Challenge

The existing provider of IBM i infrastructure and disaster recovery services was no longer providing the level of service needed.

Selection Criteria

Bring in Connectria, a Dynamix Partner and authorized provider of IBM i services with extensive knowledge of the platform and the MIMIX® DR solution from IBM.

Result

The customer has experienced IBM i technicians managing their disaster recovery infrastructure 24x7X365 to ensure it will be there when and if they need it.

The IBM i platform has been around for more than thirty years, and some of the most successful businesses in the world rely on it for their mission-critical workloads. But as the platform ages, finding qualified personnel who understand the system can be a challenge. This national distributor of home building materials was beginning to get frustrated with the support level of their current provider, so Dynamix, their IBM i authorized VAR, introduced them to Connectria.

The Challenge

Downtime is expensive. The majority (81%) of respondents to a 2016 ITIC study said a single hour would cost their business more than $300,000. When a national distributor of home building materials to a nation-wide network of big box stores and small retailers started seeing the service levels of their disaster recovery provider slipping, they decided it was time to find a new provider that understood the IBM i platform and could ensure the unthinkable and unaffordable never happened to them. To help them find the right experts, they turned to Dynamix, a value-added reseller that had worked with them for more than ten years and had earned their trust. According to Chris Diamond, Sales Representative, at Dynamix, “We’ve been working with IBM i systems almost since the beginning, and we offer a broad portfolio of services. But when it comes to managing disaster recovery, we really needed someone who could back us up. We created a relationship with Connectria several years ago and were confident they fit the bill for this customer.”

Disaster recovery, and specifically support for MIMIX® DR, IBM’s disaster recovery solution for the IBM i platform, was at the top of the list of requirements. Dynamix also wanted to ensure their customer had a service provider who could provide additional services to support the customer’s in-house IT staff of 12 employees and an infrastructure stretched across seven locations if needed.

The Solution

The customer’s maintenance fees were coming due, and Miles, the in-house IBM i administrator, had already sent a notice of termination to the original provider. Not wanting to be without a disaster recovery solution for even a moment, he needed to do something before the current agreement expired. Over the next thirty days, he and his Dynamix account manager worked with the engineers at Connectria to craft a solution specifically designed to the company’s needs.
Minimizing recovery time and data loss was vital, so the customer wanted 24X7X365 monitoring of their failover systems. Connectria was able to provide comprehensive monitoring of the system, including the ability to create custom scripts to monitor specific applications, such as the company’s JD Edwards ERP system, as well as unique databases and processes. Alerts were also automated and customized to match the customer’s escalation procedures.
Additionally, Connectria engineered and implemented specific data replication protocols to the customer’s expectations. In the event of a failure, Connectria will provide all failover and data replication functions on behalf of the customer.

The Results

Confidence in Connectria was high right from the start. According to Miles, “It was clear Connectria was just a better fit. From the very first conversation, there was a comfort level we never had with our previous provider.” The Connectria portal allows Miles to see the status of their systems at any time, giving him an added level of assurance that their data and systems will be available when they need them. Miles is especially appreciative of how well the portal ticketing system works when he has a concern. “I have the email addresses for a couple of the engineers, and we talk back and forth, but I never hesitate to submit a ticket when there is a problem. The response time is great, and I know they both see every ticket I submit, so they are on it. I never had this level of responsiveness with our
previous provider.” When asked about how challenging it was to work with two different vendors – Dynamix and Connectria – Miles described it as a “non-event.” He tells one or the other what he needs and they just “get it done.”