Mead & Hunt Chooses Panzura

Panzura, Inc., provider of cloud storage solutions, announced that Mead & Hunt, Inc., an engineering and architectural firm based in Madison, WI, has deployed the Panzura Global Cloud Storage System to centralize storage and deliver rapid expansion as the company opens new offices.

Mead & Hunt is a multi-disciplined engineering and architectural firm in operation since 1900. With 480 employees and 27 offices in 16 states, the company provides services to many different markets, including Aviation, Transportation, Federal, and Water Resources.

With a large percentage of these employees regularly using design applications like Autodesk Civil 3D and Revit, providing performance for this distributed workforce was becoming increasingly difficult. Each location became a small island creating issues when project team members in different locations needed to share data. Compounding the problem was the rapid expansion into new locations, as well as plans for a new office HQs facility. Mead & Hunt needed a solution that improved data sharing for remote team members while simplifying the overall IT structure with minimal associated costs.

By using Panzura Global Cloud Storage Controllers to store project data into the Amazon S3 cloud, Mead & Hunt have seen reductions in storage costs because hardware previously required for both backups and DR is no longer necessary at each remote office. Redundancy is simplified by configuring for problems to fail-over to the company’s HQs, which has access to up-to-date project data stored in the cloud.

But the most significant benefit is that the file locking problem that occurs with multiple remote users working on the same project at the same time is addressed. Panzura’s Cloud Controller with global R/W protection ensures that multiple users can safely work on files within the same project without fear of overwriting each other’s work. Copying files is no longer necessary, so everyone knows that they’re always working on the most recently updated files. The Cloud Controller’s built-in deduplication and encryption also ensure that storage costs are kept to a minimum while protecting project data from unscrupulous access. Panzura’s file access acceleration also means that remote users can open centralized project libraries in seconds instead of minutes, allowing projects to be completed on time even with large project teams. Panzura implements a global file system that provides data protection and access with dynamic file locking, global deduplication, global snapshots, local caching and pinning, with military grade, FIPS 140-2 encryption, so project files are accessible and secure.

“I’ve worked in IT at Mead & Hunt for more than 23 years and when an issue of this magnitude is solved, I like to call it a Holy Grail monument,” said Andy Knauf, VP and director of IT, Mead & Hunt. “I’ve only ever said that twice before, and Panzura makes it three. That’s how great this product is to the industry.”

Requiring only a Windows server and a Panzura Cloud Controller at each remote office, it simplifies IT operations because the complete rack of equipment can be pre-configured at Mead & Hunt HQs and then shipped to the remote office, where it can be plugged in.

“By moving files to the Amazon S3 cloud with Panzura, Mead & Hunt has eliminated the need for local NAS storage at each remote office and given its employees rapid access to shared project files,” said Randy Chou, president and CEO, Panzura. “As a result, this AEC firm has slashed IT costs, reduced the time it takes to set up a new office, and improved employee productivity.”

 
More information about Mead & Hunt and Panzura (registration needed)