Overview

Columbus Chemical Industries, Inc. (CCI) is a wholesale distributor of chemical products. They specialize in ultra pure custom formulations. They have facilities in Columbus Wisconsin and Phoenix Arizona.

History

In 1997 CCI was struggling with frequent network crashes. Productivity suffered because of the frequent reboots required of both the server and the workstations. Their aging server was running an outdated version of Novel Netware. InfoSys solved their frequent network outages by:

• Diagnosing and replacing faulty network cabling
• Installing a new business-class HP network switch
• Replacing their old server hardware
• Converting their network to Microsoft Small Business Server

Like most companies, CCI had several computer systems running critical systems. Unfortunately, none of these systems could share information. What they needed was a central repository for all their corporate data. InfoSys has integrated many of the separate systems into a single centralized database. This central database now serves the following systems:

• Inventory and Accounting
• Web site and on-line catalog
• Laboratory records
• Label creation
• Bill of Materials

As CCI has grown, so have their needs for improved communications. InfoSys implemented a new VoIP phone system at CCI. CCI converted from expensive analog phone lines to a more cost effective digital TI-PRI. They also connected each of their facilities in Columbus and Phoenix into a single seamless phone system. By leveraging the capabilities of VoIP, CCI can now call any of their facilities simply by dialing an extension – and because these calls run over the internet these call are free! Security has been a growing concern for CCI. To help monitor their facilities, InfoSys implemented a small proof-of-concept video system in their Columbus facility. Based on the success of this project, InfoSys is currently in the process of implementing a video surveillance system in their new Phoenix facility.

Future

Backup, disaster recovery, and business continuation are the next challenges to tackle at CCI. A recent power outage in Columbus highlighted the vulnerability of the current systems at CCI. InfoSys is currently developing a solution that includes off-site data replication and virtualization of servers at the InfoSys data center in Wisconsin.