Kris Kringle & Co turned to Node4 when they were experiencing major issues with their operational infrastructure. We quickly built a strong rapport with CEO, Kris and he was very transparent around his issues.
The main challenges he highlighted were regarding data management, legacy systems and an increasing security threat from the state sponsored hacking group “The Grinch” who has been trying to steal Christmas for years.
Apart from their main toy making machine, the majority of other systems were a 100% manual process. Santa’s Naughty and Nice list was maintained manually, leading to errors and inefficiencies and all clients submitted requests via paper format causing a huge efficiency bottleneck for Kris and his team.
Another challenge they faced was due to the business being seasonal and the growing population. They had a unique pattern which led to their global demand being delivered on one day of the year. This put an increasing stress on their supply chain and was a nightmare for their logistics team. Kris recognised the need to embrace technology and provide his clients with a digital experience.
To meet their Digital Transformation requirements, we delivered a hybrid cloud environment using Node4 Co-location, VDC and Microsoft Cloud technologies. The project was split into 2 modes; “Sustain & Evolve” designed to address the immediate stability issues with legacy systems and “Digital Transformation” which leveraged the Azure platform and Microsoft technologies for modernisation.
Kris was impressed with the cooling facilities at our Wakefield and Northampton Data Centres, so we migrated their legacy systems from the North Pole and created caged areas for the Toy Machine mainframe. The Elf & Safety and Snowforce applications were migrated to VDC with full DR replication and security service overlay. After much discussion around the Public Cloud choices, Kris opted for Microsoft Azure based on his concerns that a major online retailer based in South America may be seen as a competitor. We then created a Secure Landing Zone in Azure and an effective hybrid cloud operating model with the Node4 Data Centre services incorporating ExpressRoute and Azure Arc.
Node4 undertook a thorough security risk assessment and implemented a refreshed security approach based on Preparation, Defence, and Response. The Node4-managed security team provides 24×7 proactive alerting of risks and events, utilising Microsoft Sentinel alongside wider threat monitoring to surface threats from the Grinch and criminal community.
A big win for Kris was the implementation of a cloud-based CRM using Microsoft Dynamics 365 to manage the naughty and nice list, ensuring real-time updates and improved accuracy. Data Management was consolidated into Azure Fabric, leveraging OpenAI to analyse children’s behaviour and predict gift preferences, allowing the elves to get ahead of production. Logistics also saw a big overhaul with the implementation of world-class IoT and location intelligence services to deliver real-time tracking of the sleigh and route optimisation.
Kris Kringle & Co are now looking to build on the success and leverage Power Platform to develop a mobile application providing an immersive experience for children with live tracking, submission of wish lists and personalisation using AI. Drones are also being tested to drive efficiencies for delivery of presents to hard-to-reach locations.
