“Affordable Price, US-Based IBM i Expertise, Excellent References And A Free 60-Day Trial Made It Easy For Us To Decide To Go With Cloud400.”
Kory Lewis, Director – Information Technology
Grabber Construction Products
Background
Founded in 1967, Grabber Construction Products has grown from a small family business to become a nationally recognized brand and international distributor of professional-grade fasteners and construction products to the building construction industry. Headquartered in Highland, Utah, Grabber Construction Products has 28 distribution locations across the US and Canada.
IBM 9406-525 At V7.1 With JD Edwards, DSI, Showcase, Vertex, Cleo EDI
Grabber has supported its 200 users in 28 locations on its 9406-525 at V7.1 with customized JD Edwards, DSI data collection, Showcase, Vertex and Cleo EDI.
Excellent Experience With Source Data Products Since 2006
Kory Lewis, Director – Information Technology, explains, “We started working with Source Data Products around 2006 when we got our 9406-525. Although we purchased our 9406-525 from our then current IBM Business Partner, we had had an excellent experience with Source Data. They really knew the IBM POWER technology very well. They made several insightful recommendations for our final configuration so we did not over-buy our server as our IBM Business Partner was proposing. We also got some upgrades from Source. We found Source Data good to partner with.”
Time To Upgrade POWER Server? Or Move To Cloud?
“So, around 2016 we thought we might check out our options – to upgrade our 9406-525 to an on premise IBM POWER server or look at cloud hosting.”
CFO Likes Cloud – Less Expensive, No Capital Expenditure, IBM i Expertise
“Our CFO liked the idea of cloud hosting. No capital expenditure, less expensive than a new IBM server with related IBM support fees and the IBM i cloud provider manages our IBM i infrastructure.”
Current BP Crazy Expensive – Time To Look Again At SDP And Cloud400
“We looked at various IBM i hosting providers. Our current Business Partner was crazy expensive, so it did not make sense for us to look much further with them.
“We looked again at Source Data and their Cloud400.”
Impressed With Cloud400 – Technical Expertise, Assessment Checklist
“We were impressed with their IBM i technical expertise. Their discovery process with the Cloud400 Assessment Checklist and subsequent review made us feel comfortable that their technical team was skilled.”
Cloud400 Proposal – Understandable AND Affordable!
“We got the Cloud400 proposal. It was easy to understand where we were and how we would migrate to the cloud.
“In addition, Cloud400 was surprisingly affordable.”
Cloud400 References Rave About Experience And Support
“We checked their references. You kind of expect references to be good. What we found so different is that Cloud400 had so many references. Of the 15 provided to us, we randomly selected five references. They all raved about their Cloud400 experience and their support.”
Affordable, IBM i Expertise, Excellent References, 60 Day Free Trial
“Affordable price, US-based IBM i expertise, excellent references and a free 60-day trial made it easy for us to decide to go with Cloud400.”
Longest 60 Day Trial Starts In 2016
“So we started what may be Cloud400’s longest 60-day trial. I smile when I say that because we initially started in 2016. We just had several software projects in between the time we started until we went live in June 2020.
“We had to postpone our Cloud400 trial several times over four years. The Cloud400 folks were very patient and easy to work with.”
US Based Cloud400 Team Very Responsive, Knowledgeable,
“When we finally did get started in 2020, we found the Cloud400 technical team to be very responsive and knowledgeable. We really liked that they are US based.
“We had a few minor hiccups. It made me a little nervous. But Brett, one of the senior IBM i engineers, fixed it all quickly. So, he made it all good.”
Smooth, Seamless Go Live
“Otherwise, the go live to Cloud400 went smooth. It went great. Seamless.
“After go live, we encountered intermittent dropping of some of our handheld scanners. Cloud400 and IBM jumped in to discover the minor setting change needed to our IBM i OS. After that, everything has been stable.”
Cloud400 Faster, More Responsive, More Power
“Once we went live, we could tell that Cloud400 was faster and more responsive than our 9406-525, especially when running queries or looking up information. We got more power with Cloud400.”
Kory Lewis Recommends Cloud400.
“Cloud400 is a solid group. They have the IBM i hosting figured out and made it easy for us to migrate our IBM i applications to the cloud.
“The Cloud400 technical team is very patient. I mean, we started on this project about 2-3 years ago. We just had priorities change so we appreciate how patient the Cloud400 team has been. “We are glad Cloud400 stuck with us.”
