IFB‘s expansion plans have been accelerated with a £500,000 investment that includes a new partnership with hybrid cloud managed service provider, Brightsolid.

The long-term agreement provides IFB with access to new and considerable data centre hosting capacity, and with the addition of core network upgrades, will also support the Aberdeen-headquartered firm’s business customers with 10-times the UK average internet speeds, increased cybersecurity and additional support for office and home working.

The firm has experienced substantial interest in its business-critical services since the coronavirus pandemic ushered in a new era of remote working and companies became more data driven to continue operating productively.

Organisations scaling up or using technologies which require more and better access to data and cloud-based software and IT infrastructure, have also necessitated an increased demand across IFB’s service range.

This collaboration with Brightsolid is part of IFB’s ongoing growth strategy to further fortify its operational excellence in delivering digital transformation and adoption for businesses across the country.

The increased data centre capacity and storage, and new cloud services, comes alongside ‘fibre to the premise’ ultrafast gigabit internet access. Earlier this year, the firm also launched its Threat Intelligence Platform to help companies identify and mitigate potential system vulnerabilities, as well as simplifying cyber security accreditations.

“In the last couple of years, businesses have evolved and working practices have changed,” says IFB CEO Graeme Gordon. He adds: “This has resulted in a rapid upsurge in the need for essential and secure data management with dependable network connectivity so people can remain productive, conduct meetings and collaborate virtually, email securely, and protect and store confidential company documents with confidence.

“We are 100% committed to maximizing our customers’ uptime and productivity and have always prided ourselves in meeting their needs. Through this £500,000 long-term investment and the partnership with Brightsolid, we have bolstered existing services delivering a substantial increase in data centre hosting capacity.

“Our investment also enables us to increase our capacity to deliver greater internet bandwidth meaning we are able to provide and support speeds 10-times faster than the UK average, assisting customers to connect with their data in less than a millisecond and remain productive.”

Gordon added: “Through our combined expertise and infrastructure, we can ensure our clients receive a reliable, scalable, safe and cost-effective solution for the hybrid working environment.

“This development fuels our ambitious growth plans as we continue to elevate our position as one of Scotland’s leading data management and preferred network connectivity providers, trusted for delivering and managing solutions that enable our customers to work from anywhere at any time.”

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Brightsolid has over 25 years’ experience in data centre hosting and cloud services. Under the arrangement, IFB’s UK business network will connect to Brightsolid’s tier III designed secure data centres in Aberdeen and Dundee integrating these into IFB’s current infrastructure to provide safe, data hosting, high-capacity internet access and wide area network solutions

Speaking about the partnership, Brightsolid’s CEO, Elaine Maddison, said: “We are delighted that IFB has chosen Brightsolid’s data centre to underpin their ambitious growth plans. Brightsolid and IFB have worked together for some time providing complementary services to customers and this is a natural extension of our existing partnership.”

IFB was a finalist in the ‘Customer First’ and ‘Inspiration from Innovation’ categories for the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s Northern Star Business Awards, further cementing the firm’s position in the local market and its commitment to delivering exceptional customer service.