Proact IT Group — Regulatory Filings 2016

Jun 15, 2016

Press release 15 June 2016

Holland Colours opts for hybrid cloud solution from Proact

Holland Colours, a global Dutch company specialising in the production of colour concentrates and additives for the coloring of plastics and paints, has opted for a hybrid cloud solution from Proact. The organisation has concluded a three-year contract.

The current infrastructure of Holland Colours was outdated and could not sufficiently meet the demands and requirements of the business. Instead of carrying out a traditional renovation with new hardware and software, the company looked for a partner that could provide a more flexible (hybrid) cloud solution, with the goal of improved services to the business 24x7.

Wilfred Van Essen, IT Manager of Holland Colours comments "Thanks to the success of our business and the fact that we are operating internationally in different time zones, it became increasingly difficult to provide our business with flexible, cost-effective and highly available IT services. By choosing Proact, we are unburdened 24x7, and can focus primarily on what is important for our business."

Within the cloud solution, Holland Colours has opted for a converged data centre infrastructure solution from Proact, implemented in the Holland Colours data centre, supplemented with Back-Up and Disaster Recovery services from Proact's data centre. All this is completely under the management of Proact, so that HCA can primarily focus on the (business) applications.

The solution can be easily scaled up or down, and the IT infrastructure can thereby be easily adapted to the specific needs of the organisation. Not only is the cost flexible and scaled to their current needs, but a reduction of the IT costs over the entire contract period will also be achieved through the consolidation and rationalisation of various data centre components.

The architecture is based on FlexPod, which consists of the well-known market leaders Cisco, NetApp and VMware. More specifically, this involves the delivery of a complete pre-validated solution, consisting of network, storage, compute and security, which are pre-matched to each other and are already used by more than 2,500 Proact customers. Holland Colours are safe in the knowledge that they are obtaining a proven solution and, in case of an emergency, can also fall back on the supplementary backup and disaster recovery services for maximum business continuity.

"Companies nowadays want IT to operate increasingly in the service of the business and to organise its key processes. The cloud is an important enabler here, but a customer-focused approach in terms of service from the service provider and the design of the environment is crucial for success. In addition to the SLA agreements, HCA also benefits from a distinctive approach to ensure user and customer satisfaction (eXperience level agreement), rather than just an SLA. Proact works in a partnership as an extension of customers such as Holland Colours, thereby allowing the IT department to focus on innovation and the development of new, business-related IT services." says Lucas den Os, Managing Director of Proact Netherlands.

For further information, please contact:

Jason Clark, CEO and President, Proact, tel. +44 1246 266300 Peter Javestad, VP/IR, Proact, tel. +46 733 56 67 22, peter.javestad@proact.eu

About HCA

Holland Colours produces colour concentrates and additives for the coloring of, in particular, PVC applications, (PET) packaging, silicones and elastomers. A unique element in the procedure used by Holland Colours is the encapsulation of dusty materials (pigments / dyes) on the basis of a natural "carrier", which thereby gives them a large dispersive power.

The company was founded on April 1, 1979, and has been listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange since 1989. It is an independent Dutch company with its own 9 subsidiaries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Together with a global network of agents, it is a major global player that serves more than 2,000 customers in over 80 countries. The head office is located in Apeldoorn. A special feature of the company: every employee is also a shareholder. The company has approximately 400 employees globally, with around 140 FTEs working at the head office in Apeldoorn.

About Proact

Proact is Europe's leading independent integrator in the field of integrated systems (data storage, servers and networks) and private cloud services. Proact supplies business benefits by helping companies and authorities the world over to reduce risk and costs, and, above all, to supply flexible, accessible and secure IT services.

Proact solutions cover all data centre elements, including storage, servers, security and network functions. In addition, Proact's cloud service operations manage 70 petabytes of information. Proact has completed more than 3,500 successful projects all over the world to date.

The Proact Group has more than 720 employees, and conducts business in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA. Proact was founded in 1994, and its parent company Proact IT Group AB (publ) has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under the symbol PACT since 1999.

For further information about Proact's activities please visit us at www.proact.eu