A sales report that took up to 21 minutes to load. On a database platform three years past mainstream support.
ePak International, a global supplier of precision packaging for semiconductor manufacturers, ran its ERP database on SQL Server 2016, approaching the end of vendor support. Armely modernized the platform to SQL Server 2019 and eliminated a recurring reporting slowdown, with zero downtime to the business.
CHALLENGE: Does this describe your database environment?
-
A report or query that used to run fast now takes minutes to return results
-
Your database platform is on an older version and getting closer to losing vendor support
-
You are not fully confident the server would fail over cleanly if something went wrong
-
Reporting and analytics changes feel risky because there is no safe way to test them first
-
IT keeps a mental list of workarounds for known slow reports instead of fixing the cause
-
An upgrade has been on the roadmap for a while, but nobody wants to risk the downtime
SOLUTION: What Armely did for ePak International
ePak runs Dynamics AX order processing, invoicing, production, and inventory for customers across the semiconductor industry, with a manufacturing footprint spanning Asia.
Armely re-architected the database onto a dedicated three-node SQL Server 2019 Always On cluster, migrated the sales reporting cube to the new platform, and diagnosed and fixed a query regression that had been slowing sales and production reporting.
The entire migration ran alongside live production with zero downtime. The slow report now returns results in seconds, and the platform runs on actively supported, vendor-backed software.
TABLE: At a glance
| BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|
| A core sales and production report regularly took 13 to 21 minutes to run. | The same report returns results in seconds. |
| The database ran on SQL Server 2016, approaching the end of Microsoft's support window. | The platform runs on actively supported SQL Server 2019. |
| The cluster ran on a legacy mixed-node footprint with no dedicated high-availability design. | A dedicated 3-node cluster fails over automatically with no data loss. |
| The sales OLAP model lived only on the legacy platform, with no safe way to test a new version. | Reporting cubes ran side-by-side on the new platform before anything switched over. |
| Query plan regressions could silently break reporting without warning. | Query monitoring now catches and corrects regressions automatically. |
| Connectivity relied on deprecated drivers and a hardcoded server address. | Connections run through modern, supported drivers and an abstracted cluster address. |
CTA: Free SQL Server infrastructure review
We look at your current SQL Server version, high-availability setup, and any recurring performance issues, and show you what a modernized environment would look like for your organization.
CONTACT:
info@armely.com | 972-460-0643 | armely.com