Featured content from our partner, Lenovo.
Who is Expedient?
Expedient is a cloud and data center infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provider with local operations across the United States. Ranked in the top three of managed services providers worldwide on Channel Futures’ MSP 501 list, Expedient combines physical data center capabilities with cloud infrastructure and managed services to create tailored, hybrid IT solutions for clients.
The Challenge
Clients come to Expedient from a wide range of industries—from e-commerce to healthcare and the public sector. No matter their size, market space, or requirements, Expedient helps organizations lift the burden of IT management so they can focus on running the business at its best.
With clients trusting Expedient to take care of some of their most important systems and data, the company sets a very high bar for the responsiveness, availability, and reliability of its services. This dedication to service excellence, however, came under threat during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Expedient started experiencing supply issues with its primary hardware provider.
Facing delivery delays and a lack of transparency about procurement lead times, Expedient found it increasingly difficult to configure and scale the underlying IT systems supporting its IaaS offerings. It prompted the company to re-evaluate its entire IT architecture and look for a new provider who could deliver the hardware it needed on time.
“We knew exactly what we wanted to build, down to the CPU, RAM, and networking specifications. What we lacked was a provider who could guarantee a steady supply of the equipment we were after, so we set out to find a new hardware vendor.”—Kevin Meyer, Vice President and Principal Architect, Expedient
Emerging Stronger from the Supply Storm
Expedient had already determined that it wanted to adopt a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) for its easy flexibility, scalability, and manageability. This made opting for Lenovo’s ThinkAgile HX Series the natural next step.
This HCI solution is built on Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 servers, which feature Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors that are engineered for high-performance, mission-critical workloads. The Lenovo appliances come pre-loaded with certified HCI software from Nutanix, providing a rapid and reliable path to hyperconvergence.
Hardware
- Lenovo ThinkAgile HX7521 Appliances
- 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors
Software
- Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure – AOS Storage
- VMware vSphere
Currently, Expedient has installed around 600 Lenovo ThinkAgile HX nodes, supporting a variety of client workloads and environments. Today, Lenovo systems make up close to 70% of the company’s enterprise cloud hardware footprint, with all data center locations running at least one Lenovo HCI cluster. The plan is to continue to replace legacy hardware platforms as they age out and consolidate fully on a Lenovo infrastructure in time.
“Lenovo has been excellent at advising us on the more technical elements of our infrastructure design. We’ve benefitted hugely from their expertise, particularly when it comes to Nutanix components. The team has given us great guidance on models, parts, and even network cards that will work best in our stack.”—Kevin Meyer, Vice President and Principal Architect, Expedient
Results
Thanks to Lenovo, Expedient’s supply issues are a distant memory. The company now enjoys timely deliveries and greater transparency around equipment availability.
Kevin Meyer, Vice President and Principal Architect at Expedient, explains: “As a cloud services provider, we always need hardware available to serve our clients and generate revenue. When we place an order, we need to know that the equipment we’re expecting will show up within the expected timeframe. With Lenovo we have gained that reassurance once again.”
- Quick and easy to procure new hardware as needed
- High-quality Lenovo systems offer strong reliability and less management effort
- Supports a wide variety of workloads and offers effortless scalability
Another thing that Expedient can count on is the quality and reliability of Lenovo’s hardware. Meyer confirms: “We’re very happy with the Lenovo tech; we can plug in a new server, and it just runs reliably. We’ve honestly had no issues with the hardware, which is a great bonus for us, as it gives us more time to focus on other aspects of the business.”
Finally, making the switch to a Lenovo-Nutanix HCI has brought a new level of flexibility to operations at Expedient. It’s easier than ever for the company to adapt as business needs evolve and scale as business volumes grow, so it can be ready for whatever the future may hold.
“Working with Lenovo has been a breath of fresh air. The team is always open and honest about hardware availability and delivery timelines. Plus, when the Lenovo kit arrives, I know I can count on it to operate reliably.”—Kevin Meyer, Vice President and Principal Architect, Expedient
Why Lenovo?
In its search for a new hardware provider, Expedient considered three main providers, ultimately deciding on Lenovo for their ability to deliver top-quality systems on time.
Meyer confirms: “Lenovo won on three fronts: expertise, price, and lead times. The team was very upfront about product availability and delivery schedules; they also shared detailed three- and six-month supply forecasts with us. This transparency set Lenovo apart from the other vendors we considered and gave us confidence that they would be able to meet our supply needs.”