Claremont offers hosting on our Cloud platform, the Claremont Cloud, as well as on dedicated private hardware that we lease to customers. We can also colocate customers’ hardware in our data centres.
What differentiates Claremont’s hosting?
We are confident that Claremont offers an Oracle hosting service that is unique in the UK. There are three key reasons that make our service unique:
- The Claremont Cloud is unique in providing public and private Cloud platforms built on Oracle VM and Oracle Linux, thus offering a pure Oracle solution, that is hosted solely within the UK.
- In addition to the Claremont Cloud, Claremont provides dedicated hardware and co-location options and our customers can use any combination of these. This level of flexibility is very unusual.
- Claremont offers state-of-the-art hosting as part of our wider suite of Managed Services. We are not just a hosting provider and can provide whatever other infrastructure and Oracle support services that are required for your Oracle systems. Even if a hosting only option is used, Claremont still provides Service Management and comprehensive service reporting.
Is the Claremont Cloud a “true Cloud” option?
Yes. The Claremont Cloud is a true Cloud built using Oracle VM and Oracle Linux on a Cisco UCS and Dell Compellent platform. In addition to the public Claremont Cloud we run private Clouds for customers and thus also offer hybrid solutions. For example, for a leading conservation charity we provide two private Clouds and various dedicated servers in addition to hosting on the public Claremont Cloud.
Where will my data be located?
Is it secure?
All Claremont’s data centres are purpose-built facilities located within the UK that exceed the Tier III data centre standard. As such they have multiple levels of physical and electronic security, e.g. perimeter fencing, 24x7 security and data halls secured with biometrically controlled access.
The data centres are located in: Newark(Nottinghamshire), Fareham(Hampshire) and London, and are interconnected by 10Gbps resilient MPLS links. Potential customers are welcome to visit our data centres to see where their systems will be hosted.
Does Claremont own these data centres?
No, Claremont is an Oracle professional services specialist and does not own or run data centres. Timico has been our data centre partner for over 5 years and was selected because their quality and culture make them a great fit for Claremont. Claremont is now one of Timico’s largest hosting customers and that provides us with significant benefits that we pass on to our customers.
Does Claremont provide a Disaster Recovery solution?
Yes. By using three geographically diverse data centres Claremont is able to offer a range of disaster recovery solutions, regardless of whether you host on the Claremont Cloud or using dedicated hardware. The right disaster recovery solution depends on your requirements for recovery time, maximum permitted data loss, Oracle licenses and budget.
We work with our customers to understand these factors and then design a suitable disaster recovery solution. Where fast failover is required Claremont provides warm standby disaster recovery, for example built using.
Oracle’s Data Guard product. But where longer periods of downtime are permitted a simpler solution may be implemented that doesn’t require the purchase of additional Oracle licenses but does enable the production system(s) to be rebuilt at an alternative data centre within the chosen recovery time SLA.
What about backups, administration, etc?
Claremont provides whatever level of Managed Service our customers require in addition to their hosting, from operating system administration and Oracle DBA support to specialist skills proactively supporting Oracle E-Business Suite’s Payroll functionality.
Similarly, Claremont provides backup services, including options for tape and disk silo storage and long term archiving. Activities such as network and Cloud management are built-in to all services and do not need to purchased separately.
What SLAs does Claremont offer?
Claremont provides the following SLAs as standard:
- Availability: As a minimum, we guarantee the availability of hardware, power, cooling and network services to our hosting customers. However, where we are responsible for wider services, e.g. operating system and Oracle DBA, we will guarantee the availability of your Oracle systems in addition to the individual infrastructure components.
- Incident Response: We guarantee the time we take to respond to Incidents. Furthermore, a response is a human response from the assigned support analyst rather than an automated systems response.
- Incident Resolution: Claremont is unusual in also providing guaranteed times to resolve Incidents.
We will also provide custom SLAs where customers have specific requirements. In the past these have included SLAs for system performance, backups and the time taken to analyse changes.
What are the service hours?
As standard, all severity one Incidents are supported 24X7 while lower severity incidents are resolved during the standard service hours agreed with each customer.
How will we access our systems?
Most customers link their networks to Claremont’s data centre networks using IPSec (“site-to-site”) VPNs. We can also provide software VPNs to enable access from PCs where an IPSec VPN is not appropriate.
We also support customers connecting to the data centres using MPLS circuits. Whether an IPSec VPN or MPLS circuit is used, Claremont does not charge for connectivity or for data traffic but the customer is responsible for covering the costs they incur, e.g. with their network provider, in establishing the connectivity.
What other complementary services does Claremont provide?
Claremont provides fully managed, reactive and proactive support services and ad hoc call-off services in the following areas. These may be combined with a hosting service in whatever combination suits our customers’ requirements.
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Oracle DBA and Oracle E-Business Suite DBA.
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Oracle Linux operating system administration.
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Oracle Functional support for Oracle E-Business Suite modules including Financials, HCM (including Payroll), Procurement, Asset Management, Leasing and Supply Chain.
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Oracle Payroll outsourcing, including payslip printing, BACS payments and HMRC submissions.
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Oracle technical development and support for bespoke systems and Oracle E-Business Suite customisations.
Is Claremont’s hosting compliant with key standards, e.g. ISO-27001?
All Claremont’s hosting facilities meet or exceed and, where relevant, are independently certified as such, the following:
- All standards and criteria for Tier III hosting facilities as defined by the Telecommunications Industry Association in the ANSI/TIA-942 standard.
- ISO 27001 standard for information security management.
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”) for Data Hall Physical Security. ISO 9001 quality management system.
- ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems.
- EU Code of Conduct for Data Centre Efficiency.
What reporting does Claremont provide?
As standard, Claremont’s Service Managers produce a monthly report for each of their hosting customers. As a minimum these reports detail Incidents, Problems and Changes raised, resolved and open during the previous month together with information relating to SLA Compliance, e.g. availability, and KPI adherence. Where Claremont is also responsible for other services, e.g.
database support, the report contains key performance metrics and proactive advice and guidance for these systems. Please contact us if you would like to see an example of monthly service report.
Does Claremont host non-Oracle systems?
Yes, Claremont currently hosts non-Oracle systems. While we are an Oracle specialist, hence where we host nonOracle systems it is normally because these are part of an estate that includes Oracle systems, there is nothing Oracle-specific about our hosting services.
Claremont can also provide, via our partners, non-Oracle support services, e.g. support for Microsoft technologies. Where such services are delivered by a partner, Claremont remains commercially and operationally responsible for service delivery and all activities are managed through Claremont’s Service Desk.
Can Claremont link to other data centres?
Yes. Most of our customers have chosen not to host all systems with a single hosting provider. Thus, it is not unusual for network links to be required with other data centre providers in addition to those connecting our data centres to our customers’ networks. AWS Direct Connect may also be used to connect systems hosted with Claremont to Amazon’s Cloud hosting.
Who is responsible for migrating existing live systems to Claremont’s hosting?
Live systems may be migrated by our customers, and Claremont will provide the access required for the migration project, or Claremont will perform the migration as part of the wider Managed Service transition.
How does Claremont migrate live systems?
Claremont migrates systems to our hosting using our proven migration methodology. We understand that every customer requires a hosting migration to be successfully completed with minimal downtime.
First, we build a copy of the current live system on Claremont’s servers. The next steps can vary depending on the system being migrated, but normally we set up ongoing synchronisation so that the “copy” is continuously kept up-to-date. We then work closely with the customer to perform multiple cycles of rigorous testing – identifying and fixing any issues along the way.
Transitions are managed by Claremont’s assigned Project Manager using our well-established migration methodology and project governance approach. Upon go-live the connection between Claremont’s copy database and the old production system is broken.The copy environment is then quickly configured to become the new production instance.
After minimal downtime, our customers see the successful completion of a highly detailed, 175 step migration plan. Mark Douglas, PPL’s Chief Technology Officer, said after Claremont migrated his Oracle E-Business Suite system to Claremont’s hosting,“I had the overriding impression that this has all been a bit of a non-event!”
Choosing the Right Managed Services Provider
If you are looking for an Oracle partner who can help you with your hosting, goes about it the right way and can back up the talk, then contact us.