Background
Simonds International, LLC has manufactured industrial saw blades as a premiere provider for the timber industry since 1832. Simonds implemented Infor XA (aka MAPICS) as its Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) solution in 2001.
Doug Morrison, Simonds International’s IT Project Manager, reached out to Cloud400 in early April 2024 about archive hosting their Infor XA system.
Full Featured Infor XA On IBM i V7.4 With 4.5 TB Of Storage
As Doug explains, “We had a full-featured Infor XA implementation on IBM i V7.4 with 4.5 TB of storage. Our active modules included Customer Order Management, Inventory Management, International Financial Management, Enterprise Product Data Management, Production Control and Costing, Purchasing, Material Requirements Planning, and Intercompany Transfers.”
With Move To New Platform, Archive Hosting Needed For Infor XA System
“As a result of mergers and acquisition, the business decision was made to move to Microsoft Dynamic 365 in the cloud. Our go live was scheduled for May 1, 2024. We wanted to host our Infor XA system for archive. We had had it hosted at a Dallas data center. We concluded they were too expensive for our archive needs, so we began searching for other options.”
Hosting Provider Search Leads to Web
“We asked one provider who told us that they no longer host, just sell IBM servers. A new IBM i server was not what we needed. We reached out to another hosting provider with our resource specifications. They never responded. We never got a quote.
“Our current hosting provider also wanted us to stay with them, but their cost was just too high. We started searching on the web.”
Cloud400 Can Handle 1-Month Cutover Deadline
“When I spoke to Cloud400, I explained we had a 1-month deadline to cutover to a new hosting provider so we did not have to pay another Infor support term for software keys. Cloud400 told me that they had migrated a new client the month before that had a 3-week window to be live with a new hosting provider.”
Prompt Cloud400 Proposal – Competitive Pricing, IBM i Expertise
“I got a prompt proposal for Cloud400. We liked their competitive pricing. They also made me feel comfortable with their IBM i expertise. We went forward with Cloud400.”
Unexpected Transition Issues Encountered
“During the transition we did encounter some unexpected issues. First, we had a lot more trouble from our current provider to get our data over to Cloud400.
“Our current hosting provider told us that making a backup tape to send to Cloud400 was not part of their normal service. We would have to pay extra for a backup tape. It took them about a week to generate their special paperwork for us to approve the creation of the backup tape.
“Then, we had scheduling issues with them because they had no one in the data center on weekends to generate the backup tape. Overall, these combined issues set us back about 3 weeks to get the backup tape to give to Cloud400.”
VPN Connections, System Name Challenges – Cloud400 Tech Team Quick To Help
“We probably initially over-complicated the VPN connections. We first had Cloud400 connect to all of our locations. Then we determined for an archive environment, we could cut back on the number of connections. So, we did some readjusting and rework and came up with a good configuration.
“When we started our testing, we decided to change the name of our system when we restored it to our Cloud400 LPAR. This caused some issues with Infor XA and PowerLink. We discovered that PowerLink has the machine system name embedded in the code. Once we changed the Cloud400 LPAR system name back to our original name, everything was functional.”
Good Experience With Cloud400 Technical Team
“As we worked through these issues, the Cloud400 technical team was right on it. They were quick to provide me the information that I needed. They were very easy to work with.
“I found the Cloud400 process of creating our Logical Partition, loading our system, connecting us with VPN, and testing our system to be very straightforward. Working with the Cloud400 technical team was a good experience.”
“We Are Now Functional And Using Our Infor XA On Cloud400 On A Daily Basis”
“Once we completed the Cloud400 Proof of Concept, we had the other provider create another backup. We used that final backup to restore to our Cloud400 LPAR. We got our new permanent Infor software key to apply to the Cloud400 LPAR. That all went smoothly. We were off to the races.
“We are now functional and using our Infor XA on Cloud400 on a daily basis.”
Doug Morrison Recommends Cloud400 For IBM i Hosting
“I would absolutely recommend Cloud400 for IBM i hosting. Cloud400 was very competitive and saved us a great deal of money. From a functionality standpoint, the implementation was pretty quick. The migration went very smooth. The Cloud400 technical team was outstanding and extremely helpful.
“Overall, outstanding support, very helpful and a good experience. I am super happy with the decision we made.”
