Alice Chambers |
AmerCareRoyal distributes disposable plates, cups, cutlery and other items food service establishments need to serve their customers on the go. The company also supplies back-of-house kitchen and food safety items – everything needed for dining in or takeout.
“We are a supply chain company, and we source, make and move materials to our customers and our distributors,” says Jeff DeSandre, chief information officer (CIO) at AmerCareRoyal.
In 2016, two manufacturing suppliers of food service and sanitation disposables AmerCare and JRMI joined, marking the start of a series of mergers and acquisitions that required the organisation to significantly enhance its security posture. The firm became AmerCareRoyal after its merge with Royal Paper, another disposables supplier. It opted to partner with Ontinue, a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), and deploy Ontinue ION for managed extended detection and response (MXDR).
“With the challenges it solved, Ontinue became the centrepiece of our security programme,” says DeSandre. “The Ontinue ION Cyber Defense Center provides peace of mind and makes our organisation nimbler by relieving us of security concerns. It means we can focus on integrating our acquisitions, making AmerCareRoyal stronger and more efficient at working with our customers. And I can’t put a price tag on that.”
As a company focused on supply chain operations, the enterprise resource planning system is one of the most critical applications for AmerCareRoyal’s business. According to DeSandre, Ontinue helped his team to build and accelerate their knowledge of Microsoft Security. Ontinue also provided access to Microsoft security technology and advice via its Cyber Defense Center.
“We would not be able to build a security organisation as effective as the Cyber Defense Center. I could not compete with that,” says DeSandre. “This was a big factor in our decision to work with Ontinue.”
Maria Thomson, director of MISA, says: “Through a robust collaboration, Microsoft and Ontinue leverage their combined expertise to fortify the digital landscape, delivering unparalleled protection to our shared customers like AmerCareRoyal against contemporary security challenges.”
This article was originally published in the Winter 2023 issue of Technology Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription