Fischer Sports GmbH is the global leader in Nordic skiing and one of the world's leading brands in Alpine skiing, known for innovation and cutting-edge techno\ogy. Fiscl1er is also one of the biggest manufactu rers of high-quality ice hockey sticks. Fischer's vision is to Ье the winter athlete ' s brand of choice through outstanding products, created for everlasting moments and new levels of individual performance. The privately held company employs nearly 2000 individuals who all share а passion for and dedication to winter sports. Fischer Sports GmbH was founded in 1924 in Ried im Innkreis, Austria, where the global headquarters is still located. Manufacturing takes place there and in Ukraine. Fischer Sports GMBH representative office in Russia and the CIS countries (Fisher LLC) has been successfully operating for more than 20 years.
IT services
Cooperation of Fisher LLC and ALP Group began in October 2017 with the servicing of the server part of the IT infrastructure (Windows / Linux servers providing the operation of corporate sites, 1C applications and data exchange between IT sales support systems).
In 2018, a service company improved our basic IT processes (call handling and incident management) and also introduced high-level processes (management of IT problems and changes in IT), which made it possible to significantly improve the quality of technical support. ALP Group also offered us more stringent SLA options than before. Tightening the SLA in half and reducing the response time to IT incidents to 15 minutes resulted in a guaranteed 1–2 hours resolution of any incident or problem.
Modernization of IT infrastructure
As part of a large-scale modernization of the IT infrastructure, ALP Group planned and conducted a set of interrelated projects (reorganization of the local network, server virtualization, increase of fault tolerance and disaster recovery of the application software). This has significantly improved the work of the company's key IT services. The IT infrastructure not only became rapidly scalable, but was also prepared for installing typical configurations of equipment and services necessary for the launch and operation of Fischer Sports GMBH premium ski equipment stores, which opened in December 2018 in Moscow and Sochi.
ALP Group also reorganized the Fisher local network and led it to the united standards adopted by Fischer Sports GMBH. It also prepared and carried out the transfer of the IT infrastructure of the representative office to a new office, reconnecting remote objects (warehouses, retail outlets) to it. The works were carried out with the minimum possible downtime (1 hour). This helped avoid the negative impact of the move on sales.
Preparing stores for opening
New outlets of the company got the opportunity to work independently. At the same time, ALP Group accelerated the restoration of IT infrastructure in case of possible failures (no more than 3 hours). This allows us to quickly and easily open new Fischer Sports stores. Now ALP Group is preparing two stores of downhill and cross-country skiing equipment, equipment for tennis and hockey for opening in Moscow and Sochi (Krasnaya Polyana). It will also carry out their integrated IT services.
Monitoring of IT infrastructure
Since October 2018, the availability and status of the IT infrastructure of the office, warehouses and all stores of the representative office have been continuously monitored with the help of the Argus CMCS, a centralized monitoring and control system developed by the ALP Group.
With the help of CMCS, the ALP Group IT specialists receive online information on all the "bottlenecks" in the work of the information system, on emerging problems and incidents in the IT infrastructure (a drop in 1C performance, etc.). And also, they have detailed data on the status of IT services, business applications, equipment and company websites. This allows them to prevent up to 80% of IT problems. And in case of IT incidents that did occur they can as quickly as possible and accurately eliminate not only the consequences but also the causes.
Expansion of cooperation
At the moment, the planned upgrade of server hardware and storage and the reorganization of the 1C server is being completed. At the same time, ALP Group specialists are preparing for the introduction of a new warehouse accounting system in 2019.
Recommendations
We recommend ALP Group as a competent IT partner who has gained extensive experience working with representative offices of international companies and as a partner who is aware of the requirements of a global enterprise for the overall quality and level of IT services.
Separately, we note the high business potential and professionalism of the IT manager of ALP Group. Roman Bezruchenok, who correctly built and currently coordinates all interaction with the global technical support service of Fischer Sports GMBH, proved to be a competent and responsible specialist. He is able to not only offer modern technology and tools, seriously increasing business efficiency, but also to monitor their implementation and to control the result and benefit of new services and tools for the client company.
Chief Operating Officer Fischer LLC
Obukhov К. V.
