Digital transformation
David Lloyd case study
Helping David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) stay flexible to meet the demands of customers for easy-to-use digital applications.
December 01, 2023
3 minutes
Digital transformation
David Lloyd case study
Helping David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) stay flexible to meet the demands of customers for easy-to-use digital applications.
December 01, 2023
3 minutes
Customers expect 24/7 access to digital applications that help them book courts and classes. But DLL’s existing IT infrastructure wasn’t flexible enough.
DLL partnered with BT to build an agile and reliable public cloud platform tailored to their needs – so they can better meet the demands of customers.
DLL now has a trusted cloud service partner taking care of everything from hosting and management, to back-office, website and booking systems.
DLL is Europe’s leading health, sport and leisure group.
They serve more than 620,000 members through 122 premium clubs across the UK, Republic of Ireland and mainland Europe. More than 8,000 people work for the group, including experts in fitness, racquet sports and swimming.
DLL is passionate about creating comfortable and welcoming clubs. They’re committed to building relationships, not only with their members but also their suppliers.
As they’ve progressed on their digital transformation journey, they’ve wanted to make the move from multiple IT suppliers to a single trusted managed cloud service provider.
We were in a good place to take on that role and help the group move through its next steps. We’d been working with them since 2007, built up a level of trust and proven our capabilities by managing a dedicated hosting platform for some years.
The challenge
For DLL, it had become increasingly important to interact with members 24/7. Agility and flexibility were a key priority for their IT department in meeting the strong demand for easy-to-use digital applications for booking classes or courts.
But using multiple IT suppliers had become a challenge. It was hard to manage the overall infrastructure, keep track of interdependencies and ensure overall security and data protection.
So DLL needed an innovative and agile partner who could:
- provide the availability and performance expected by their members
- build new platforms in hours not weeks
- leverage cloud services to roll out new functionality quickly
- give them access to public and private cloud solutions with reliable, globally-consistent, end-to-end security.
We consolidated our hosting environments into BT’s Private Compute data centres as fully managed services. This is thanks to the strategic partnership and the great service offered by BT’s team.
The solution
Our long-standing relationship with DLL meant that we already had a team in place that knew the business and its core applications.
We used our expertise to:
- build an agile and reliable public cloud platform tailored to their needs – DLL can now quickly roll out new functionality to continuously improve the digital experience for their members
- deliver security solutions to make sure their data stays in the right hands and protects their reputation
- create a new Azure platform in support of DLL’s DevOps projects, like expanding on the business intelligence to encompass the PowerBI’s advanced heuristics – a key driver that allows DLL to truly understand their user base.
Our hybrid portfolio helps DLL to simplify their billing, invoicing and support arrangements all under one contract, with one global provider.
Having worked with Microsoft for nearly two decades, we were able to combine Microsoft Azure, Office 365, VDI and our Private Compute solution for the headquarters’ IT and health clubs. DLL’s employees have secure access to essential information and applications with a consistently strong performance across all applications, no matter where they are.
Our team works with DLL as consultants, helping with the day-to-day technical support as well as network security. By directly interacting with DLL’s application suppliers in the development and operational phases, we ensure the optimal performance and availability of those applications.
The result
We’re now the trusted cloud service provider for DLL and fully responsible for their infrastructure.
We:
- host and manage their cloud services
- take care of their corporate back-office systems, including the club’s desktops, disaster recovery and remote access
- host member-facing applications, including the corporate website and booking systems.
This is handled by a team of professionals who are well aligned with the group’s leadership team and its strategy.
We also:
- work as partners, providing the technical insight and innovation to help shape DLL’s strategic journey
- make sure the hybrid environment – including Private Compute and the new public cloud services through Azure – stays fit for purpose.
We’re working with DLL to improve their customer experience further by delivering our new Hybrid Cloud Cost Optimisation service as well. This gives DLL insight into their cloud spend through tailored dashboards and monthly reporting, while keeping a check on efficiencies and governance. They can track any overspend, plan efficiently and allocate costs to the right business owners.
The group can now develop a roadmap for their ongoing digital transformation, as they look to continue their investment in the cloud. And we will keep supporting them with the right technology to make sure that they’re ready, whatever the future may hold.
