.pdf version of this customer profile (120 KB .pdf)

Client:

CDS is an ATM/EFT service provider for small to mid-size financial institutions and ATM deployers, providing a single source for their clients' entire ATM program requirements, including transaction-processing services. CDS operations were in New Orleans with a disaster recovery center in Dallas.

Challenge:

The need to sustain continuous service for some 18,000 independently owned ATMs - and growing transaction volumes - was behind the company's decision to move its S1 Corporation Postilion software onto a Stratus^® ftServer^® W Series system. About a week after a smooth and uneventful migration onto the ftServer system, a chain of events that started with Hurricane Katrina put Stratus Technologies and its server to the test.

Solution:

When it became clear that this was no typical recovery scenario lasting only a few days, S1 and Stratus contacted CDS to offer help. With the recently installed ftServer system stranded in New Orleans for the foreseeable future (authorities prohibited travel to the city), Stratus shipped a loaner ftServer system overnight to Dallas so that redundancy could be restored to CDS’ transaction processing – a proactive response above and beyond any contractual obligation or service agreement. When authorities permitted CDS Vice President of IT Toby Salsman to retrieve items from his home in New Orleans, S1 sent one of their top technical professionals to CDS’ site in Dallas to assist with IT coverage.

Result:

CDS's operations rode through the storm flawlessly. CDS staged an orderly cutover from New Orleans to Dallas in the middle of the night two days after the storm had passed; most customers were unaware of any change. The way that S1 and Stratus rallied in extreme circumstances inspires CDS to trust that their software and hardware providers can be relied upon during everyday challenges.