Hospitality Retail
K Enterprises is a campground holding company.
Challenges
Accommodate Business Growth
K Enterprises brought in SpotLink® in 1991 to help upgrade and convert their network with new servers and workstations. They went from a Xenix (a predecessor to Linux distributed by Microsoft) to a Novell Network. In 2001, SpotLink® upgraded K Enterprises to a Windows domain structure.
A big shift came in 2008 when K Enterprises started acquiring other campgrounds throughout the United States. A system with centralized management but distributed workforce was needed.
Solution
At that point, K Enterprises needed to make some major strategic decisions about the architecture of their network.
To minimize costs, SpotLink® designed the IT architecture to consist of a centralized network security structure, centralized VOIP phone system, centralized time accounting, and distributed file system with centralized management. They built the core of the architecture around a Microsoft Windows Domain with domain controllers at each site, connected via a WAN built using Cisco ASA firewalls with site-to-site VPN and site-optimized routing.
In 2016, SpotLink® upgraded the system to a Remote Desktop system using servers in the AWS cloud, replacing client machines with thin clients, thus greatly reducing the infrastructure at each location.
In 2025, SpotLink® again rearchitected the K Enterprises system, implementing a digital transformation that moved their file system to Microsoft SharePoint and shifted to Entra ID as their authentication and identity management system. K Enterprises thin clients were moved to connect to Azure virtual desktops, completely eliminating the need for servers.
Manage Remote Locations
K Enterprises’ mission-critical application – a combined reservation and point-of-sale system that handles all transactions from the front desks and convenience stores – runs on server in rural Montana, first via terminal emulation and later in a web app. K Enterprises also requires highly reliable telecommunications circuits that are economically priced.
Solution
Working with their telecommunications partner, SpotLink® designed a system where each location is linked to the other while also independently linked to the mission-critical application. Using backup internet connections, K Enterprise’s remote locations cound continue to operate even if the primary location is down.
The distributed file system allowed each site to make changes to a common set of files, independent of the other site’s availability, and have the files synchronize when WAN communications are functioning. Once the move to cloud servers was made, and later to Microsoft SharePoint, all the files were served from a central location through redundant routes.
results
With a solid IT infrastructure built for growth and scalability, K Enterprises continues to look for new opportunities while relying on SpotLink® to confront any new challenges that may occur along the way. Likewise, SpotLink® continuously is looking at new technologies that will benefit K Enterprises, and implements those as cost/benefit analyses justify.