Bidvest Logistics modernises storage infrastructure

First Technology National has provided Bidvest International Logistics with modern solutions to upgrade and support legacy technology that has been posing a potential risk to import and export legislation and data documentation. "First Technology National was the natural choice for an upgrade in order to mitigate this risk. They proposed a new hardware solution that would address all of our challenges and offer a number of additional benefits," explains Morne Visser, IT operations and infrastructure manager at Bidvest International Logistics.

13 Jan 2020

Morne Visser and Soon Broodryk

The previous storage solution comprised of a 25U rack of SATA hard drives. First Technology National provided a modern solution in the form of two storage arrays that featured twice the capacity of the previous solution with an All-Flash Array in a 4U form factor. Subsequently, Bidvest is now future-proofed against data growth and can leverage vastly improved performance.

Ensuring uptime

In order to minimise downtime, First Technology performed a side-by-side implementation that only required 3.5 hours of downtime while the database was migrated. This was performed after hours to minimise the impact on business. A top team of engineers was involved to ensure that the project ran smoothly. Moreover, training was performed during the implementation to ensure skills transfer.

"While Bidvest was originally looking to extend the maintenance on their existing hardware, they looked to First Technology for strategic advice. Not only did it make sense to replace the legacy storage devices, but also provided peace of mind for the IT team to ensure uptime.

"The new storage solution offers higher performance and improved processing speed, enhanced deduplication and compression ratios, all of which will stand them in good stead for future growth and expansion," says Soon Broodryk, external account manager at First Technology National.

Bidvest is now able to take advantage of dedicated storage for their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution as well as general storage for all other applications and systems.

"Our new storage solution has reduced our administrative efforts as well as downtime. Furthermore, it has improved our compliance with SARS requirements and improved user productivity. The most significant benefit, however, is definitely the significant cost savings on maintenance," continues Visser.