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A manufacturer of gating and fencing solutions for more than 7,000 farms and ranch stores nationwide, Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment was at a crossroads when its data storage lease was up for renewal. The fourth-generation family business enlisted Burwood Group to devise a solution—and uncovered an opportunity to both modernize its infrastructure and dramatically enhance communications. 

The Challenge: Optimize Performance Across the Business 

With almost one million square feet of production facilities in two Kentucky communities, as well as a manufacturing and distribution center in Utah, Tarter Farm’s legacy data infrastructure had become outdated. To communicate by phone, staff incurred toll fees and external service charges. With a limited wireless network, Tarter Farm historically relied upon time-consuming manual inventory tracking in the field. 

The Solution: Enhanced Storage, Communications, and Connectivity

Burwood Group implemented a hybrid solution of Cisco’s Unified Communications System (UCS) and Nimble storage as part of the SmartStack Architecture as well as a Palo Alto firewall, dramatically improving network performance, security, backup, and disaster recovery. In addition, Nimble Infosight anticipates potential problems before they occur, allowing for proactive maintenance and reduced down time. 

The reduced data center footprint and lower costs freed up budget for Cisco UCS. The Burwood team installed a turnkey, unified system to enable four digit dialing, conference calls, real-time screen-sharing, Jabber instant messaging, and extended the wireless network to cover nearly 90 percent of the company’s footprint, including extensive outdoor areas. Burwood’s Training and Adoption services team designed custom materials and conducted hands-on training, which provided employees with an opportunity to gain the confidence and comfort needed to immediately begin using their new communication tools. Regardless of travel or which office Tarter employees are based in, employees now use the same communication tools, which strengthens collaboration and helps provide an outstanding customer experience. 

The Outcome: Improved Productivity, Safety, and Convenience

Tarter Farm has improved productivity with an industry-proven storage architecture and an enterprise class communications system—all without increased capital investment. Whether employees are separated by a few desks or several states, communication and collaboration can take place seamlessly. Workplace safety has also improved, with additional phones located across Tarter Farm’s manufacturing plants, allowing personnel to quickly respond to potential safety issues. The expanded wireless network supports automation of inventory tracking, as well as faster, more accurate customer service. 

Burwood Group Services:

• Data Center Design & Implementation

• Network Security

• Performance Optimization

• Wireless Networking

• Unified Communication Design & Implementation

• Training & Adoption