Case Study – BWA Overcomes Aging Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud Solution
The Challenge
BWA is a global apparel company that designs and manufactures custom apparel for popular private brands, including Dillard’s, L.L. Bean, REI and Joseph A. Bank. The company has an international presence with its headquarters in New York, a sales office in Dallas, designers in Portugal and a factory in El Salvador.
A few years ago, BWA’s business growth was outgrowing its technology, creating a significant risk to the business. The company was dealing with:
- Aging infrastructure
- An increasing amount of on-premise servers
- An outdated ERP platform, running on an old and unstable server already at maximum capacity.
The company already had some solid infrastructure such as Windows servers, firewalls and switches making the looming decision more difficult. Did it need to completely reinvent its infrastructure or could it leverage the current infrastructure to meet future needs?
Langate’s Solution
BWA reached out to Langate to see what could be done. After exploring multiple options, the company decided the best course of action was to implement a private hybrid cloud solution. The solution would leverage the company’s local server network as integrate with a newly designed private cloud infrastructure at one of Langate’s Colocations to provide greater reliability, access, centralization and security.
By working with Langate to implement a hybrid cloud, BWA received:
- Updated on-premise servers, including upgrading servers in Dallas and Portugal and retiring old outdated equipment.
- Colocation with Langate’s data center for added scalability and reliability.
- Increased mobility for the workforce via Citrix Application Delivery.
- LOB applications delivered centrally from a reliable, resilient and scalable infrastructure, such as Microsoft Dynamics, Blue Cherry, and Microsoft Office Suite.
- Centralization of data and security via VPN connectivity and replication between sites.
- Backup and DR capabilities.
While a pure cloud option was certainly viable, the hybrid cloud solution enabled BWA to leverage its current infrastructure in tandem with cloud capabilities and get the best of both worlds.
The Results
BWA has benefited greatly from the implementation of Langate’s hybrid cloud solution. The benefits have been wide-ranging, with some of the most significant benefits seen as:
- Cost-effective management – BWA has a very stable IT environment and is no longer concerned about money lost from local network downtime. This enables better ROI for every dollar spent on its IT infrastructure. In addition, by rebuilding the on-premise server in NYC, BWA minimized the cost of its initial investment.
- Improved security – BWA gains redundancy, centralized security, and the ability to be fully backed up in a timely manner. Additionally, secure access to the private cloud gives BWA a more reliable and easier way to share files and interact with mobile employees and other locations.
- Increased scalability – Servers that were once overworked are now supported by cloud and data centers so the company can scale up significantly. BWA no longer has to purchase large amounts of equipment as the company grows.
- Increased flexibility – Citrix gives employees the flexibility to work remotely or on the go. Connectivity is more reliable and access to LOB applications increases productivity.
- High Availability – By implementing VMware, BWA receives continuous availability to applications, minimal downtime, and failover capabilities.
With Langate’s hybrid cloud solution in place, BWA is prepared to scale up and down as the market demands. The company continues to be a top producer in the private label garment manufacturing industry and Langate is proud to be a partner in its success.