The longstanding partnership between Allem Brothers and LanDynamix will soon reach its latest milestone with the installation of a fibre-optic connection. Because Allem Brothers is located in Viljoenskroon in the northern Free State, poor and unreliable connectivity poses an increasingly serious barrier in today’s connected business environment.
“The fibre-optic project is a milestone in an ongoing journey to ensure that ICT can provide even better support for the growth strategy of what is a highly complex business,” explains Pierre Gerber, IT manager at Allem Brothers. “LanDynamix continues to play a key role in that journey.”
Allem Brothers buys, sells and stores maize at its silo complex in Viljoenskroon. It also manufactures and distributes maize products for human and animal consumption.
The relationship between LanDynamix and Allem Brothers began when the company decided to replace its outdated mail system several years ago with a hosted Exchange solution.
“It was easy to choose LanDynamix because it was apparent that they understood exactly what we wanted, and undertook to provide it at a highly competitive price,” says Gerber. “The relationship grew from there.”
LanDynamix successfully managed the migration of Allem Brothers onto its hosted Exchange system, and provides advanced security for all mail traffic and archives.
Managed security services
Thereafter, LanDynamix was engaged to provide managed security services to protect Allem Brothers’ network from an increasingly wide range of threats. It provides a comprehensive security solution that includes a firewall to safeguard the network edge, and antivirus and software patching to protect end-users. The sophisticated automated system constantly monitors Allem Brothers’ IT environment to ensure that all security services and patches are properly deployed and updated, thus reducing the risk of human error.
“Consistent, meticulous patch management is a repetitive, mundane task that humans are actually not very good at, but it is a vital chore. If companies had kept their patches up to date, for example, it’s likely that WannaCry would not have wreaked such havoc,” says Dane Walker, cloud infrastructure manager at LanDynamix. “It’s a great example of how automation really adds value.”
A subsequent project was the implementation of a managed backup solution to protect Allem Brothers’ data and applications. “Data is one of the most valuable assets of any business and it is crucial to guarantee that it is protected and that reliable back-ups are readily available in the event of data loss.
“Reliable, fast connectivity will be a game-changer for Allem Brothers and will make it possible to access the growing possibilities of the cloud, and thus the prospect of greater efficiencies, better use of data and even cost reductions over the long term. It will also help to reduce the administrative burden on the in-house ICT department still further, freeing it up to add value to the business more effectively,” says Walker.
Gerber says that mutual trust underpins the ongoing partnership between Allem Brothers and LanDynamix. “I have never met another service provider in all my years in the industry that is so focused on customer service. By the same token, they also trust us to do what we are supposed to do. The relationship of trust established over the years has opened an honest communications channel between the companies. When problems arise, LanDynamix and Allem Brothers work as a team to solve them efficiently and effectively.”
About LanDynamix
LanDynamix provides cybersecurity solutions and managed services in the South African information and communications technology arena. Our areas of specialisation include remote support and monitoring, as well as management. Our Security Operations Centre delivers globally competitive levels of protection to our customers’ businesses. We use these services and solutions to operate our clients’ technologies for them; protect them from security breaches and consequently free them to focus on core business and growth. LanDynamix is able to maximise clients’ competitive advantage, while minimising down-time, risk and costs. For further information log onto www.landynamix.co.za
