IT solutions specialist IMPERIAL Online, an IMPERIAL Logistics group company, has been presented with a “Risk Award” by the Institute of Risk Management South Africa. This award recognises the outstanding risk management that went into one of the largest data centre relocation projects ever undertaken in South Africa.  The undertaking involved relocating 1 500 pieces of equipment worth more than R150 million, and it affected the IMPERIAL Group as well as external customers, explains IMPERIAL Online managing director Derek van Heerden. “This is an outstanding case study in managing risk,” he enthuses. “It encompasses challenges that include the complexity of moving equipment from two data centres to two new data centres, an insurance limit on the loads, the physical sensitivity of moving IT equipment, as well as moving more than 2 000 data lines at the same time.”

The risk was managed through a structured approach in project management and careful communication with the stakeholders, states Van Heerden. “Customers were involved in each step of the risk decision making.” The success of the project is reflected in the fact that all key systems were relocated to the new data centres within the 10 hour agreed downtime for each move. “In fact,” he adds, “the average downtime was only 5 hours!” IMPERIAL Online netted this award in the “Industry Specific Risk Initiative: Information Systems” category. “Collaboration and communication - with the consideration of risk each step of the way - were the absolute keys to the success of the award-winning data centre relocation,” Van Heerden concludes.

This risk award is IMPERIAL Online’s third accolade this year. The company took top honours in the ITSM Project of the Year awards, presented at SMEXA (Service Management Exhibition and Conference Africa) 2012. This award recognised IMPERIAL Online’s Information Management System implementation called Marval. Earlier this year, IMPERIAL Online also received a Silver Logistics Achiever Award for its massive data centre relocation project. IMPERIAL Online serves the needs of a diverse client base operating in a wide range of industries, including the automotive industry, construction, engineering, manufacturing and transport - both within the IMPERIAL Group and externally.