CASE STUDY: IT Authorities Builds and Manages Technology Platform of the Future for Coca-Cola Beverages Florida

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1 CASE STUDY: IT Authorities Builds and Manages Technology Platform of the Future for Coca-Cola Beverages Florida Providing a dynamic, flexible IT infrastructure; the key to success of growing Florida bottler CASE STUDY: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida (CCBF) 1

2 Challenge Coca-Cola Beverages Florida (CCBF) was launched in 2015 as an independent bottler, currently responsible for distributing over 100 Coca-Cola brands in central Florida. The company needed to develop, build, and manage an entire IT infrastructure for 1,200 users from scratch in four months. Solutions needed to be scalable to accommodate for more than tripling in size. Solution CCBF partnered with ITA to design and construct a comprehensive IT environment consisting of on-premise and cloud -based systems and applications. The effort included setting up business and operations apps, facilities infrastructure, servers, and WAN and cellular networks. ITA also assists in managing the system with full help desk support including, disaster recovery, patch and upgrade management, and system monitoring. Results Allowed CCBF to successfully launch the business by completing the infrastructure build-out in four months. Implemented current generation, bestpractice designed system capable of dynamically scaling to meet the IT resource needs of the business as it evolves. Built a cost efficient, scalable and supportable system Coca-Cola Beverages Florida ( CCBF ) is an independently owned and operated Coca-Cola Bottler. CCBF, headquartered in Tampa, Florida was established on May 30, 2015 and is currently the third largest privately held and 5th largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. Carrying over 100 Coca-Cola brands across seven sales and distribution centers, CCBF was formed as part of the refranchising plan of The Coca-Cola Company focused on creating a stronger U.S. business model by engaging independent bottlers to enhance sales and distribution of Coca-Cola products. The formation of CCBF included the acquisition of existing distribution operations from the Coca-Cola Company owned bottler, Coca- Cola Refreshments. In the resulting transition from the Coca-Cola Company owned bottler, Coca-Cola Refreshments. In the resulting transition from Coca-Cola Refreshments, CCBF faced the task of building and maintaining a comprehensive IT infrastructure for 1,200 users in less than four months. They engaged IT Authorities, a Tampa-based managed services provider, to assist with the challenging project. CHALLENGE: CCBF s acquisition of the business did not include any of the central IT systems, applications, or data that Coca-Cola Refreshments utilized to run the existing business. CCBF acquired hardware and a network that had been wiped clean and a 6-hour window to have new systems up and running. Much of the infrastructure that remained was older and approaching end Provided 24/7 support program CASE STUDY: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida (CCBF) 2

3 of life. In most cases, the appropriate response was to replace the existing equipment. Through a Software as a Service (SaaS) agreement with CONA Services LLC, CCBF was able to use an SAP-based Order-to-Cash system, designed for independent bottlers, to support its core sales and distribution functions. However, they had to acquire or build all the complimentary systems and infrastructure. With only six months between the time of acquisition and golive, CCBF was under pressure to get the new IT infrastructure up and running. To augment its internal capacity and capabilities, CCBF partnered with IT Authorities (ITA) to provide additional We did take a look at several large, global organizations for comparison, but we were impressed with the ITA s range of expertise, support design flexibility, can-do attitude, and competitive pricing. We felt they were a good short-term fit and a great long-term partner. Terrence Gee, CCBF services. As a new entrant to the Tampa business community, it was important for CCBF to engage with local companies where possible. That didn t mean compromising on quality, it just meant taking the time to find the local talent that we knew existed, said Terrence Gee, Chief Information Officer for CCBF. We did take a look at several large, global organizations for comparison, but we were impressed with ITA s range of expertise, support design flexibility, cando attitude, and competitive pricing. We felt they were a good short-term fit and a great long-term partner. SOLUTION: Because of the compressed timeline, CCBF and ITA had to perform project initiation, planning, and execution activities in parallel. The project included: Discovery and asset recording of all equipment transferring to CCBF Evaluation and selection of vendors for application, infrastructure and support services Designing network addressing and Active Directory structures to accommodate long-term strategies Creation of IT policies and end user job aids Instituting a centrally managed, redundant Wide Area Network and enterprise virtual infrastructure Migrating or replacing facility camera systems, access control, telephony systems, handheld mobile devices, computing systems and networking infrastructure. CASE STUDY: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida (CCBF) 3

4 Developing an asset depot facility and operation to deploy quickly new and replacement equipment for users. Implementing a mobile device management system and migrating over 1000 mobile devices. Setting up end to end IT monitoring and management systems. Establishment of a 24x7x365 support desk and field service operations. ITA also assisted in the evaluation, acquisition and implementation ofover 50 cloud and on-premise applications including Microsoft Office 365, electronic faxing, internal SAP, enterprise file transfer, batch processing, payroll, accounting, human resources, fleet management, sales, and analytics. Much of the work Much of the work required of ITA could be categorized as rapid response. We provided our operating philosophy and technology guiding principles. ITA was able to quickly make the required technical decisions using that framework. required of ITA could be categorized as rapid response, said Terrence Gee of CCBF. We provided our operating philosophy and technology guiding principles. ITA was able to quickly make the required technical decisions using that framework. ITA focused on CCBF s short and long term needs, total cost of ownership, and supportability. Meeting those goals meant leveraging smart technology investments, automation, and self-service solutions to provide system flexibility and agility. The result is a hybrid environment of both on-premise and cloud-based applications and systems that can adapt to change in the organization without having to acquire new services and network bandwidth. BUSINESS BENEFITS Terrence Gee, CCBF ITA created a scalable core infrastructure that allows efficient, rapid and repeatable acquisition of additional offices. CCBF can expand and contract IT resources as workflow demands dictate. CASE STUDY: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida (CCBF) 4

5 This was a complex transition and the process was efficient and well executed. The fact that the ITA team was able to help us set up and migrate to entirely new systems, applications and networks in 4 months is truly impressive Terrence Gee, CCBF ITA worked closely with us to make sure CCBF is positioned for innovation and growth, said Terrence Gee of CCBF. ITA is now assisting with the ongoing operation of the IT. They provide 24/7 help desk support for users, monitoring of systems performance, and management of patches and upgrades. ITA is fielding hundreds of support tickets per week and meeting agreed upon SLA metrics. This was a complex transition and the process was efficient and well executed, said Terrence Gee. The fact that the ITA team was able to help us set up and migrate to entirely new systems, applications and networks in 4 months is truly impressive. Throughout the implementation, ITA focused on developing relationships as well as providing technical expertise, engaging not only with the CIO s organization but also with functional team members and business personnel. Building relationships was crucial to the process, said Terrence Gee of CCBF. For ITA to make the appropriate recommendations, they needed to understand our business. They did that by digging into the details, immersing themselves in the CCBF culture and taking the time to understand not just what but why. We appreciate the hard work and dedication ITA team. We ve worked together to architect and deliver a technology environment capable of growing with our business needs, continued Mr. Gee. Having partners like ITA is critical to our future. ABOUT IT AUTHORITIES IT Authorities is an IT Managed Services Provider (MSP) headquartered in Tampa, Florida. We offer IT Management services and Cloud services to businesses throughout the world. We help companies keep their computer systems in the most optimum, reliable and secure state by providing rigorous preventative maintenance on computer systems while also supporting their end users and/or internal IT staff 24x7x365 as well as providing expert IT consulting and guidance. CASE STUDY: Coca-Cola Beverages Florida (CCBF) 5

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