Live entertainment business orders IT upgrade

Outsourcing IT infrastructure will support heavy web site usage ahead of major events

Live Nation, which handles tickets to music venues across the UK, Europe and Asia, is outsourcing its entire IT infrastructure including its web site, file sharing, customer relationship management software and connectivity.

The live entertainment firm, which receives over 400 million web site hits per year and runs over 40 music venues in the UK, signed managed networks supplier Telstra International to host its infrastructure.

It was important to find a way of maintaining performance during heavy usage, said Rob Mason, senior vice president of IT at Live Nation.

“Our web sites can be put under immense pressure when tickets go on sale, for instance, this year there were 180,000 unique visitors in two hours when the Reading and Leeds tickets went on sale. It is vital that the underlying IT infrastructure is robust and reliable.”

Live Nation also uses wide area network (WAN) to connect 40 music venues using Telstra’s Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) connection, which it may extend to other venues. This system prioritises traffic, guaranteeing network availability for important events.