Unica ICT manages IT environments for organizations primarily in healthcare, logistics, and industry. Their clients' systems are often located in external data centers and need to be securely connected to other locations, vendors, and IT services.
"Customers often use services from different providers, which in turn can be located in different data centers," says Lars Tillman, Senior Engineer Infra & Security at Unica ICT. "That's why we need to be able to establish connections between those environments quickly and easily."
With DCspine, Eurofiber's service for data center connectivity, Unica ICT can activate, modify, and scale data center connections on its own. This shortens the lead time for network changes from weeks to minutes and allows for a faster response to migrations and unexpected situations.
Activate, adjust, and move data center connections yourself within minutes
With traditional network services, requesting a connection between two data centers can easily take several weeks. Every change goes through an order desk or service desk. Even an incorrect VLAN number can cause delays as a result.
Thanks to Eurofiber, Unica ICT can handle many of these tasks itself. Once the physical connection at a data center has been established, employees can activate, adjust, and move connections through the portal. "A Layer 2 connection between two data centers used to easily take more than three weeks," Lars adds. "Now, for example, I change a VLAN number myself in the portal. I press Enter, and a few seconds later it's done."
Eurofiber also helps Unica ICT keep the technical setup of its own network organized. When customers or vendors use the same VLAN numbers, Unica ICT can translate these within the platform. This reduces the number of exceptions needed in their own network. "The platform doesn't just give us flexibility. It also solves technical issues that we would otherwise have to resolve ourselves within our network."
The collaboration began with a migration project that required short-term connections
Unica ICT first used the DCspine service in 2018 during a migration from a data center in Friesland. The project required a temporary redundant connection. A traditional solution would have had a lead time of about sixteen weeks and a minimum term of twelve months, while Unica ICT likely only needed the connection for three months.
Eurofiber provided the solution with DCspine. The platform was able to deliver the required redundant connection within five days, with a term that matched the duration of the project. "That was immediately a strong example of Eurofiber's flexibility for us," says Lars. "We didn't have to commit to a year-long connection that we only needed temporarily. Plus, we were able to start much faster."
Four circuits relocated in one night
The benefits became clear when Unica ICT moved its environment to a different data center. Relocating four connections from another provider took about six months and required the involvement of multiple project managers. Four Eurofiber circuits, on the other hand, were moved by Unica in a single night. "We brought our equipment to Oude Meer, logged into the portal, and indicated that the circuits should now terminate at the new location. After that, we immediately saw the connections come back online," Lars adds.
Today, Unica ICT can also activate a new connection alongside the existing one first. Only once everything is working properly is the old setup shut down. This reduces risk during migrations and makes rolling back easier. "That flexibility is incredible. You no longer have to wait for someone at a vendor to manually make a change in the middle of the night."
Continuity during unexpected situations
The value of DCspine also became immediately clear during a fire at a data center where Unica ICT leased rack space. Part of the facility lost power, while another section remained operational. To quickly relocate equipment and retain existing IP addresses, a new connection was needed between two data center locations.
A new connection was requested through DCspine. With support from Eurofiber, the necessary authorization was arranged that same evening, after which the physical connection could be installed right away. The connection was active by the next morning.
As a result, internet services and IP addresses could be moved to the new location within hours. The available bandwidth could also be scaled up immediately through the DCspine portal, without any additional physical work.
Control when every minute counts
For Lars, the main added value lies in the ability to act independently. Especially during an outage, Unica ICT wants to depend as little as possible on order procedures and the availability of individual contacts. "In an emergency, you don't want to have to call your account manager first, who might be on vacation. With DCspine, we can handle a lot of things ourselves. Click, click, and the connection is there."
That control also helps when connecting new customers. When a customer needs a direct connection to a vendor or another IT service provider, Unica ICT can activate a circuit between the relevant data centers through Eurofiber.
This is relevant, for example, for organizations that don't want to route important data traffic through a standard internet connection or VPN tunnel. A direct connection offers more options for agreements on capacity, availability, and service.
Unica ICT can also adjust the capacity of such a connection to match actual usage. When less bandwidth is needed, the connection can be scaled down. If traffic grows again later, Unica ICT can increase the capacity once more. "With other providers, a change like that goes through the order desk, and you might not get the adjustment until a week later. With Eurofiber, I can arrange that myself," says Lars.
Fast response and direct access to technical specialists
According to Lars, the added value isn't just in the technology. The collaboration with Eurofiber also plays an important role. For specialized questions, the account manager quickly brings in a technical expert.
"When Rick, our account manager at Eurofiber, knows the answer, I get it right away. When he doesn't, he sets up a conversation with the right specialist. Nothing gets promised upfront only to find out during execution that it's not technically possible."
For Unica ICT, the value of Eurofiber ultimately comes down to speed, flexibility, and control.
"I can decide for myself where a connection terminates, how much capacity is needed, and when we adjust it. That gives us less overhead and lets us act faster. That makes a big difference, especially when something unexpected happens."
For Unica ICT, this flexibility means not just less operational effort, but also lower risk during migrations and incidents. New connections can be made available faster, which better safeguards service delivery to customers.