Cell C Achieves 24/7 Reliability by Modernizing With HPE Services

When it comes to keeping a mobile network running, even the slightest hiccup can cause a ripple effect, impacting a company’s revenue and thousands of customers.

Cell C is a leading mobile network operator in South Africa. We offer a wide range of products and services, including voice, data, device, and SIM deals to 7.6 million subscribers. We also provide fixed networks like fiber to the home (FTTH) and fiber to the business (FTTB).

Our data center supports internal business applications and critical systems for our customers. I’m the senior IT infrastructure manager, and my team’s success is measured by the availability and resilience of that data center infrastructure.

Five years ago, Cell C was grappling with aging hardware and, with it, the fate of the business.

Unreliable legacy infrastructure threatened operations

The constant threat of downtime was a huge concern. Our previous infrastructure failed frequently, leading to service outages that made it impossible for our customers to make phone calls, buy airtime, or buy data. Outages led to revenue loss, and the disruptions threatened customer satisfaction because our customers expect our services to be available 24/7.

Internal productivity also suffered because of this infrastructure debt. Staff members rely on applications that run on our data center infrastructure, and the less reliable they are, the harder it is for the team to get things done. Additionally, our IT team was constantly fighting fires, trying to keep our legacy hardware systems online.

The Mobile Network Operator (MNO) space in South Africa is very competitive, so a stable and reliable IT infrastructure was a must. We needed a radical change, and we achieved it by partnering with HPE.

Cutting-edge systems backed by proactive support

Cell C upgraded its legacy systems with HPE’s latest technologies. We deployed HPE Synergy systems for compute workloads, replacing our legacy BL and DL generation servers.

We implemented HPE Alletra Storage, moving away from older 3PAR systems for significantly better performance and reliability. As soon as we installed HPE Alletra Storage in the data center, we saw an improvement in processing, I/O, and read/write capabilities, boosting the productivity of our internal clients.  

For added coverage, we upgraded to HPE Complete Care Service and received an assigned technology specialist who helps us manage, plan, and operate our HPE environment. We hold monthly meetings and quarterly reviews, where they present detailed reports on our infrastructure health, firmware levels, and recommended updates. Together with the Complete Care team, we create implementation plans and plan maintenance windows so they can perform remote updates without impacting operations.

The service is very much focused on preventative actions, not just on fixing incidents, which avoids problems before they cause an outage. In many cases, HPE notifies us of problems before our engineers detect them, enabling us to fix issues before they cause disruptions. This proactive approach means we’re always running current software and optimizing our technology, which directly translates to higher availability and reliability.

“HPE’s global presence makes a real difference. We’ve worked with other vendors in the past, and having access to expert engineers worldwide is invaluable.”

HPE’s global presence makes a difference, too. When issues arise, we can also access specialized engineers from around the world who know our specific hardware configurations. We’ve worked with other vendors in the past, and we know that when you’re dealing with critical systems, having access to expert engineers worldwide, not just local support, is invaluable.

HPE delivers the enterprise-grade systems and 24/7 support to ensure our mission-critical telecommunications infrastructure is always available.

“HPE delivers the enterprise-grade systems and 24/7 support to ensure our mission-critical telecommunications infrastructure is always available.”

Stable and reliable infrastructure drives business success

Just as we’d hoped, the results of our HPE infrastructure modernization have been radical.

Whereas our older systems required frequent attention and generated regular support tickets for component replacements, the new HPE infrastructure has been remarkably stable. Our customers can make calls, purchase services, and access data confidently and consistently, enabling Cell C to meet its revenue targets. Staff members are also much happier that they don’t spend as much time fighting with hardware.

Without HPE Complete Care services, we wouldn't have access to global experts in the event of a failure or the proactive support we need to warn customers of problems. Relying on HPE technology — and the support of the HPE team to manage and maintain it — means Cell C’s services are always available, enabling us to meet our customers’ expectations of 24/7 connectivity. As a result, we get fewer customer complaints and experience higher customer satisfaction.

“The increased reliability means that Cell C’s services are always available, enabling us to meet our customers’ expectations of 24/7 connectivity.”

Our team has peace of mind because we know that HPE’s global team of experts is on standby to smooth things over if anything goes wrong. Now, instead of worrying about unexpected outages, the Cell C team can focus on its core mission: providing seamless and reliable mobile and fixed network services to South Africans.