Solution Provider Scores Hyper-Convergence Win By Teaming With D&H On An 'Enterprise-Level Opportunity For An SMB Play'

Treysta Technology Management faced a distinct challenge last summer: figuring out to how rearchitect a large customer server network plagued by sprawl, latency and outdated back-end infrastructure.

The project also presented a rare opportunity for the Gettysburg, Pa.-based solution provider, which mainly works with SMB clients. Legacy Athletics, a "mid-to-large" sports apparel company, was not part of Treysta's managed services portfolio, but it was a relationship Treysta Project Manager Richard Hussey said the company was trying to tighten.

As Treysta spent more time in Legacy Athletics' networking environment, the solution provider began discovering more issues and realized it needed more firepower to tackle the project. As a result, Hussey began working with D&H Distributing to develop a cohesive solution using an Aruba back end and Hewlett Packard Enterprise servers.

[Related: D&H Launches Cisco Meraki Channel Program To Help Partners Tap Into 'Vast' SMB Market]

"We have a pretty good staff in-house. We have a couple of great engineers. Together, we usually come up with the solutions we need to provide in-house," Hussey told CRN at the XChange Solution Provider 2018 conference in Orlando, Fla, hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company. "But this was complex. We did a lot of research on hyper-convergence ahead of time. We knew kind of what was going on, how to play it. Getting the complete solution from D&H definitely helped."

So Christopher Rigas, an HPE business development manager at D&H, and other members of the Harrisburg, Pa.-based distributor's team went to work with Treysta to consolidate 10-plus servers into four server nodes on an Aruba backbone. The process involved sifting through a 46-page report, generated by RapidFire Tools' Network Detective application, and several months of tweaking specifications to meet the customer's demands for "raw speed and power."

"This was an enterprise-level opportunity for the SMB play. It took a tremendous amount of effort as a team," Rigas told CRN.

By the time Treysta and D&H fully implemented the network last fall, Rigas and Hussey said the joint solutions work had started generating additional ROI opportunities for Treysta. Hussey said his company is now working with Legacy Athletics around Splunk and is adding more projects to the customer portfolio.

"It's another opportunity that came to us through this hyper-convergence project," Hussey said. "They want us to be more and more hands-on with them. They want to configure their data protection manager. They want to configure most of their suite of systems centers. All this is driving more business opportunities our way."

"It was a matter of them realizing what else they needed. So many other things fell into place," Rigas said.