This article was originally published by +OneX before its merger with iqbusiness. Some references to +OneX remain.
+OneX CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Nailed It
AfriSam, one of Africa’s leading lime mining and manufacturing companies, serves approximately 30,000 customers across South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. With two manufacturing plants, five processing plants, and 40 aggregate and cement ReadyMix plants, AfriSam’s operations are complex and time-sensitive.
The construction industry’s demands and auditor requirements dictate that AfriSam needs almost instant business continuity in the event of a disruption, with plant and SAP systems unable to go offline for more than a few minutes at most.
Lex Maharaj, ICT Infrastructure & Operations Manager at AfriSam, began searching for a South African supplier of Zerto, a leading disaster recovery and data protection platform.
The challenge was threefold:
- Finding a partner that used Zerto for replication
- A deep understanding of disaster recovery
- Assist AfriSam with specific DR timeslots required by the business and auditors.
“We needed a provider who understood the true definition of DR and could assist us with the DR timeslots that we require as a business for our auditors,” explained Maharaj.
After being connected with +OneX through Triple H, a former Zerto partner, AfriSam found a disaster recovery specialist who could meet their needs.
+OneX provided a near real-time replication service for DR purposes, yielding exceptionally low Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) metrics.
“+OneX brought a DR solution to AfriSam that caters to our immediate needs as well as equipping us with building for the future by using +OneX’s cutting-edge Private Cloud environment,” – Lex Maharaj, ICT Infrastructure & Operations Manager
Since partnering with +OneX four years ago, AfriSam has conducted several DR rehearsals and achieved these results.
- Archived RTOs reduced to <1 hour
- RPOs down to <5 minutes
- On average, the RPO for a single server is just 9 seconds
These results demonstrate +OneX’s ability to provide a robust and reliable DR solution that meets AfriSam’s stringent requirements. By leveraging Zerto’s replication technology and +OneX’s expertise, AfriSam can ensure near-instant business continuity, even in the face of disruptions.
Building a Strong Partnership
While the initial experience with +OneX was not without its challenges, including platform failures and a lack of continuity in account management, AfriSam escalated these concerns to Karind, a vital member of the +OneX team. Since then, there has been a vast improvement in the platform’s reliability and the relationship between AfriSam and +OneX.
“Initially dissatisfactory, there were several failures on the platform, which both +OneX and Zerto could not resolve. There was also a lack of continuity in the relationship due to the constant changing of people responsible for the AfriSam account,” Maharaj shared. “These concerns were escalated to Karind, and since then, there has been a vast improvement in the platform’s reliability and the relationship with AfriSam.”
Future-Proofing with +OneX’s Private Cloud
In addition to addressing AfriSam’s immediate DR needs, +OneX has also worked to future-proof the company by shifting critical DR systems to their cutting-edge private cloud environment. This proactive approach ensures that AfriSam is well-positioned to handle evolving business continuity requirements and technological advancements.
By partnering with +OneX, AfriSam has achieved a disaster recovery solution that meets their current needs and prepares them for the future. With sub-1-hour RTOs, sub-5-minute RPOs, and an average RPO of just 9 seconds for a single server, AfriSam can confidently serve its customers and maintain operations, even in unexpected disruptions.
