The landscape for Cat dealers is shifting, and at this year’s NADITA conference in Las Vegas, the conversation around infrastructure reached a new level of urgency. One breakout session, “Partly Cloudy – The Cloud Forecast,” led by Dan Palmatier from Lightedge, offered a candid look at why a “move to cloud” is never one-size-fits-all for Cat dealers.
Hybrid Cloud is a Strategy, Not a Compromise
A recurring theme throughout the session was that hybrid cloud is a deliberate strategy rather than just a transitional phase. For many dealers, the goal isn't necessarily to replace every existing application but to modernize what works. Lightedge emphasized that a successful forecast requires balancing the speed of the public cloud with the control of private environments.
Weathering Vendor and Licensing Shifts
Dan didn't shy away from the practical challenges facing IT managers today, specifically the ripples caused by dramatic shortages in memory impacting infrastructure manufacturers, and recent vendor actions from providers like VMware/Broadcom. As one of only 14 Broadcom Pinnacle partners in the U.S., Lightedge shared insights into navigating these licensing changes while maintaining operational stability. The discussion highlighted how managed hybrid architectures can help dealers avoid the "big bang" risk of total re-platforming while still gaining the benefits of software-defined infrastructure.
Bridging the Gap for Legacy Systems
A significant portion of the session focused on the unique needs of dealers running mission-critical workloads on IBM i Power Systems (e.g., DBS/DBSi). The session detailed how a managed hybrid cloud solves for workforce shortages and aging hardware by connecting IBM workloads to hyperscale providers like AWS or Azure with sub-2ms latency.
Practical examples of this approach in action included:
FDC Solutions, which utilizes Azure support through Lightedge to deploy its K*Track package tracking and ICS advanced inventory planning applications.
- Ohio Machinery, which leverages remote support for its IBM i environment to maintain focus on innovation rather than infrastructure maintenance.
- Transflo, which achieved a 98% reduction in mean downtime by migrating JD Edwards workloads to a hybrid cloud solution within a strict five-month data center exit timeline.
Looking Ahead
The "Cloud Forecast" made it clear: the best infrastructure is the one tailored to a Cat dealer’s specific environment, not the other way around. Whether it is managing the "skills gap" in IBM i, Azure, and/or AWS, or optimizing costs to avoid the 94% of wasted spend reported by many public cloud customers, the path forward is through specialized, partner-backed managed services expertise.
For those who missed the session, the takeaway is simple: don't let the cloud be an "all or nothing" decision. Use the right environment for each workload to ensure your company remains resilient, scalable, and secure.