Leveraging Geographic Diversity for 24/7 Systems Availability

Edge Network Data Centers Dallas TX
THE STORY

Holding Company

Headquartered in Charleston, SC, Southern Diversified Distributors (SDD) is a privately held investment and service company comprised of three subsidiaries: William M. Bird, TranSouth Logistics, and East Bay Supply Co. SDD is rooted in a 150-year history of delivering outstanding products and services and are leaders in floor covering distribution and supplies, warehousing, logistics and transportation.

THE CHALLENGE

Protecting Critical Systems in a Coastal Region

Though SDD has locations from Birmingham to Norfolk and clients across the country, their small IT staff is located entirely in Charleston. To keep their organization running smoothly across all locations, SDD relies heavily on technology that allows all employees to access the same systems. If employees couldn’t access them, most people wouldn’t be able to do their jobs and they’d have issues fulfilling services.

Being located in Charleston means that hurricanes and severe storms are also a concern for SDD. They needed to know that even if they were to close their headquarters in the wake of a hurricane, their data would be secure and their other offices would be able to continue to serve clients. Because of both the criticality of the systems they’d be outsourcing to their cloud provider and Charleston’s severe weather, SDD focused on finding a provider that was reliable, always available and geo-diverse.

THE SOLUTION

Public Cloud

SDD chose DartPoints’ Public Cloud, which offers a wide range of geodiverse options. SDD further leverages DartPoints’ geo-diversity by backing up to DartPoints’ facility in Asheville, NC. By utilizing the DartPoints Cloud, SDD receives a solution engineered to their needs, with the ability to scale quickly and easily. SDD also chose to leverage a variety of DartPoints’ managed services, including cloud management, custom load balancing and custom firewall solutions. This allows SDD’s staff to focus on the strategic initiatives that have made them known in their industry for technology and innovation.

THE RESULTS

Systems Always Available

  • SDD’s combination of DartPoints cloud and managed services means that they can truly count on their systems being always available.
  • DartPoints also brings geographic diversity to the table, which is very important to SDD.
  • Valuable IT time freed up to focus on business goals

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