Spineart’s activity as a specialist in the medical device sector places strict demands on its IT infrastructure: securing critical data, ensuring regulatory traceability, supporting international R&D and sales teams, and maintaining the agility to adapt quickly to growth.
However, the company was operating with a non-redundant on-premise infrastructure, consisting of isolated servers without a VMware cluster—lacking high availability and resilience. Faced with aging hardware and expanding operations, Spineart needed to simultaneously renew its primary infrastructure in Plan-les-Ouates and deploy a second, redundant production site in France, all within the context of a site relocation and merger.
The challenge was further complicated by the fact that the project coincided with a major transition for our partner VMware, requiring cost optimization while meeting tight deadlines and ensuring a level of security and performance aligned with the standards of the medical industry.
Solution.
To meet Spineart’s requirements, we conducted an in-depth evaluation phase to identify and present all technically viable solutions, taking into account the client’s budgetary and operational constraints.
The selected architecture is based on Dell vSAN Ready Nodes, combining compute and storage resources, orchestrated by VMware vSphere and vSAN to ensure high availability and resilience. This infrastructure includes auto-provisioning and automated management mechanisms via vSphere DRS and vSphere HA, enabling continuous resource optimization and simplified scalability through the addition of extra nodes.
Data protection is ensured by Veeam Backup & Recovery, leveraging immutable backup servers based on Windows REFS and Linux XFS.
We applied our structured project methodology across the Plan, Build, and Run phases, covering the development of the technical specification document (DAT), full installation and configuration of the vSphere/vSAN infrastructure, migration and backup testing, and knowledge transfer to Spineart’s IT team to ensure operational autonomy.
We have a long-standing, trusted relationship with Bechtle, which has grown stronger throughout this large-scale project. Despite the unexpected and unpredictable cost increases following VMware’s acquisition by Broadcom, the continuity and quality of support have been remarkable. Bechtle’s teams have been available, skilled, and patient, guiding us toward high-performance solutions tailored to our needs. This collaboration enabled us to achieve our goals of resilience and operational agility.
Frédéric Levet, Infrastructure & Cybersecurity Director, Spineart
Benefits.
«Thanks to our collaboration with Bechtle, we deployed a high-performance solution that provides the maintenance flexibility and resilience we previously lacked. Today, we feel confident in the face of potential incidents, with resilient and encrypted backups. We’ve gained IT maturity and operational peace of mind: we’re now able to double or triple our capacity, and our audits confirm it.»
«Moreover, a project isn’t defined by what goes smoothly, but by how challenges and unexpected constraints are handled. Bechtle never left us alone in difficult moments, especially in the complex context of Broadcom’s pricing changes. Together, we found solutions to reach our goals despite the obstacles. This ability to support us through critical phases is far more valuable than a flawless project
— it’s what builds a true partnership.» concludes Frédéric Levet
Partners.
