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IntelliNet helped upgrade and refresh system infrastructure for Dick’s Lumber
By Maxine Cheung

 

IntelliNet, an IT services company that provides on-site IT service across Canada, won the Gold CEA award for Best Mid-Market Solution. IntelliNet worked with Ideal Computer Group, an independent software vendor (ISV), to help British Columbia-based Dick’s Lumber, now a division of Rona, upgrade and refresh its entire system infrastructure in less than a year.


David Westrheim, president and CEO of intelliNet, explains the solution provider, which has offices in Richmond, B.C. and also in Mississauga, Ont., partners with other ISVs and solution providers as part of its overall business model and outbound marketing strategy.


“Instead of intelliNet soliciting accounts directly, we get in…by ISVs,” Westrheim said.
Dick’s Lumber, Westrheim said, wanted a solution, which was “Microsoft-free” that would allow its 176 employees across its three locations to be completely integrated and collaborative with each other. 
With the help of Ideal Computer Group and Dick’s Lumber’s Computing Infrastructure Upgrade Committee, intelliNet was able to custom-design a solution for the company that enabled it to transition from paper-based processes to an automated one. 


Previously, Dick’s Lumber had an “old-fashioned environment with POS and dumb terminals,” Westrheim said. Its employees also didn’t have access to the Internet or a graphical user interface (GUI) to work with.


The new infrastructure platform that intelliNet helped to create is based on an array of Red Hat Linux Servers and Novell SUSE, which run on Wyse Thin Client Workstations. IntelliNet used Novell’s collaboration solution, GroupWise, along with Open Source’s OpenOffice to enable Dick’s Lumber employees to better communicate across its three office locations. BlackBerry integration was also included as part of the solution, to give employees faster access to information.


“The solution resulted in a major expansion (for Dick’s Lumber) because by the time the implementation was finished, we were able to extend computing functionality to all of its 176 users.”

The infrastructure platform now allows for real-time connectivity through integrated e-mail and BlackBerries, improvements with customer service, and cost savings which are estimated to be at about $200,000 in software licenses.