Colt provides Decathlon with a global platform for digital services

Connectivity to support multi-cloud deployment and hubs in Europe, Asia and the US

Paris, 21 September 2021 – Colt Technology Services, in partnership with Equinix, Interxion – a Digital Realty Company, AWS, Google Cloud and Axians, has provided Decathlon, the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, with a global platform for digital services. Colt is supplying connectivity for Decathlon’s regional hubs in Europe, Asia, and the US in the form of a high-bandwidth backbone to link multiple public clouds and SaaS services.

To accompany its cloud journey, Decathlon has needed a centralized network solution compliant with high availability standards, its digital strategy and its worldwide expansion. The retailer required a faster way to deploy best-in-class digital products while continuing to expand business. It additionally needed to cut the cost and burden of managing its own data centres.

With Equinix and Interxion/DLR as data centre partners delivering colocation sites, AWS and Google Cloud as cloud partners, and Axians, delivering remote hands, Colt has provided a holistic global solution that answers these needs and guarantees end-to-end performance, security, monitoring, and visibility while delivering outstanding service levels and support.

With the new solution in place, Decathlon will now be able to:

• Stay ahead of the curve in the dynamic retail landscape;
• Reduce management costs and overheads;
• Develop unique and memorable digital experiences for customers shopping in-store, online or via mobile apps;
• Maintain the fast pace of its global expansion by bringing new sites onto the network quickly and efficiently;
• More easily interconnect with partners, suppliers and cloud service providers;
• Anticipate future benefits such as the accelerated adoption of additional cloud and SaaS services.

Decathlon now has on demand network connectivity that can be provisioned within minutes instead of weeks or months. That means an optimal quality of connectivity in the form of dedicated lines backed with SLAs, high availability at the level of 99.99%, better performance with users located closer to cloud providers, and scalability as a result of connections that can be upgraded in less than a day.

“Decathlon now has a secure, flexible and unified platform to support our cloud applications, allowing us to focus on network scalability automation; our goal is to build a predictive network based on user needs. New skill sets around NetOps, Network Data Analyst will be necessary to fulfil this ambition.” said Matthias Castelain, Head of Network at Decathlon. “Colt’s on-demand services give us a single pane of glass for ordering and deploying network connectivity. And with less reliance on in-house IT infrastructure and the use of Equinix’s world-leading data center facilities, we can also cut costs and complexity.”

“Decathlon needed a supplier who could deliver a holistic solution with consistent levels of service, quality, security, and resilience, with best-in-class after-sales support which enhances their user satisfaction,” said Andrew Edison, EVP Sales, Marketing and Customer Relationship Management at Colt. “We have given them the flexible bandwidth they need to scale up and down in line with workload and consumption patterns. They can now ensure low-latency connectivity across multi-cloud environments in AWS and Google Cloud, and use our software-defined network infrastructure for fast, frictionless ordering and provisioning of new connectivity.”

About Colt

Colt strives to transform the way the world works through the power of connectivity – taking what’s always been in its DNA to enable customers’ success. The Colt IQ Network connects more than 900+ data centres and over 29,000 on net buildings across Europe, Asia and North America’s largest business hubs.

Colt understands today’s shifting connectivity requirements and provides agile, on-demand and secure high bandwidth networking and voice solutions to ensure enterprises can thrive. Customers include data-intensive organisations spanning over 210 cities in more than 30 countries. Colt is a recognised innovator and pioneer in Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV).

Privately owned, Colt is one of the most financially sound companies in the sector, and because of this, it’s able to put its customers’ needs at its core. For more information, please visit https://colt.net.

About Decathlon

Over the last decade Decathlon has undertaken a strong acceleration in digital transformation through its Decathlon Technology branch in order to face new technological challenges and consumption patterns.

With 3000+ engineers from 50+ countries, Decathlon Technology is leveraging the most innovative technologies, the company works with and develops tools, systems and experiences that help people around the world gain access to the pleasures and benefits of sports.

Leading sports sector business Decathlon comprises two main activities: designing technical products and making innovative services available, and selling these products and services both online and instore. With 330 points of sale in France and over 1,700 worldwide, Decathlon and its 97,000 employees have been working ever since 1976 to fulfil an ongoing ambition: to innovate to promote sport as a whole, and take it wherever it is yet to reach.

Press Contact:

Nola Pocock

+447917714377

nola.pocock@colt.net