Share Via
Download PDFThe Challenge
Eaze is a cannabis company that operates medical dispensaries throughout the state of Florida under the Green Dragon retail brand. Explosive growth in the state had Eaze opening new stores as fast as possible to keep up with demand and business goals.
However, due to complex regulatory and compliance demands when opening a dispensary, to pass state inspections a very secure and reliable IT infrastructure is critical. The existing vendor’s commercial-grade network equipment in Green Dragon stores wasn’t up to the task and caused delays in openings that resulted in real revenue losses - up to $5,000 per day.
The maintenance, management and troubleshooting of those networks alone amounted to more than the lean IT staff could handle.
- Lean IT team made it difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of new store openings
- Passing government compliance inspections the first time was nearly impossible
- A closed store meant customers would go elsewhere
The Solution
Eaze needed an enterprise-grade solution that offered more capabilities, greater flexibility and better support than the 30 existing Florida stores had previously been using. To that end, Eaze partnered with Nile to deploy a modern, secure network-as-a-Service (NaaS) delivered solution in its next seven Green Dragon stores.
The speed and efficiency with which the new sites were brought online and opened to the public was a difference comparable to night-and-day in the retail industry.
- The AI-powered NaaS solution was deployed in record time in each store
- Built-in Zero Trust security ensures compliance, protects patient information, and shields the network from malware attacks
- Nile AI and autonomous operating model helped keep surveillance cameras up and running which is critical
The Outcomes
The lean IT now had network expertise and deterministic AI helping them keep things running optimally. Camera outages disappeared helping them pass vital inspections tied to state regulations that were costing them months and thousands of dollars. And, point of sale machines, ID scanners and other IoT devices just worked seamlessly.
- No more delays in store openings = no more lost revenue
- Elimination of manual config tuning and troubleshooting, freed up time to focus on other responsibilities
- Network reliability ensures access to patient registries, compliance with regulations
“With Nile, I know at the end of the day I’ll have a fully functioning network that will enable the opening of the store. I’ve never had support like that.”
– Eric Sevell, Director Operations for Florida, Eaze
Wearing many hats
Eric Sevell, Director of Eaze’s Retail Operations for Florida, has become the de-facto IT support for all new store openings. Despite his limited experience in IT, he really enjoys that part of his job. But the limited experience is part of the problem: IT is just one part of his job.
In his role, he is responsible for every aspect of the store build out - from the flooring to the lighting, and everything in between. He also heads up meeting compliance demands within Florida which includes dealing with regulators for everything from store inspections to the grow facility, product submissions and advertising. Add to that the fact that it’s only Sevell and one other IT person for the entire state, a change had to be made.
The Nile team not only partnered on the setup of the stores networks, the Nile Service includes ongoing maintenance, monitoring and lifecycle management. This allows Sevell to focus on driving all of the other aspects of store openings and compliance while continuing to oversee IT at a high level.
“The Nile interface is much more user friendly and easy to navigate compared to the equipment we were using,” says Sevell. “With the old interface, it was really easy to click the wrong thing and blow up the whole network. And if anything broke, you really had to have an incredible amount of technical knowledge to fix it.”
“With Nile, I’ve been able to accomplish things that, ultimately, I think are pretty technical, but the Nile Portal interface makes it so easy that it's not scary,” says Sevell.
Smooth deployments equaled stress-free store openings
Sevell reports that having Nile on-site support for roll outs eliminated much of the stress from the process.
“At the end of the day, using Nile gave me the confidence that I'd have a fully functioning network that would enable the opening of a store,” he says. “I’ve never had support like that.”
Before Nile, Sevell had to deploy the network without onsite support at the Green Dragon stores. When he ran into problems, he had to initiate the support process remotely, resulting in a delayed store opening and lost revenue.
“With Nile competitors, set up is generally manual, and we're doing it ourselves,” he explains. “So when we plugged the network in and it didn’t work, we ended up on a conference call with IT and the product manufacturers for hours on end, just to help them find small little bugs that we had to work out.”
Compliance and security go hand in hand
The most critical security concern for Eaze is its network of surveillance cameras. The Florida sites generally have 15 to 30 cameras each and Eaze is required, by law, to have 45 days of continuous coverage. Without working cameras, you can’t even open a store.
“If just one camera in these critical areas like our secured storage or an entry or exit doesn't work, the state’s not going to approve us.” Sevell explains. “You have potentially a two-to-four week delay going through the process to get a new inspection which cost around $5,000 per day in lost revenue.”
Beyond compliance, the cameras in the Eaze stores boost internal security.
“Having those cameras working correctly and being able to access them remotely is paramount,” says Sevell. “If I get that alarm call, I know I’ll be able to get the information I need to address the problem.”
In terms of additional network security, with Nile all devices trying to gain access to the internal network have to be approved before gaining access. This feature eliminates the risk of the proliferation of rogues, malware on the network, and breaches of personal medical information.
Per-device isolation also locked down the guest network, which was VLAN-based using the old infrastructure.
Network outages equals sales losses
Network reliability is crucial to the functioning of the Eaze storefronts. For every transaction, without exception, Eaze employees are required to log into the state registry to verify patient identification and confirm a valid prescription. If the network goes down, it results in an immediate halt to all transactions.
“It’s compliance hurdles like these that make our business unique and why it's essential that our IT infrastructure is strong,” says Sevell. “We quite literally can't run our business without a stable network. That makes the redundancy and backup Nile provides another huge benefit to us.”
If there ever is a problem on the Nile network, Sevell is notified immediately and can count on Nile support to remedy the issue quickly. At the stores not supported by Nile, the same can’t be said. Precious time is wasted before he is even notified and while he is trying to access often elusive customer support. All the while, sales are lost and customers aren’t able to get what they need.
“We quite literally can't run our business without a stable network. That makes the redundancy and backup Nile provides another huge benefit to us.”
– Eric Sevell, Director Operations for Florida, Eaze
