The partnership to boost relocation of an existing developer.
Another new partnership has arisen between SEGA and another company, this time it's SEGA Europe with the outsourcing company Acora. What's significant in this partnership? Well, it's to greatly give Hardlight Studio (makers of Sonic Dash and Sonic Jump) new room via new relocation space. According to the official press release (below), Hardlight's old Solihull offices are now moved to larger space in the Leamington Spa area.
"Acora, UK mid-market IT outsourcing specialists, today announced the strengthening of its close partnership with SEGA® Europe Ltd. following the successful relocation of development studio, Hardlight Studios. Due to the popularity of its Apple iOS / Google Android franchises, Hardlight Studios needed a new working environment that would enhance the development of the interactive entertainment it is famous for.
Stuart Wright, IT Director of IT & Networks at SEGA Europe Ltd. said, 'We’ve been working closely with Acora for many years and its standard of service is always of the highest degree. This project was no exception. Hardlight Studios is responsible for some extremely popular franchises, so work on its current roster of games could not be impacted at all. As a choice partner (of which we have only four), we were confident Acora could deliver time effectively, on-budget and with no downtime. We were certainly not disappointed.'
Working closely with Acora, in just two months its staff were relocated from the original Solihull office, which the company had outgrown, to the new Leamington Spa facilities which had been built with Hardlight Studios’ specific requirements in mind.
Hardlight Studios is now able to hire more staff to meet development demands, work on more ambitious titles and most importantly, is now supported by a network focused around high performance, availability and flexibility.
Specific improvements include new underlying infrastructure that can easily cope with the performance requirements of complex video game development, therefore allowing Hardlight Studios to continue supporting popular games like Sonic Jump™ and Sonic Dash™ with little impact to the on-going creative process.
Jide Agbalaya, Systems Administrator Support Technician at SEGA Europe Ltd. continued, 'Whenever we work with Acora it is as though the company becomes an extension of our team. They’re easy to work with, are focused on keeping budgets down, flexible and most importantly with a project like this, trustworthy. The tight deadlines associated with gaming mean delivery on-time is crucial, and Acora did just that and more.'
Acora was tasked with completing the relocation with minimal downtime and disruption. Any delay to the project would have had a knock-on effect on SEGA Europe Ltd.’s release scheduling, revenue projections and Hardlight Studios’ reputation.
Even when technology challenges did arise, Acora solved them quickly and efficiently. These included managing the installation of large volumes of cabling, the replacement of existing network equipment, high density testing and the need for the entire office to have perfect connectivity despite difficult building layouts.
David Rabson, CEO at Acora, concluded, 'We’re delighted to be one of only four choice partners that SEGA Europe Ltd. works with and we’ve proven that we can meet the demands of the modern technological work place. Out of all the companies servicing the mid-market, SEGA Europe Ltd. chose Acora – that fact certainly says it better than we ever could.'
So then, what do you think of this partnership? Does it benefit Hardlight in the long run? Give your thoughts in out comment section below! Thanks to forum member TheChaosBlue for the tip via email!
SOURCE: BDaily
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