1st Source Servall Carves Aggressive Growth Path with Zumasys IaaS on NetApp

Customer Profile

Founded in 1929 in Detroit, Michigan, 1st Source Servall is now one of North America's largest distributors of appliance parts, with 51 locations, including 9 main distribution centers and 3 call centers, located in 13 states. The company serves national name-brand department and appliance stores as well as smaller regional companies such as appliance repair companies, Internet retailers, and property management firms. It is factory authorized for all major brands, including Whirlpool, Electrolux, and General Electric, plus many other brands, and offers an inventory in excess of 75,000 part numbers.

The Challenge
Reaching a storage crossroads

As a family-owned and -operated company with an 80-year history, 1st Source Servall understands how to remain competitive and manage growth. Paving an aggressive growth strategy, 1st Source Servall averages one acquisition per year plus the addition of branch locations in new and existing markets. In the past five years, the appliance parts leader has grown from 13 branch offices and 80 employees to 51 offices and a staff of 550.

During its recent period of strategic growth, the company experienced growing pains with its IT infrastructure. As its office footprint, staff, customer base, Web services, and transaction volume grew, its storage environment could no longer meet the needs of the organization. "We were at a storage crossroads," says Jeff Meyers, vice president of Technology at 1st Source Servall. "We either needed to make a significant investment in our infrastructure and expand our IT staff or make the move to an outsourced IT model."