Storage Revolution at the engineering firm FCP

In a fast-paced digital age, FCP, a renowned engineering firm with an impressive range of construction services, faced the challenge of redesigning and optimizing its storage infrastructure. IT Director Georg Fritsch recognized the need to act proactively and find a robust, future-proof solution.

From consultation to decision:

Huemer Group was commissioned to provide procurement consulting to guide FCP through the complex selection process. Working with FCP, the Huemer Group team defined technical criteria together with the client and created a detailed criteria catalog based on these criteria.

The Huemer Group played a crucial role in evaluating the offers.

Pure Storage was finally invited to demonstrate all promised functionalities through a POC on-site and ultimately prevailed as the best bidder, with the

Intuitive usability, first-class support and modern features were convincing.

The solution:

A Pure Storage FlashArray C40 with approximately 400 TB of net capacity was identified as the ideal solution for FCP’s requirements. One storage system was implemented at each of FCP’s two strategically important locations. This not only ensured efficient storage but also increased reliability and data integrity.

The HA concept, based on storage mirroring and transparent failover, ensured that FCP’s data was always available and secure, even in the event of a site failure.

FCP now benefits from a future-proof, scalable, and high-performance storage solution. The advantages are clear: significantly improved performance, simple management, and first-class support. FCP is extremely satisfied with the results, and the successful collaboration with the Huemer Group has been further confirmed.

In addition, an important security concept was implemented:

Pure Storage SafeMode Snapshots protects backup data and metadata, ensuring that ransomware cannot delete, modify, or encrypt data—even if admin credentials have been compromised.

The solution was further enhanced commercially through a cost-effective financing model.

Evergreen architecture

Pure’s Evergreen architecture delivers IT flexibility and ends the cumbersome cycle of legacy storage solutions, where individual elements must be repeatedly purchased and replaced.

Thanks to integrated cross-generation compatibility, different flash geometries can be combined within an array, and newer controllers work seamlessly with older flash modules. This technology has been proven across eight hardware generations, over 10 years, and more than 10,000 customer controller upgrades.

About FCP

The bridge construction for the Brenner Motorway and the Tauern Motorway crossing the Alps was the first of many milestones in the early years of the engineering firm’s founding (1960). Successful diversification led to continuous growth. While FCP employed just under 20 people in the mid-1980s, today, including affiliated companies, FCP employs approximately 350 people. From three bases (Vienna in Austria; Berlin/Essen in Germany), FCP operates in over 70 countries. Since then, more than 9,000 projects have been implemented in Austria and internationally.

As a civil engineering and construction firm, FCP offers comprehensive construction services. General planning and structural engineering in building construction constitute the largest division, followed by digital engineering with the Digital Project Environment (DPU), infrastructure construction, bridge construction, tunnel and civil engineering, and industrial construction.

challenges

Cost reduction
Storage Growth
Outdated technology
Solution

Pure Storage C40 with approximately 400 TB net capacity
Reduction of complexity
Reduction of operating costs
Increase performance
Stable maintenance costs over the years
Use of Safemode Snapshots against Ransomware
Cost optimization through a financing model