Autumn 2009

Co-operatives E Store, the business that runs the 'The Co-operative Electrical' web site, has taken a policy decision to outsource its web hosting function, and has chosen Maginus to provide the solution.

Although Maginus is better known as a multi-channel software developer, it also offers a range of hosted data centre services. Co-operatives E Store was already using Maginus's ERP and e-commerce solutions, so the move was considered a logical choice – though the company reviewed its offering carefully before making the move.

According to Diane Porter, head of operations at Co-operatives E Store, one of the key factors in Maginus's favour was its variable bandwidth availability. 'This is beneficial in allowing us to cope with seasonal sales peaks,' she says, adding: 'The solution will perfectly fulfil our current requirements and provide future capacity for expansion.'

Maginus will be providing a fully managed service, looking after all the retailer's online hardware requirements. This service will include security, patching, backups, performance monitoring and tuning, pro-active maintenance and issues management.

 

In keeping with its ethical trading stance, Co-operatives has welcomed an energy reduction inherent in the new solution. 'On the new platform we'll be 40-50 per cent more energy efficient, which will be a great result,' Diane Porter says.

The Co-operative Electrical offers a wide range of products representing value for money. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Co-operative Group.