completed successfully and securely.”
Showbiz's preference was to limit its internal investment in overheads, so outsourcing
was considered the best available option. The company had previously engaged another hosting
solutions company but found its services unsatisfactory. Following a competitive tender process,
Showbiz chose Macquarie Telecom as its preferred hosting supplier.
“We met with Macquarie Telecom and were confident it was right for our business,” said
Mr McMaster. “We found a partner who could provide security, safety and set-up for future
growth. Macquarie Telecom's professionalism and quality account management, as well as state-of-the-art
technology, meant it had all the technical, project management and people skills we required.”
“It is also one of the few commercial data centres that has both local and international
security accreditations such as BS 7799 and DSD Gateway. With so many transactions happening
on the site, security is a paramount concern,” said Mr McMaster. “With Macquarie Telecom we
knew the systems and process would be in place to keep us secure 24x7.”
The Solution
Showbiz set a three-month deadline to relocate its infrastructure to Macquarie's Intellicentre,
a $35 million dedicated hosting facility based in Sydney. “One of our objectives was to ensure
the data centre was an extension of our business,” said Mr McMaster. “The proximity of the
Macquarie Intellicentre to our office means we can still keep a close eye on our critical
infrastructure.”
The Showbiz Information & Systems team worked with the Macquarie project management group
on the relocation. The hosting solution involved managing application servers, Microsoft SQL
Server databases, Microsoft Windows 2000 servers, email accounts and numerous websites.
Macquarie Telecom also provided multiple data feeds from Showbiz's call centre to its servers
in the IntelliCentre. The infrastructure is protected by Macquarie's Managed Security Services
(MSS) including antivirus, firewall, intrusion detection systems and 24x7 security monitoring.
During the preparation phase, Showbiz experienced a minor code conflict when moving to
Microsoft Windows 2003. “Macquarie Telecom handled the interruption with speed and professionalism,”
Mr McMaster said. “The team rolled us back to Windows 2000 with minimal disruption to the
business.” The relocation was completed on time and on budget without further incident.
Results
Showbiz switched over to the new environment in February 2004. The difference in performance
was felt immediately, according to Mr McMaster.
“The first thing we noticed was the improvement in performance,” he said. “Transactions
were processed faster so we were able to get through many more sales than we normally do.
Performance was solid even during peak periods, including days when sales for a major concert
or theatre event first commenced.”
System downtime has also been reduced. Previously, the company could experience one or
two incidents a week. Now incidents are a rarity, ensuring transactions are conducted smoothly.
“Ten minutes of downtime equates to thousands of dollars in lost revenue for Showbiz and its
clients. Our customers and clients demand 99.9 percent uptime. There's very little room for
mistakes – and Macquarie Telecom has helped us deliver on our agreed service levels.”
Showbiz can also scale its Information & Systems infrastructure to meet customer demand.
“Our corporate and VIP hospitality service is taking off in leaps and bounds,” said Mr McMaster.
“We have also seen consumer demand for tickets and packages increase in the past year. With
a hosted solution we have been able to easily scale our systems to meet this demand and expand
our product and service offering as necessary.”
“And because the level of security we get from Macquarie Telecom is unparalleled, we have
been able to attract a whole new range of customers for whom accreditations are essential.”
While the business growth is welcome, Mr McMaster said the intangible benefits are just
as important. “You can't put a dollar value on peace of mind and ensuring quality of service
to our clients and customers. Entrusting our systems to an expert in complex hosting solutions
was a strategic business decision and one that very quickly delivered dividends for Showbiz.”
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