Case Study: Marquardt achieves dramatically faster global file access and improved productivity with NetApp Global File Cache

Marquardt tunes global interaction with data

Marquardt, an international mechatronic specialist that develops intelligent switches, controls, and access systems, struggled with global access to a 70 TB file share containing some 60 million files used by teams at 20 locations and more than 11,000 employees. Centralized storage at its German headquarters caused long WAN/VPN latencies—opening files from China, India, and the U.S. could take up to 60 seconds, interruptions created duplicates and TMP files, and network-level fixes failed, generating growing support tickets and lost productivity.

Working with partner Bechtle, Marquardt deployed NetApp Global File Cache integrated with its NetApp AFF A220 core and Microsoft DFS/AD. A proof of concept delivered dramatic improvements—up to 21× faster opens in China (a 10 MB Word file from 65s to 5s), 95% faster office-file retrievals, and an estimated productivity gain of about 1 hour per user per week—then went straight to production with additional edge instances. The solution caches files locally, enforces real-time locking, eliminates duplicates, and significantly reduced support tickets and admin overhead, giving users fast, reliable global file access.

Marquardt

Mark Orglmeister

Manager of IT Corporate Workplace Services