Case Study: Battlefield Farms

• Provided ongoing IT concierge services with customer adoption specialists

• Enabled modernization to the cloud, tapping into better technologies and new applications

• Recommended Microsoft 365, including SharePoint’s developer apps to prevent over-shipping, and Power BI to improve visibility and forecasting decisions

• Combatted and prevented security threats and ransomware, selecting
  Bullwall Ransomware Containment, and SentinelOne

“Having the Ricoh team there to help support IT operations makes my job easier and frees up time for me to do other projects. Our regular meetings are also helpful for simple things like reminding me that a warranty is coming up for renewal, so nothing, including the minutia, slips through the cracks,” noted Haynes.

With fiber cables in place, Battlefield Farms began transitioning to create a stronger cloud infrastructure, lowering costs while gaining more resources. They consolidated servers and removed a major bottleneck, and greatly increased search speed. Before, it took about 8 minutes to search for information on-premises, while now, it only takes 15 seconds.

Together, the team implemented Microsoft 365, a powerful, cloud version of Microsoft applications. “With the help of Ricoh IT Services, we were able to eliminate a disparate number of applications and standardize on Microsoft 365. It’s been a lot easier now. I’ve been dreaming about this for two years,” said Haynes.

Using Microsoft 365, Battlefield Farms could address the costly problem of receiving more plants than they had ordered by developing a tracking app. It was a common practice that vendors would over-ship, leading to the use of more labor and resources — none of which were trackable. Now, the receiver takes pictures of the plant shipments and the app tracks it, enforcing the correct amount.

“SharePoint had a flexible app that we developed to create a tracking method for incorrect deliveries, which saved us a huge headache and hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe more. It’s a cascading impact. We now get the right amount of goods and are more operationally efficient,” Haynes added.

Adopting Microsoft Power BI, a robust analytics and business intelligence tool, enabled the team to get quick access to data and make more timely operational decisions. Now, visualizing data that used to take 40 clicks and six reports happens in under a minute. “On the new SQL server with Power BI, we have visibility into what’s selling and what’s not. We can see how many plants are attributed to waste. And we can plan better for next year,” said Haynes.

Other digital transformation benefits include the ability to integrate with the reports from large retailers (such as Lowe’s). “With accessible data, we have the intelligence to make better decisions and forecast growing needs.”

With the right tools in place, Haynes turned his focus to security. He attended a Ricoh webinar to learn more about phishing and how to prevent ransomware attacks. With Ricoh’s guidance, preventative measures included employee training, new servers, a new firewall, and a world-class ransomware solution, Ransomware Containment. The day after installation, three phishing attacks were detected immediately, causing security triggers to isolate the instance and lock down the infected computers. “The new firewall and servers have saved us five to ten hours per week not having to deal with phishing emails and other issues!” reported Haynes. “ Ransomware Containment works like a champ and provides the protection we need.”

Battlefield Farms also fortified their security using SentinelOne, an innovative AI platform that defends against cyberattacks. In the first few months, they estimated the solution has prevented around 15 attacks.

With Haynes’ extensive IT expertise combined with Ricoh’s depth of resources and knowledge, Battlefield Farms can scale, increase profitability, and strive for operational excellence. The possibilities of digital transformation in agriculture are sprouting and flourishing — let’s see what blossoms next.

To read more on digital transformation case studies or explore how Ricoh can help your organization digitally transform, visit our solutions pages: Cloud & Infrastructure, Business Process Management, Digital Experience, Cybersecurity and IT Services.