Fender: manage it services without tying up internal resources

Industry:

Musical Instrument Manufacturing

Challenge:

Manage IT services without tying up internal resources

Solution:

Iron Mountain Data Centers

Value:

• Availability of third-party access for vendors to support the company's network and IT equipment
• True systems redundancy for 100% uptime service level
• Freedom to focus on product development, customer satisfaction and revenue growth

Outsourcing data center yields outstanding roi

The world's foremost manufacturer of guitars, basses, amplifiers and related equipment needed to find a home for their mission-critical financial planning and e-commerce systems. When Fender analyzed the costs involved with building their own data center, they discovered that the total cost of ownership in providing the required level of redundancy would be prohibitive.

After considering the upfront capital investment, network of vendors they would need to manage, and the ongoing operational costs, the decision to outsource became more attractive. In addition, the company did not want to hamper their focus on product development, customer satisfaction, or revenue growth by tying up valuable internal resources to manage a project of this scope. Fender knew outsourcing to a provider that specialized in the design, build, and operation of data centers was the right way to go.

So their team scoured the country looking for providers that had the engineering, redundancy, capacity, and services necessary to properly address the company's needs. "We looked at a dozen data center providers on the East and West coasts, and none of them could match what Iron Mountain had," says Jason Bredimus, Fender's VP of IT Infrastructure. "When we toured Iron Mountain, we were sold."

"Not only do they respond quickly, but they have a team that is well-trained and professional and that gives us confidence that the job will be done right."

- Michael Spandau, SVP for Global IT and CIO, Fender

Responsive professionalism with remote support

In order to properly support Fender’s financial planning and e-commerce platforms, the company required a 100% Uptime Service Level. “Some providers say they have a redundant architecture, but that only goes so far. At Iron Mountain, they were able to provide true systems redundancy all the way to the street,” says Bredimus.

In addition to uptime, service was critically important to Fender, and the company expected both responsiveness and professionalism. “It’s one thing to outsource your servers. It’s another to outsource the support for those servers—that’s what gives CIOs heartburn,” says Michael Spandau, SVP for Global IT and CIO of Fender. “Iron Mountain’s remote support has been spectacular.” Fender works with a number of telecommunications carriers and managed services providers. Third-party access was necessary to support the company’s network and IT equipment.

“Iron Mountain provided our partners and vendors with the access we needed them to have,” says Bredimus. “This flexibility and convenience has made it a pleasure to work with them.”

Starting in October 2007, Fender took a single colocation cabinet to host not only Fender.com but also some of the company’s other website properties. Over the next eight months, their IT needs grew substantially. As a result of this growth, Fender now occupies a custom configured colocation cage to house their financial planning and e-commerce platforms in addition to the company’s website production environment.

As a result of this growth, Fender now occupies a custom configured colocation cage to house their financial planning and e-commerce platforms in addition to the company’s website production environment.

From the heavy investment in systems to ongoing operations costs, Fender recognized that running their own mission-critical data center to the availability level they required was not cost-effective.

According to Spandau, “It would take us decades to achieve the same ROI we received in one year from Iron Mountain.”

"This ability to scale up and down, depending on the changing business landscape, has been incredibly helpful. Iron Mountain is aligned with our needs and that has made them critical to our long-term IT strategy."