news Optus is to transition the existing IT infrastructure platform of the Adelaide Festival Centre to a hybrid cloud platform leveraging Microsoft Azure and Office 365.
The move is aimed to support the arts centre’s changing growth and technology strategy as it adjusts to meet the changing expectations of customers in the digital era.
The three-year agreement will replace the arts venue’s in-house data centre ahead of the recently announced $1 billion Adelaide Riverbank Precinct upgrade, which will see Adelaide Festival Centre will undergo a $90 million facelift as part of the redevelopment.
“We are excited to be working with Adelaide Festival Centre as one of the first government agencies in South Australia to adopt cloud services as its preferred option for IT sourcing,” said John Paitaridis Optus Business Managing Director.
“The flexibility of the cloud platform will allow Adelaide Festival Centre to invest back into its business, focus on delivering great service to customers and drive business growth through digital innovation,” he said.
Carlo D’Ortenzio, Adelaide Festival Centre’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “The Festival Centre will be an integral part of the precinct redevelopment and a key beneficiary of the investment in Festival Plaza. Ensuring that visitors can interact with the Festival Centre will be critical to the successful activation of the Plaza. Our patrons increasingly want to transact with us online and we now develop digital solutions to meet that need.”
“Our partnership with Optus enables us to focus on core business investments and strategy. Ultimately it’s helping us to deliver on our purpose – that is, continuing to attract the biggest and best shows, better support presenters and patrons with exceptional arts and entertainment experiences,” D’Ortenzio said.
Ensyst – a subsidiary of Optus which delivers Microsoft-focused professional and managed services – will manage the migration of the festival centre’s platforms, services and applications to the Microsoft Cloud and will also provide ongoing IT service desk support for the new systems.
Adelaide Festival Centre is South Australia’s principal performing arts venue, which hosts dance, theatre and music performances, as well as exhibitions. It is furthermore a leading Asia-Pacific cultural centre, producing four international festivals, hosting over 1,800 events and attracting 828,475 visitors every year.
Image credit: Microsoft