As IAG grew its business through frequent acquisitions, it inherited many technology systems and data sources—including more than 20 data warehouses. This complexity made it challenging to get a complete, up-to-date view of a customer. “IT became a bottleneck,” said David Abrahams, executive general manager data, IAG. “Even a simple change had to be made in many different systems, affecting our ability to actually change and adapt.” IAG needed to simplify its technology environment by consolidating into a standardized data platform.

IAG evaluated several alternatives before choosing an OpenStack^®—based private cloud solution from Red Hat. IAG also used other Red Hat solutions, including virtualization, automation, and management software. During deployment, IAG worked closely with Red Hat Consulting to ensure the new environment met security and performance requirements. “The support we got from Red Hat was outstanding and really helped us initiate and deliver the project quickly … We had our OpenStack environment up and running in 2 to 3 weeks,” said Kieran Clulow, director, data engineering, IAG.

IAG’s simplified environment helps the company find and use data faster and more accurately. Now IAG can get a comprehensive, accurate view of each customer to provide more relevant, timely services. And by migrating to enterprise open source solutions, IAG anticipates savings in maintenance and provisioning costs. IAG also gained efficiency through self-service and automated capabilities, accelerating development and time to market. “To provision a report in our old environment would take up to a year from end to end,” said Clulow. “Now our turnaround is a couple of weeks.”