EXCEEDING GUEST EXPECTATIONS WITH HYPER-CONVERGED IT Celtic Manor Resort delivers faster, more personalised services to 1 million guests, boosts its innovation potential and cuts IT issues by 20% with Dell EMC VxRail Travel & hospitality | United Kingdom Business needs Solutions at a glance As a five-star resort, Celtic Manor is focused on ● Dell EMC VxRail E and S Series hyper-converged delivering guests the best possible experience—from appliances luxurious accommodation to personalised services, ● Dell EMC PowerEdge servers whether in person or via digital channels. To meet these requirements and drive greater innovation, ● ProSupport, including Secure Remote Services Celtic Manor Resort needed a faster, more reliable ● VMware vSAN and flexible IT infrastructure. Business results ● 1 million guests a year enjoy faster services ● Facilitates greater personalisation of guest services ● Drives efficiency and innovation 20% 10% reduction in saving on help-desk tickets energy costs Celtic Manor in Newport, South Wales, is a five-star resort that hosts 1 million guests each year. Offering world-class golf, spas, health clubs, fishing, adventure golf, a treetop high ropes course and tennis courts, Celtic Manor has been the venue for many prestigious events, including the 2014 NATO Summit and Ryder Cup 2010. To support organisational growth and continue to deliver excellent services to guests, the resort needed a fast, scalable IT platform. Chris Stanley, IT manager at Celtic Manor Resort, says, “Our infrastructure was nearly bursting at the seams. Systems were constantly slow and there were outages.” Driving efficiency and innovation To better support its guests and visitors to its website, Celtic Manor deployed nine Dell EMC VxRail hyper- converged appliances in a high-availability configuration. “Prior to the implementation of VxRail, there was no room to grow and the infrastructure took a lot of time to manage. That’s why VxRail was a clear choice for us. It’s a tightly knit solution powered by VMware vSAN, running on the latest generation of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers—built by the experts at Dell EMC,” explains Stanley. As a 24-hour business, there is little time for the team to complete upgrades, and resilience is key. Being able to balance workloads has meant that the IT team can concentrate on innovation and enhancing service offerings to guests and Celtic Manor staff. “ Applications are faster with “With the time it has freed up, the IT team can be Dell EMC VxRail. That means more innovative and concentrate on supporting our business objectives,” says Stanley. we can help people make reservations, check in and Faster services enhance pay for services quicker.” guest experience Chris Stanley, IT Manager, Celtic Manor immediately improved guest journeys Celtic Manor Resort with its new solution. “Applications are faster with Dell EMC VxRail,” Stanley says. “That means we can help people make reservations, check in and pay for services quicker, so they can focus on enjoying the leisure facilities, which is the main reason they’re here.” The resort also reduced risk by using RecoverPoint they’ve enjoyed, so they can make personalised technology for continuous data protection, along with recommendations.” For example, an agent might ask ProSupport services. “We’ve cut help-desk tickets by a guest if he should schedule a 9 a.m. tee time at the 20 percent with our Dell EMC solution,” says Stanley. Montgomerie golf course or make an 8 p.m. dinner “So instead of firefighting, we’re innovating.” reservation at the Steak on Six restaurant. Celtic Manor is also lowering expenses. Stanley says, 10% saving on energy “We save about 10 percent on power costs with our expenditure VxRail architecture and we’ve reduced our IT footprint.” To further boost efficiency and savings, Celtic Manor Today, staff provide more personalised services. “When is taking advantage of the flexibility of its environment guests first walk into the lobby, they’re greeted by on VxRail to support a new virtual desktop solution. It’s reservation agents,” Stanley says. “As agents complete also looking at the use of facial recognition and artificial the check-in process, they can quickly see if guests intelligence to improve the customer experience. “We get have stayed with us before, and, if so, which experiences the technologies and guidance we need from Dell EMC to move forward as a business and deliver experiences that exceed our customers’ expectations,” says Stanley. “ We’ve cut help-desk tickets by 20 percent with our Dell EMC solution. So instead of firefighting, we’re innovating.” Chris Stanley, IT Manager, Celtic Manor Resort Learn more about Contact a Dell EMC expert Connect on social Dell EMC solutions Copyright © 2018 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. This case study is for informational purposes only. The contents and positions of staff mentioned in this case study were accurate at the point of publication in October, 2018. Dell and EMC make no warranties—expressed or implied—in this case study..