Aprolis UK is a specialists in the sale, rental and ongoing support of materials handling equipment. The company consists of a group of businesses, each focused on delivering tailored solutions to meet the demands of specific market sectors. As part of the Aprolis division within the Monnoyeur Group, Aprolis UK has grown through both organic development and strategic acquisitions, and now supports more than 500 customers across the UK.
But as IT Manager Marcus Curtis points out, the company’s growth brought with it a number of IT considerations.
“We had around 90 ageing servers distributed nationwide across 15 depots and workshop locations. Managing them centrally was challenging, and resolving issues often required scheduled site visits. While this supported day‑to‑day operations, it also highlighted opportunities to further improve efficiency, particularly in how quickly IT issues could be resolved and how consistently teams could access core systems. Addressing these areas had the potential to create a more streamlined and productive working environment for our engineers and administrative teams.”
The solution
While assessing his options, Curtis discovered Node4’s Virtual Data Centre (VDC) offering. “It was refreshingly simple,” he recalls. “There’s a fixed monthly price with no hidden charges for networking, data transfer, or micro-transactions. It finally allowed me to present a solid business case to the board and demonstrate a costed pathway towards cloud and virtualisation.”
As a first step, Node4 established a centralised network backbone by deploying secure MPLS connections from one of its data centres to each of Aprolis UK’s depots.
From there, server migration was straightforward: new servers were provisioned in the VDC, and ageing on-premises machines were gradually decommissioned. “It’s so easy to spin up new servers and transfer the data,” Curtis explains. “It means we can respond quickly and bring new machines online at a moment’s notice.”
“This helped improve resource sharing and site resilience right from day one,” Curtis adds. “It also delivered efficiency improvements and consistency across the business. From a practical perspective, it meant that file share layouts were standardised across all sites.”
Improved disaster recovery
From the outset, Curtis was impressed with the redundancy and resilience built into Node4’s VDC. But he admits visiting the Northampton data centre was still a real eye-opener. “We saw the physical redundancy for ourselves – extra generators that would keep our servers running even if the power failed, secured access areas, and perimeter protection.”
This has a direct, positive impact on depots, warehouses, and overall supply chain performance. Engineers do not have to be dispatched from HQ to fix the problem, saving time and money and improving operational efficiency. If there are any issues at a site, the workload can be transferred to another location so the business can keep running.
“For all these reasons, Node4’s resilience and redundancy bring us peace of mind. We know that our servers will continue to run, whatever happens. That’s thanks to Node4’s service level guarantees,” Curtis explains. “It’s taken away all our disaster recovery headaches. These days, I’m an IT manager again, not an IT worrier.”
Looking ahead, Curtis is considering backing up his virtual servers to Node4’s Wakefield facility. “Presenting options like this to the board demonstrates I’m always thinking a step ahead and offering new ideas to improve our redundancy.”
Data sovereignty
Curtis’s visit also highlighted that Node4 physically stores Aprolis’s data in the UK, which helps support data sovereignty.
“Data sovereignty has links to operational resilience and supply chain continuity,” he explains. “So, having our data physically stored in the UK is an advantage. It’s useful from a governance and security perspective and helps us align with group-level security policies and standards.”
Simplified, unified security Node4’s VDC also makes it easy to establish and control default security settings. Curtis explains:
“That matters because our parent company has its own security team, and they pass those policies to us for implementation. When that happens, we can roll out security updates to existing machines as they’re needed and update templated security settings for new virtual servers. This ensures consistent security across all depots and warehouses and promotes stronger supply chain resilience.”
Stronger security and improved MPLS connectivity also make remote working more viable. “Node4’s VDC and supporting connectivity strengthen support for our distributed workforce,” Curtis notes. “These days, field engineers, depot managers, and warehouse supervisors don’t need to be in Doncaster to work on files from the Doncaster server; they can access them quickly and securely from anywhere in the country just by connecting to the VPN, making for a much more efficient and agile workforce. This is important in the event of a site outage. Order processing can still be managed remotely or from another site. Plus, there’s no double entry when the site comes back online.”
Faster integration of acquired companies
The ability to quickly bring new virtual servers online has made it easier and faster for Curtis and his team to integrate newly acquired companies into the Aprolis UK group. “With Node4 providing the connectivity and the centralised VDC, migrations are completed in a matter of weeks.”
“This improves depot team and engineer productivity as we can now deploy policies and processes quickly when we acquire a new company. Those updates span order processing and HR, for example, and mean it doesn’t take as long to get the new company working in sync,” Curtis notes.
“It’s also where centralised policies, firewalls, and security settings all really come into play. But integration isn’t just about systems and processes; it’s so much better for everyone if this procedure happens quickly and new employees can start to feel they’re part of the company.”
Cost and efficiency savings
Asked to identify cost savings from the project, Curtis explains that his new virtualised server environment freed him from expensive five-year server purchase-and-refresh cycles – making budgeting and forecasting far easier.
“We’ve saved money by maintaining high-quality, responsive IT support with the same-sized team, even though the company continues to grow,” Curtis comments. “Reducing our physical server estate by around two-thirds means we don’t have to make as many site visits, which frees up a significant amount of our time. Eventually, that need will vanish entirely, but it’s already made our department far more productive.”
“There’s significantly less travel time,” he adds. “Colleagues can collaborate remotely without needing to be on the same site. Crucially, Node4’s VDC gives us a single version of the truth, allowing teams across different depots to work on the same documents simultaneously, with full confidence that everyone is accessing the most up-to-date information.”
Looking to the future
When asked about how he thinks the project will evolve, Curtis explains that he’s keen to explore the potential for AI deployments. “I’d like to focus on areas that would benefit customers and improve efficiency. That might include scheduled and predictive maintenance,” he observes. “But we could also consider chatbot deployments that help customers get fast access to technical vehicle-related information. Whichever route we take, with centralised data in the VDC and the ability to practice good data hygiene, we’re paving the way for AI to run smoothly and deliver for the business.”
Summing up
“Node4 is the extra team member you can call on whenever you need them,” Curtis comments. “The one who always has your back. Their technology is amazing, but the real difference is that it’s underpinned by helpful people who genuinely want our business to succeed. I know I can pick up the phone to speak with my account manager or meet in person at any time. They’re always happy to discuss new options and approaches, but they don’t push us to spend more. That direct connection, commitment, and desire to build a genuine long-term relationship sets Node4 apart. It’s what makes their offering unique — it’s a true partnership, not your traditional vendor-customer relationship.”
