"The Cloud400 Support Has Been Excellent, And We Found It To Be
The Best Price.”
Background
Emery-Pratt Company (EP) is a distributor of books and A-V products with over 3 million titles, from over 70,000 sources, providing personalized service nationwide to libraries and medical facilities. EP was founded in Lansing, Michigan, in the fall of 1873 as a retail bookstore and has expanded into a national book distributor serving library and medical facilities.
Exploring Options
In April 2023, EP’s IT Manager, Byron Shattuck initiated the search for on-premise solutions, collecting pricing for new servers. Simultaneously, Source Data Products (SDP) had been keeping an eye on EP’s needs. Byron, intrigued by SDP’s offerings, explored IBM i hosting, ultimately favoring it for its pay-as-you-go model, avoiding significant upfront investments and ensuring better cash flow over the next 3-4 years.
Byron explains, “Source Data Products had been consistently reaching out to check in…in a good way! I reached out to ask some questions about an on premise Power 10 and IBM i cloud hosting. SDP explained both of our options, going to the cloud and having a physical on premise machine.
“We don’t have an on-site programmer anymore. The physical box isn’t a necessity for us. So, we factored in the up-front prices and looked over 7 years and found that the cost savings and cash flow made cloud hosting the better choice.”
Migration To Cloud400
The migration to Cloud400 was spearheaded by EP’s programmer, Sue Heisler. Both Byron and Sue found the Cloud400 technical team to be exceptionally responsive, providing clear explanations in an understandable manner and remaining easily accessible throughout the process.
Byron adds, “Our programmer Sue had more direct communication during the whole process. Even with my lack of IBM i expertise, whenever I would ask questions everyone at Cloud400 was patient in explaining to me the process and what to expect.”
Smooth Transition, Minor Hurdles
Working with Cloud400 proved to be a smooth experience. EP did encounter some expected issues during the go-live phase, mainly related to custom code compatibility with IBM i OS V7.4. Sue efficiently tweaked the software to seamlessly integrate with the new environment.
“During the testing there were some issues with our email server. Our initial go live needed to be pushed back because of this problem,” Byron says.
Firewall And Email System Challenges
Cloud400 worked with Sue, Byron, and EP’s email hosting provider to resolve the email issue.
To ensure a secure connection, EP needed a new firewall for VPN access to Cloud400. Additionally, EP’s custom software encountered challenges with the Cloud400 IBM i OS V7.4 compatibility with their in-house email system. However, through collaboration with Cloud400 and Sue, these challenges were successfully resolved.
Byron continues, “The go live went well. There were a few small obstacles on our end that were expected. It was mainly program issues talking to printers with errors popping up. These are things that could not be tested, and just needed to be trial and error.”
Performance Improvements
While EP did not specifically seek performance improvements, Byron noticed nice performance improvements. Backups, which previously took 25 minutes, now complete in 15-20 minutes. Night batch updates, originally taking 3.5-4.0 hours, now conclude in a significantly reduced time of 2-2.5 hours.
Byron Shattuck Recommends Source Data Products
“Everything went smoothly, and I think even if we went with an on premise server we would have had all of the same issues that come up when doing a system upgrade. The only thing I would have done differently is starting the research process sooner so that we didn’t feel so under the gun.
“Your pricing came back better than the other three quotes we received, and even with more time, we would have still gone with Source Data Products.
“If I had to do again, I would have started 12 months earlier, but overall, I would recommend Cloud400. The Cloud400 support has been excellent and we found it to be the best price.”