For decades, Ciruli Brothers housed their business-critical ERP data in a server on-premises. After multiple localized power outages and system failures, Ciruli Brothers knew they needed to do something to ensure their operations would not continue to be compromised.

Ciruli Brothers is an agricultural production and distribution company headquartered in Rio Rico, Arizona with various facilities spread across America. Originally, they had on-premises servers located at their headquarters. This structure proved to be a risk to their business. Should the headquarters’ servers go down, the entire operation would be disabled. This scenario occurred more once due to power failures and other mechanical faults which shut down operations at all the Ciruli Brothers sites around the country. Beyond the rare — but crippling — malfunctions, the system was also plagued by slow data transfers between locations. Mass data queries took time to transfer from one location to another, forcing the local companies to keep hard copies of much of their sensitive sales data for reference.

Implementing a seamless cloud migration

Ciruli Brothers was evaluating cloud migration options and was impressed with the Azure platform and inquired about a project to help them move their on-premises system to the cloud. Microsoft suggested Neal Analytics as a partner who could help them build and implement a solution.

The Neal Analytics team helped Ciruli Brothers understand the benefits of migrating and took the time needed to learn the requirements of the company. Ciruli Brothers needed to minimize the downtime during the upgrade, as extended server outages during busy season could hurt sales. Neal Analytics ensured the data transfer to the cloud was done quickly and that the system integrated with Ciruli Brothers’ operations seamlessly.

“We knew the cloud migration was the answer to our problem and we investigated solutions. We looked at the numbers and the time frame for implementation etc. and decided that we needed to go out and get a couple more quotes. I made the call to Microsoft and they referred me to Neal Analytics. It was there that I finally had a contact that led me by the hand and allowed us to come up with a global solution for Ciruli Brothers operations.”

– Enrique Orci, CFO, Ciruli Brothers

Azure Cloud Services for improved flexibility, security, and accessibility

Neal Analytics successfully completed this project over a weekend with minimal complications allowing Ciruli Brothers to access their ERP data on the cloud.

The results of the move were apparent. Beyond the initial impetus for moving to the cloud to minimize the risk of power and server failure, the migration made it easier than ever for the company to access necessary data. Having the data at their fingertips empowered field sellers when they were out visiting a customer. Instead of returning to the office or calling someone for the information, the seller could access the data in real-time from their phone app, for example, and strike a deal on the spot. Migrating to the cloud made historical, cost, inventory, and other information readily available to the sales staff, which also helped them build credibility and look more professional when dealing with customers.

The various company sites now enjoy the benefits of faster and smoother access to their ERP data. Thanks to the rapid migration, Ciruli Brothers capitalized on the advantages of the cloud without enduring the cost of system failure during their busy season. Ciruli Brothers could rest easy, no longer worried about a total system failure thanks to the flexibility, security, and accessibility of their cloud solution.

“I struggled a lot to find a contact within Microsoft Azure to assist us with guidance in designing and planning a cloud migration. Once Microsoft directed us to one of their Partners, Neal Analytics, it all changed to a very positive experience. I found a contact that I could count on to get the guidance and information that we needed. Our owners had a lot of questions and wanted to do a very thorough review. It was neat that I could just call Neal Analytics and always get a prompt response and usually on the same day. I lost track of how many times I called them, and they were always there to assist as needed.”

-Enrique Orci, CFO, Ciruli Brothers