Modernizing and Centralizing IT Infrastructure with Insite

Case Study
Retail
Insite Computer Group Case Study:
KBC Tools & Machinery
Modernizing and Centralizing
IT Infrastructure with Insite
Computer Group
Since 1965, KBC Tools and Machinery Inc. has provided tools and machinery to
the metalworking industry, stocking more than 70,000 items to meet their clients’
needs. From its origins in Detroit, Michigan, KBC has expanded to include seven
retail locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, from which it boasts a 15-minute
turnaround time on most pickup orders. It also ships to customers globally, with
Client Overview:
KBC Tools and Machinery is a Detroit,
Michigan-based retailer of tools
and machinery for the metalworking
industry, selling more than 70,000
items via phone, through the Web,
and via seven locations throughout the
U.S. and Canada. This year, KBC is
celebrating their 50th anniversary.
the majority of shipments going out the same day the order came in.
Key Business Needs:
As KBC continued to grow, it found its existing IT environment with 100+ users
Leverage cloud based resources to:
• Move key applications to a
centralized environment
• Adapt a system that is scalable
• Provide an overview of business
metrics
wasn’t able to grow with it. The business depends on complex and crucial
enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that oversees everything from
inventory levels to financial performance to shipping. The software, however,
had to be run locally in each of KBC’s seven branch locations. That requirement
introduced a number of issues that challenged KBC’s ability to meet its
ambitious service level goals and get a timely look at the state of the overall
business.
Likewise, management of the business as a whole was a serious challenge,
with crucial information on sales and performance located in each branch
office. At a time when Big Data analytics stress looking at every available metric
across the business to spot trends and inform decision-making, it was nearly
impossible for KBC management to get a timely and accurate picture of what
was going on across its business on a day-to-day basis.
How ThinDesk 2.0 Succeeds:
• Centralize key applications such
as enterprise resource planning
(ERP) systems and provide
business leaders with real-time key
performance indicators across the
Branch offices meant IT challenges for KBC
entire business.
• Key business applications are
Being decentralized also had a serious impact on KBC’s IT management
managed 24/7, eliminating the need
– running ERP software, along with all applications, in each location meant
to manage technology at each
that each branch had to run its own separate server. And that in turn meant
branch and ensuring the utmost of
a greater level of IT support at each location. “We were in a situation where
security, reliability, and availability.
backups were mailed and shipped from each branch at the end of the month,
• Users get simple access to their
generally by staff who were not trained IT professionals,” said Ryan Christie,
applications through an easy-to-
project manager at KBC. “We didn’t realize how vulnerable we really were,
use Web-interface, with increased
having individual branch managers responsible for backing things up, but
flexibility to be productive from home
never knowing if they’d done it correctly.”
or while on the road.
Powered by OS33
www.insite.ca | 1
Case Study
Retail
KBC Tools & Machinery
This decentralized environment meant technology was embraced in a piece-meal fashion and administered by staff who did not
specialize in IT. As e-mail became an increasingly important sales channel, this arrangement went from sub-optimal to disastrous.
“Our e-mail was taking hours to be received, but nobody knew exactly how it was set up or how secure it was,” recalled Christie.
Centralizing and managing:
KBC finds modern IT through Insite’s ThinDesk 2.0
Looking to modernize and centralize its IT, KBC turned to Insite Computer Group Inc., a Markham, Ontario-based IT solution provider
that specializes in managing clients’ IT infrastructures. “Insite’s ThinDesk 2.0 was the perfect solution for the issues KBC was facing”
says Doron Kaminski – COO of Insite Computer Group.
Insite saw KBC as an ideal customer for its ThinDesk 2.0 environment, powered by OS33. Insite’s ThinDesk 2.0 platform is a cloud
desktop solution through which end users access all of their applications and files, from e-mail to ERP to Windows apps, through a
simple Web browser interface. The applications are fully managed in an enterprise data centre that is in one central location. The
portal, which now serves as the end-users’ interface, can be accessed from wherever they may be via the Internet from any device.
In ThinDesk 2.0, KBC found just what it needed to ensure its IT environment met its requirements of today and was prepared for the
challenges of tomorrow. Given today’s multi-platform, multi-application, multi-device environment, successful businesses must provide
workplace flexibility without giving up the control of a secure and centralized IT infrastructure. Uniquely, ThinDesk 2.0 provided a
centrally managed and cloud-based environment that allowed users to access all of their Windows- and Web-based applications
they have now and any they would want to add in the future. “While there were other options to move to a centrally-managed IT
environment,” says Richard Bongard, CTO of Insite Computer Group, “ThinDesk 2.0 was the right platform for KBC because it
allowed them to keep not only their key ERP system, but all of the crucial third-party add-ons to that system that helps their
business run smoothly.” Insite, allowed KBC to keep the applications that work for them, and maximize the productivity of
those applications by offering centralized management and control with duplicated local access for each branch.
"We needed something much more professional,
monitored, managed and maintained than we had
before. Insite showed us that we could focus on running
our business and have our key applications on demand,
anytime, anywhere, and on any device."
Ryan Christie
Project Manager
KBC Tools & Machinery
Powered by OS33
www.insite.ca | 2
Case Study
Retail
KBC Tools & Machinery
Management gets insight,
users get flexibility through ThinDesk 2.0
With their key applications moved to ThinDesk 2.0, KBC was able to centralize
its ERP systems along with its 11 other applications, to a private cloud. With
its data all in one spot, for the first time, management has access to key
performance indicators across the business at its fingertips.
At the same time, centralizing IT in an environment that offers enterprise-
“We’re able to make business decisions
level security, flexibility, and reliability where it’s managed 24 hours a day,
more quickly and with greater certainty
seven days a week by IT professionals, has been transformative for KBC. The
than ever before because every metric
company can focus on its core business, knowing its applications are all kept
from every location is right here whenever
seamlessly up-to-date, that its data is protected from all security threats, and
we want it. It’s made us a much more
its key applications all run on an environment that maintains 99.99% uptime,
agile and nimble business. Centralizing
so the technology will always be available to end users at all times from any
our IT has given us focus.”
location. Because the ThinDesk 2.0 portal is available on any device with a
– Paula Bass
modern Web browser, employees are empowered to work from home or be
President,
fully productive while on the road as needed, enjoying a consistent experience
KBC Tools & Machinery
on whatever device they access their applications and data.
Users enjoy the greater flexibility and improved stability and reliability of their
business applications, but perhaps the highest compliment they can pay to
ThinDesk 2.0 is that they’re blissfully unaware of the underpinnings of the
technology they use. The average KBC employee doesn’t need to understand
that the application they are working on is located in a managed data center
and sent to their screen via the ThinDesk 2.0 infrastructure over the Internet.
To them, it just works.
By moving to a cloud-based infrastructure that is centralized and fully
managed by top-notch professionals, KBC has gained invaluable access to
real-time business information, improved the reliability, scalability, and security
of its technology, and improved the service it provides to customers and staff
alike.
“It’s like day and night. Having our key applications managed by IT
professionals is a significant improvement, and it’s turning IT into an
enabler for our business rather than an inhibitor,” Christie said.
Powered by OS33
www.insite.ca | 3
Case Study
Retail
KBC Tools & Machinery
The Future is Bright for KBC
With its IT infrastructure up and running in a secure and reliable cloud
About Insite Computer
Group, Inc.
environment, Bass and the rest of the KBC team are free to look at what comes
next. ThinDesk 2.0 includes a variety of communications and collaboration
features that are especially valuable for a geographically dispersed business
like KBC, providing the building blocks for the next step of the company’s IT
evolution.
For more information, please contact:
Certified Delivery Partner:
Insite Computer Group, Inc.
[email protected]
(905) 307-5150
www.insite.ca
Client:
KBC Tools & Machinery, Inc.
[email protected]
(800) 860-1740
www.kbctools.com
OS33
[email protected]
(866) 796-0310
www.os33.com
Powered by OS33
Insite is a Managed Infrastructure
and Professional Services
Organization, providing professional
services to companies with
specific solutions to match the
client’s corporate strategy using
virtualization, application delivery,
and business continuity solutions.
These services are offered at both
the customers’ place of business
and through Insite’s private
Canadian Tier 3 data centers.
Their managed services
include complete infrastructure
management, 24/7 Help Desk
through chat, phone and email,
remote backup, data storage
& recovery, hosting, business
continuity, managed security
solutions and business process
consulting. Insite also offers their
clients product procurement
services and connectivity solutions,
encompassing both public Internet
connections and private inter-office
links.
Insite has over 20 years of
experience developing solutions
for some of North America’s top
organizations. Among its many
awards and accolades, the Insite
team has been on CDN’s top 100
solution providers list for over a
decade and has won various North
American Managed Services Awards
from CRN and MSP Mentor . Insite
has the history, knowledge, and
track record to keep your business
operating efficiently.
www.insite.ca | 4