Many companies would probably admit they have not spent enough on information technology system upgrades. Refresh budgets often do not survive when confronted with the realities of cost management in today’s competitive business environment. Yet when one scientific research firm realized it needed to make the investment in IT necessary to meet the basic mission of the company, the IT department finally got much of what it wanted.

“We’re trying to basically get to a level of performance and reliability that gives our scientists and users and eventually our customers … a fair shot at doing what they need to do,” said Hasan Barakat (pictured, right), director of global IT at Cell Signaling Technology Inc.

Barakat visited with Stu Miniman (pictured, left) (@stu), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the recent WTG Dell EMC Users’ Group event in Boston, Massachusetts. They discussed how Barakat’s company addressed the problem of outdated systems and the need for scalability. (* Disclosure below.)

Cell Signaling Technology produces antibodies used in cancer research and ships them to pharmaceutical firms and universities around the world. The labs produce a lot of data, so the IT organization needed to keep pace.

This was a challenge, because the firm relied on many outmoded systems. “We have historically not invested as much in IT as maybe we should have over the years,” Barakat explained. “My boss calls these aging systems a ‘Jurassic petting zoo.’”

100 lab systems upgraded to Dell XPS

Barakat upgraded more than 100 lab systems from “ancient, aging XP machines” to “state-of-the-art Dell XPS systems running Windows 10.” He also has on-premises Compellent storage and VRTX servers split into application and database clusters. And yes, there is now an IT refresh budget.

“Our users need robust IT systems. We try to embrace change and enable our users and scientists to be the best that they can be from an IT perspective,” Barakat said.

When asked about his wish list, Barakat told theCUBE that he looks for partners who can stay on top of change and help avoid continuous migrations. “Everybody, please provide scalable systems,” he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of WTG Dell EMC Users’ Group. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for WTG Dell EMC Users Group. Neither Winslow Technology Group, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE