IRVINE, Calif., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zumasys (http://www.zumasys.com) announced today that Prime Time International (http://www.primetimeproduce.com), a leading produce grower, packer, and shipper based in Coachella Valley, California is now fully hosted on the Zumasys cloud computing platform. Drawing upon the benefits of a 100,000 sq ft data center and the latest virtualization technologies, Zumasys now handles backups and server management, affording the two-person Prime Time IT team 20% more time to focus on improving and enhancing the company's technology strategy.

Prior to the move, Prime Time conducted a full systems evaluation to determine whether the company had the infrastructure it needed to support its continued growth. The company depends on Famous Software, the leading provider of software for the produce industry, but its 10-15 servers were each at least four years old and were putting the business at risk. An additional concern was the insufficient disaster recovery plan that Prime Time had in place.

"Prime Time selected Zumasys because of the strength and cost-effectiveness of their cloud computing solution, as well as their solid experience and clear understanding of the agriculture industry," says Raun Singleton, CFO, Prime Time International. "Zumasys had good answers, good solutions and a track record in produce. Knowing that they had done this before in our industry and that cloud computing was a proven solution gave our owners the confidence to move forward."

Prime Time operates six days a week and, as a result, the transition to Zumasys' cloud began on a Saturday evening. By Monday morning, Prime Time was live with its new virtual servers in the Zumasys cloud. Aside from a new Microsoft Exchange email server, end users were not impacted in any way. At the same time, the transition to the cloud automatically gave Prime Time a comprehensive disaster recovery plan to help safeguard its future.

"Cloud computing is especially impactful for produce companies who run complex applications with limited IT resources," said Paul Giobbi, President of Zumasys. "Prime Time International is one of the largest Famous/Oracle users we have migrated to our platform and we are pleased with their results."

By transitioning to cloud computing, Prime Time saw significant savings by eliminating the need to replace all of their servers and the associated maintenance costs. Singleton states, "The Zumasys cloud computing solution had minimal up-front capital cost, quick return on investment, and offered significant ongoing savings. Plus, it gives us incredible flexibility as we grow."

As a leader in the produce industry, Prime Time is always looking for ways to stay on the cutting edge, directly increasing their competitiveness. Having Zumasys on its team has made implementing new ideas and the latest technologies easier and more effective. Singleton explains, "We look at Zumasys as the IT arm of our business. They're not just a vendor. The security and knowledge they bring to our company is invaluable."

Potential problems are identified faster because Zumasys' proactive monitoring provides insight more quickly than was previously possible. Raun Singleton sums it up, "We are experts at growing peppers, not managing IT. With Zumasys, I have some of the top IT experts working on our systems all the time. It's a much better use of my resources."

About Prime Time

Prime Time International is a produce grower, packer and shipper based in Southern California's Coachella Valley with operations throughout California and Mexico. Known as The Pepper People, Prime Time provides multi-colored peppers year-round, as well as other produce products on a seasonal basis. The company has 90 employees, plus a team of contract growers and laborers in the thousands.

About Zumasys

Zumasys helps companies of every size transition their applications and infrastructure to the Cloud. Customers access the latest software and hardware technologies for a simple and predictable monthly fee thus empowering them to focus on their core business instead of running IT. Having led the way in cloud computing for five years, Zumasys delivers personalized service, world-class reliability, integrated disaster recovery, and the confidence companies need to outsource their systems and applications. The company is a Microsoft Gold Partner and also works with Citrix Systems, VMware, NetApp, HP, Cisco, ShoreTel and SonicWALL to deliver leading edge technology solutions. Zumasys was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Irvine, CA. For more information, visit www.zumasys.com.

Contact:  Paul Giobbi of Zumasys, +1-949-334-0300, paul@zumasys.com

SOURCE Zumasys