“When I got off the phone with the Cloud400 Project Leader I thought, ‘Wow, finally IBM i support guys who know exactly what they are doing’ ”.
New York City Managed Service Provider
For 20 years, Bryan Cafaro and his team at Focus Network Services have been helping New York based businesses deploy and manage their technologies, including IBM i and Windows servers.
“My clients really don’t want to manage their technology. That’s why they turn to us as their Managed Service Provider,” explains Bryan.
Clients Migrating Technology To Hosted Services
“My clients don’t want the hardware to be an Achilles tendon for them. They do not want hardware at their locations. They want flexibility. When their office lease expires and they want to move, they don’t want to have to move their technology as well. So they are migrating their hardware out of their office. This is the developing trend.”
Hurricane Sandy Accelerates Client Move To Hosting
“One of our clients was already on board to move their Windows technology to a hosted environment when Sandy hit.” Bryan continues. “This New York City client was about 2 blocks away from the area that lost all power. While our client continued to operate, they hosted several of their partners and suppliers in their conference room. So we wound up hosting other people’s servers. Their conference room was filled with, like, ‘refugees’ during the recovery from Sandy.
They took to that office like a life raft. Our client saw this and thought to themselves, ‘Hey. This could be us.’ They knew they couldn’t just grab their IBM iSeries and run to a neighbor. That’s when they got real interested in hosting all of their technology – including their IBM POWER server.
“We had the Windows hosting solution in place. However, we needed to find a solution for this client’s IBM 9406-520 i5/OS server. That’s when I started the search for an IBM i hosting solution.
“My client has about 80 users in 2 locations. Their applications are custom RPG.”
Cloud400 Found On Web. These Guys Knew What They Were Doing
“By searching the web we found Cloud400. I could tell from the first call these Cloud400 guys knew AS400.
“Cloud400 sent me an Assessment Checklist. Once I completed it and sent it back, the Cloud400 team had a conference call with me to review my client’s needs. The Cloud400 guys were knowledgeable and thorough. When I got off the phone with the Cloud400 Project Leader I thought, ‘Wow, finally IBM i support guys that know exactly what they are doing.’
“Initially, my client was wary about cloud hosting because of the negative stuff you hear about the cloud. I assured them that Cloud400 was not some typical, big public hosting service that could be a target to be hacked. Instead, Cloud400 is a private cloud hosting company that has IBM expertise. I assured them that Cloud400 was very safe. That made them feel comfortable.”
Cloud400 Price Made Hosting Decision Simple
“Then, when they compared the price of Cloud400 to the cost of a new server with ongoing hardware and software support, it was a pretty simple decision to make. Avoiding the ongoing hardware support fees was a key selling point.”
IBM i Expertise, Disaster Resilience Made Decision “No Brainer”
“When they heard about the Cloud400 IBM i expertise together with the security, redundancy and disaster resilience of their data center, it was a no brainer. Cloud400 is the way to go, hands down.”
Cloud400 Free 60 Day Trial Provides Needed Proof
“Once the decision was made to go forward, we sent a complete backup to Cloud400 for the free test period. I wanted to be certain everything worked perfectly for my client. Cloud400 just made perfect sense for them.
“As part of our vetting process, I liked the Cloud400 60-day free trial. I think you have to see how the client’s applications work and how responsive the Cloud400 staff is. You get to see it in action. You get to see who you are working with. The trial left me feeling very confident that the Cloud400 engineers are the IBM experts you can count on.”
Cloud400 Migration Very Smooth
“The Cloud400 go live went very smooth. We sent our final backup tape. We cutover Friday and the client was live on Saturday. Can’t ask for more than that.
“We only had a minor bump. The Ethernet to Twinax converter we had for the printer did not work consistently with the remote attachment. Cloud400 sent an Ethernet card to work for the printer. Once, the Ethernet card got installed, the printer worked just fine.”
Bryan Cafaro Recommends Cloud400
“Cloud400 is the way to go. You get the safety and security of a data center for one low monthly price.”