Snapping Shoals EMC

Introduction

Based in Covington, Georgia, Snapping Shoals Electric Membership Corporation is a non-profit, consumer-owned cooperative that provides electric service to approximately 94,000 residential, commercial and industrial consumers in an eight-county area southeast of Atlanta. Snapping Shoals EMC began servicing rural Georgia over 71 years ago, and today provides reliable, affordable electric service in a rapidly growing area.
As the electric utility industry changes, Snapping Shoals is working to ensure they maintain compliance and keep pace with the growth while remaining firmly committed to providing superior service.

Problem

Snapping Shoals Director of IT Michael Barbo was plagued with a combination of switches in the main network. “We were running Dell, Intel and 3 Com,” said Michael. “Managing things separately had become a huge headache and was robbing me of the time I should have been spending resolving other issues that were costing the co-op money.” Additionally, a lot of the equipment was out of warranty and couldn’t be replaced if problems arose. Snapping Shoals needed a consistent, cost effective platform in order to serve their members’ best interests.

Solution

Snapping Shoals called on Adcap Network Systems to provide a full Cisco LAN upgrade using IPS 3750s, which boast the ability to manage all switches as one. Additionally, an ASA firewall was implemented allowing IT personnel to monitor traffic in and out of main and remote locations.
“We contracted with Adcap for our network upgrade largely due to the recommendation direct from Cisco, and it was a great decision,” said Michael. “Anytime we dealt with anyone from Adcap, we found them to be intelligent and patient, and felt like they would be there for us for the long haul.”

Results

With Snapping Shoals’ new Cisco LAN, they now have a base network that will allow them to grow. “Before, I always had to question if we could support an application. Now we have the option of doing more. With the single platform I don’t have to worry about maintenance, support, upgrading or programming, which gives me the time necessary to investigate other money-saving initiatives.”