DLF Limited
DLF Limited is one of India’s largest real estate and infrastructure companies, behind some of the country’s most ambitious residential, commercial, and retail developments. As DLF’s operations grew, so did the need for a simplified IT infrastructure strategy that could keep pace - one that offered agility, security, and cost efficiency without complexity. DLF partnered with MM9 to deploy a hybrid-cloud solution powered by HPE GreenLake, combining cloud-like flexibility and agility with seamless control over on-premises infrastructure. This solution wasdesigned to support DLF’s next phase of growth.
The Situation Before the Transformation
DLF’s IT infrastructure was nearing end-of-life (EOL) and needed modernization to meet evolving business demands. Key challenges included:
- High infrastructure costs due to multiple physical servers across locations
- Lack of centralized IT management, leading to underutilized assets resulting in reduced ROI
- Limited scalability, making expansion slow and resource intensive
- Siloed backup systems, creating data security and recovery challenges
- Aging end-user devices, causing performance inefficiencies and increased IT support needs
Addressing these challenges wasn’t just about technology, it was about building an IT foundation that could bring DLF’s vision to life.
Why MM9 Became the Chosen Partner
For DLF, this transformation was not just about technology upgrades—it was about finding a partner with the expertise to align IT strategy with business objectives, provide strategic guidance, and drive a long-term vision for innovation. MM9, as an HPE Authorized Partner, brought the right blend of technical capability, proactive support, and future-focused thinking to the table.
Together, this transformation journey centred on three core pillars:
- A hybrid cloud solution powered by HPE GreenLake, delivering a seamless cloud-like experience with the control of on-premises infrastructure.
- A pay-as-you-go model, enabling resource consumption to scale with business demands while ensuring cost efficiency.
- A unified IT environment, offering centralized visibility and simplified management across cloud and on-premises systems.
The Transformation Journey
We helped DLF with their vision through five projects, each one designed to solve a specific challenge and strengthen a part of their infra.
Project 1: Backup As a Service
DLF required a more structured backup process to keep their end-user data secure. The absence of a centralized recovery system led to challenges like being unable to retrieve lost files, data issues, and basic security concerns.
As a solution, we implemented Commvault Backup as a Service for about 500 endpoints, ensuring real-time data backup and easy recovery. The solution was built on HPE DL360 servers. Automated backup scheduling was set up to improve reliability and security.
Project 2: ERP and Billing Modernization
DLF’s legacy billing application was spread across 40 sites with physical servers at each location. This setup created risks of high downtimes, delayed transactions, and unsatisfactory customer experience. Moreover, such a widespread setup led to higher operational and maintenance costs which adversely affected their IT Team’s efficiency.
DLF needed a modern, centralized solution to improve efficiency, reliability, and scalability. In collaboration with MM9, DLF implemented Prologic powered by HPE Greenlake. Under this setup, we consolidated the infrastructure of 40 sites into 2 HPE hyperconverged nodes supporting 15 virtual machines (VMs) to run their new application. Not only did they save on their space utilization and operational costs, HPE Greenlake allowed them to enjoy the services of HPE and MM9 to implement and maintain their new IT infrastructure setup. This greatly helped optimize maintenance and operational costs. Additionally, with flexible financing options under HPE Greenlake, DLF only paid for the resources they used, resulting in a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Moreover, HPE GreenLake delivered a cloud-like experience for this on-prem infrastructure. Through a centralized management platform, DLF could demand and deploy resources such as Virtual Machines as easily as they would have on cloud. With monitoring and metering capabilities, DLF gained real-time visibility into resource consumption, enabling them to optimize workloads, control costs, and scale infrastructure on demand without overprovisioning.
Project 3: IT infrastructure Modernization
Similar to Project 2, we delivered HPE Greenlake to help DLF consolidate multiple small applications spread over 50 desktop and server machines, into 3 HPE hyperconverged nodes, improving IT efficiency and simplifying management. Over 200 virtual machines (VMs) were deployed to balance workloads and reduce reliance on physical servers. We implemented automated patch management for timely security updates and stronger system stability. The physical server footprint was cut significantly, lowering hardware costs, power use, and data center space. Moreover, with GreenLake and its management platform, DLF gained real-time visibility and control over their infrastructure, enabling smarter scaling and cost optimization.
Project 4: Enhance Cybersecurity
DLF recognized the need to strengthen its cybersecurity to protect against growing threats like ransomware, and phishing attacks. With their Previous Software’s Conract nearing expiration, DLF needed a cybersecurity solution with enhanced threat detection and centralized management to further strengthen their security framework. We deployed Sophos Intercept X Advanced on 2,500 endpoints and 100 servers to ensure advanced threat protection. Using the Sophos Central Management Platform, DLF gained centralized monitoring and streamlined administration. Extended Detection and Response (XDR) was implemented to proactively identify and respond to threats across the network.
Project 5: End-User Infrastructure Modernization
DLF’s teams needed modern, reliable devices to keep up with increasing workloads and evolving business demands. Outdated hardware slowed productivity and required frequent maintenance, leading to disruptions.
We supplied HP commercial-grade laptops and desktops to deliver faster, more reliable performance. As an authorized HP Service Center, MM9 continues to provide ongoing support, ensuring devices remain in top condition. DLF boosted productivity with modern, high-performance devices. Downtime was minimized through faster issue resolution and proactive maintenance. Security was enhanced using the advanced built-in features of HP devices, helping protect sensitive information and maintain compliance.