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We invited our client, Jose Luis, Commercial and IT Manager at Agrocafé , to tell us about his experience using the cloud. In this case study, he describes the peace of mind of having his backup in the cloud, as well as the reduction in infrastructure costs.
1. About the company
Agrocafé is a company that works with intelligent solutions for agriculture. For 21 years, it has been operating in the Minas Gerais region , where it has earned credibility in the region's coffee industry through its excellent work and customer satisfaction.
It contributes to the growth of the region and coffee farming by investing in and providing agronomists and professionals with experience and certifications. On a daily basis, they use the ALIARE ERP system, one of the leading agribusiness software solutions in Brazil.
2. Challenges
To support its entire operation, Agrocafé relied on a completely internal server infrastructure; that is, the support that underpinned the ERP system was handled entirely internally. There were two servers, one for the database and one for the application, one running Linux and the other on Windows.
Because of this, the company faced two major challenges: security and infrastructure depreciation.
The main concern was security, specifically the vulnerability of the database to hacker attacks.
“The company experienced a data breach in 2016, which triggered an action to transfer the database to a Linux environment to provide a bit more security. But we understood that this wasn't the best solution; it was just what we could do at the time, and it did help. But even so, we knew it wouldn't be 100% secure,” recounts Jose Luis.
Another problem was the issue of machine depreciation . It was time to replace the servers and reinvest in machines and infrastructure.
“To handle this internally, for a company the size of Agrocafé, which has a headquarters and a branch, it ends up being expensive. It's necessary to reserve physical space, have air conditioning running 24/7, invest in cutting-edge servers that last at least 6 or 7 years, so it's a high investment, both in hardware and operating system licenses. Therefore, there's a problem to be addressed regarding infrastructure, in addition to security,” explains Jose Luis.
3. Solution
The team had been in talks with Skyone's sales representative for some time to make the decision to move the entire infrastructure to the cloud , as this was the solution best suited to overcome both of the aforementioned challenges.
And before making that decision, there was still a serious problem in the company's operation.
“ We had another problem with hackers, a very serious attack. We already had two systems running internally, and both were affected. I had hired a company specializing in online backup; they installed software running on my server, and this backup was supposedly done in their cloud. We were hacked, I contacted the company, and they were even more desperate than we were. The virus spread to their infrastructure, contaminating their entire backup system, and all the backups of the clients they served, who were left without recurring payments. It was a devastating situation ,” recalls Jose Luis.
In the end, the company managed to recover the databases, but in the most rudimentary way for a backup system, which required inserting the USB drive or external hard drive at different times to create a recovery area.
“ In the meantime, I contacted Skyone and they promptly started putting together the project, adapting the cloud structure. My proposal was: I don't want a local system, I want to work directly migrating with Skyone servers. The way the project was conducted was great, the ERP and Skyone support teams had a lot of synergy, and it was such a positive surprise that I was unsure in the first few days if some configuration or adjustment needed to be made. So far, 10 out of 10! ”, comments Jose Luis.
4. Results
Since migrating, Agrocafé has benefited significantly: Discover the main advantages!
Security and backup in the cloud
The security guaranteed by the cloud was a significant benefit for the company, which now has a reliable database .
“ Today I no longer need to worry about backups. We know that even specialized structures and companies like Skyone can suffer attacks. But you have the best tools at your disposal to defend yourselves. So it's a concern we no longer need to have. Furthermore, from a financial point of view, the return is much clearer and more evident ,” emphasizes Jose Luis.
Previously, Agrocafé needed a dedicated technician for this issue and a constantly updated internal physical infrastructure. Now, with the Skyone partnership and cloud computing, the company can maintain the highest standard of data security.
Remote access during the pandemic
Another important benefit was related to the scenario created by the pandemic.
“ We managed to get 70% of our employees working from home, and if this migration hadn't happened, we would either have had to give vacations or we would have needed a parallel system for when it was possible to work in the office, and then switch to the system. But today, with this structure, everyone takes their laptop home, opens the system and works anywhere as if they were working here ,” reports Jose Luis.
For the company's Sales and IT Manager, this was a plus in the expected results .
“We aimed at one target and ended up hitting another, because we know that other companies in the region have the local infrastructure and didn't have that remote access option. They are suffering a lot from not being able to have their workers physically present”.
Now, follow Agrocafé's example and begin your journey to the cloud! Get in touch and see how simple it is to migrate your software, leaving the cloud complexities to us.
