"Cloud400™ Saves Us $406 Per Month – 45% Less Than A New POWER7 Server with IBM i"
Background
Incorporated in 1917, Rex-Hide is a manufacturer of rubber products with sales over $100 million. Located in Tyler, Texas, corporate IT supports 7 autonomous divisions with over 100 users. Their products are marketed to other manufacturers who make hoses and bumpers to be sold to carmakers.
Brian Cook is the IT manager for Rex-Hide.
Rex-Hide runs a home-grown Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution with roots back to their 1990 System/36 software. Over the years Brian and two other programmers modified and enhanced this ERP software and moved it to their 9406-520 in 2004.
Over The Years Rex-Hide IT Staff Downsizes From A Staff Of Three To One IT Person
“Originally we had three IT guys,” explains Brian. “Now we’re down to one guy – and I am the guy.”
When you listen to him describe his duties, Brian does a lot; his days are very full.
“My day is partly programming. But then I am also handling issues with email, the firewall, buying the PCs – doing everything. So, I don’t want to come in on the weekend to do a PTF install or an OS version upgrade.
Cloud400 Letter Catches Brian’s Attention
“I got Source Data Products’ letters about Cloud400 that caught my eye for several reasons.
“First, our 9406-520 was getting old.
“Second, I did not like how you have to buy the next server and port over your applications.
Cloud400 Offers New Technology With Flexibility And No Huge Capital Outlay
“Third, because we are on 20-year old home-grown software, I have wanted the flexibility to go to a newer, more modern software solution – something different – but the hardware was typically one of the things that would prevent that. Someone would say, ‘you already have $35,000 in this box, let’s get our money’s worth out of it.’ Then there would be no reason to change. I was concerned that if we bought a new server, we would be ‘locked’ into our current software on a new server.
“So, Cloud400 could give me a way to move to a new server without a huge capital investment that would keep me on that box for at least another 7 years.”
Offsite Cloud400 With Backup And Recovery Offers Greater Safety And Redundancy
“Fourth, was our backup and recovery. While we have had this server in Tyler for 20 years and have not had any major issues, we have had some weather and ice storm problems. I always worry about the backup and recovery of our production environment. So, any time our internet is down, all of our divisions are down. Any time we do any maintenance, all of our divisions are down. If we have a power loss, all the divisions are down. I wanted to free myself from that and get a server that was offsite, protected and in the safe hands of a competent technical team that knew what they were doing.”
Because Of Cloud400’s Value And Flexibility, We Started Testing Faster Than Usual
“When I first looked at Cloud400,”continues Brian, “I told Source Data that Rex Hide moves at glacial speeds when it comes to change – especially when it comes to spending money. However, we started testing Cloud400 two weeks after we understood how cost-effective Cloud400 was. We knew our 9406-520 was getting older. When I explained to my president that the 5-year cost of Cloud400 was less than buying a new POWER7 server and that he did not have to spend a huge amount up front, he was ready to move.”
“Cloud400 was set up so that all 7 divisions are individually linked to our hosted location with 7 different site-to-site VPN (Virtual Private Networks) tunnels. This was done to provide for the greatest level of uptime and response time.”
Performance Was Better Than I Expected
“Performance was better than I expected.
“We found that by tweaking several SQL-intensive programs I could really speed up the response time in a remote situation. No big deal. Just 3 applications – probably took an hour to tweak each program.
“When we went live the other divisions noticed no change in performance – which is a good thing. They get their green screens and they can do their jobs – that is really all they care about.”
The Change To Cloud400 Exposed Some Issues – That Is To Be Expected
“Cloud400 did expose some issues. We have one division that I am still working with. I know it is not Cloud400 because the other 6 division are fine. I think we may have a flakey router. I am still working on it. This just popped up in the last 2 weeks, even though we have been testing fine for 6 weeks”.
The Benefits – Easy Switch-Over, Experienced Technical Support, Modern IBM Technology, And Offsite Backup And Recovery
“Since we went live on Cloud400 I see several benefits.
“One, the transition was easy for switching over all our data and getting all the VPNs set up.
“Second, I know Cloud400 is managed by competent people who know what they are doing. With Cloud400, I feel comfortable that if something were to happen to me Rex Hide has a team in place to manage the iSeries side of our business.
“Third, I know I don’t have to deal with weekend version upgrades or PTF applications.
“So, Cloud400 handles all the backup, all the maintenance and all the updates. My users at all my divisions don’t see any difference – and it’s off my plate. Plus, I don’t have a huge capital investment so we are not shackled to a server for the next decade. We have lots more flexibility.
“I am not saying that we are getting off the AS400. But let’s say we want to look at a GL package that runs on a different platform, I could run that from somewhere else. So I don’t’ just have to look at iSeries applications only. I have greater options for future application software choices.”
Brian Cook Recommends Cloud400
“I would recommend iSeries users go to Cloud400 if they are looking at a new server and it’s not critical for the server to be onsite. I think Cloud400 is a good solution.”
Cloud400 Saves Us $406 Per Month – 45% Less Than A New POWER Server.
“As I figure, a new POWER i Server on a 5 year lease would be $905 per month for a server with way more capacity than we need. For us, Cloud400 at $499 per month saves us $406 per month – 45% less than a new POWER Server.”