Vancouver, Washington - (The Hosting News) - December 3, 2007 - Earthlink subsidiary and broadband network company, New Edge Networks, has garnered a multi-year contract to provide managed network services to retail and food service, Superior Farms.
New Edge, the business communications unit of EarthLink Inc., received a three-year contract to build and manage Superior Farms' primary private wide area network as well as a standby high-speed backup network for disaster recovery. New Edge also will provide its ReadyOffice remote access solution for connecting Superior Farms employees to their company's integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) data warehouse from their home or laptop computers.
Jim Roberts, Director of Information Technology for Superior Farms offered, ''Through the MPLS network and our sophisticated computer system, Superior Farms sales representatives will be able to instantly hone profitable pricing to a very narrow range where we will be profitable, the customer will be profitable, and a competitor trying to come in there will need to be as good as we are in manufacturing and distribution efficiency in order to beat us.''
Superior Farms is installing a high-speed Multi-Protocol Label Switching, or MPLS, network that will prioritize network traffic and give the Davis, Calif.-based company online, real-time access to precision cost data. The data is powered by a proprietary computer system that models real-time market prices and supply-chain costs to be able to instantly quote prices and delivery schedules for customers, which include retailers like Wal-Mart, Publix Super Market and Jewel-Osco.
Mr. Roberts added, ''Superior Farms is a consultative sales organization advising customers on market basket mix that will generate profit at the point of sale as opposed to simply loading their coolers with perishable products. Manufacturing and pricing requirements to successfully service our customers are measured in seconds. Our network cannot be down because it breaks the link to the ERP engine. It has to work pretty much flawlessly.''
Superior Farms' new MPLS network links the company's four manufacturing and distribution facilities in Boston, Denver, Dixon, Calif., and Vernon, Calif., with the corporate headquarters as well as several remote sales offices around the country. The fail-over backup network is based on digital subscriber line, or DSL, technology. With New Edge Networks' ReadyOffice remote access solution, Superior Farms employees can get private and secure access to their company's information systems from anywhere they can access the Internet. This enables them to immediately confirm product availability, price and delivery.
Kevin Flaherty, Vice President of Sales for New Edge Networks added, ''Our customers are network-dependent so we regard ourselves as strategic partners with them; if they are successful, we are successful. We built processes and systems for supporting our customers' network requirements.''
New Edge assigns to its customers a dedicated project manager who coordinates on-site installation, testing and network turn-up. Once the network is up and running, New Edge also provides ongoing account management for ensuring that its customers are getting full value from the online tools and automated functions that are standard with the company's managed services. Superior Farms' new MPLS network replaces a T1/DSL network. New Edge expects to complete installation in December.
Superior Farms has been in business since 1963. With a wide variety of products that serve retailers and foodservice operators throughout the country, the company prides itself on it's commitment to food safety and high quality operations. As the first company to successfully vacuum package lamb in the 1970s, the company has remained at the forefront of developing extended shelf life, case-ready packaging, ensuring the freshest product available.
New Edge Networks, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a wholly owned subsidiary of EarthLink Inc. (NASDQ: ELNK). New Edge Networks builds and manages private networks for businesses and communications providers. Through its nationwide backbone network with about 900 switches and Internet routers, New Edge Networks uses any blend of access technologies (xDSL, frame relay, ATM, cable, wireless, and satellite) for providing broadband connectivity at any business address in the United States. Network options include any combination of access, network management functions, and on-site installation services.
To learn more about New Edge Networks, please visit: www.newedgenetworks.com.
