Olé Mexican Foods finds a winning recipe in Windstream data/voice overhaul

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 06, 2018 -- Windstream (NASDAQ:WIN), a leading provider of advanced network communications, has completed an extensive IT infrastructure overhaul for Olé Mexican Foods, one of the nation’s largest tortilla manufacturers and a nationwide distributor of packaged food products. With more than 1,000 employees spread across seven U.S. manufacturing facilities and 28 distribution centers, Olé Mexican Foods now enjoys far superior data and voice services than before, at lower IT cost.

Windstream’s infrastructure overhaul solved twin problems facing the company: frequent network freezes due to bandwidth constraints, and extremely expensive long-distance dialing across company locations. On the data side, Windstream replaced legacy 1.5 Mbps per-site connections with an MPLS network featuring up to 50 Mbps connections for remote sites, and 250 Mbps connections at headquarters and a new data center. On the voice side, a new UCaaS (unified communications as a service) system, implemented within three months, modernized voice functionality with name recognition, caller ID and four-digit companywide dialing.

“I was humbled by the speed of Windstream’s implementation,” says Olé Mexican Foods IT director Wilston Lynch, whom the company hired to oversee the revamp. “In 1.5 years, we switched carriers, gained redundancy, implemented a new voice platform and new network infrastructure, and moved control from headquarters to a new data center – with Windstream driving the timeline and with zero downtime.”

While the overriding goal was IT improvement rather than cost reduction, Olé Mexican Foods’ IT update also brought financial advantages. Replacing long distance with four-digit dialing reduced operating expenses by tens of thousands of dollars per year, with UCaaS positive ROI expected in just over a year. The switch to MPLS networking greatly increased bandwidth and added redundancy without requiring additional budget.

“As with many companies that are experiencing business expansion, Olé Mexican Foods simply outgrew its technology,” says Joseph Harding, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Windstream’s Cloud & Connectivity business unit. “It’s always gratifying to help a successful company accomplish so much more without breaking its IT budget – that’s the real promise of modern voice and data technology.”

About Windstream

Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIN), a FORTUNE 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, businesses, enterprise organizations and wholesale customers across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers. The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to small business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber network spanning approximately 150,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com. Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @Windstream.

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