LeaderBrand is one of New Zealand’s most innovative produce companies, growing and supplying a wide range of fresh vegetables year-round including broccoli, iceberg and leafy greens. With a focus on sustainable practices and on technology and innovation, LeaderBrand is committed to delivering fresh, nutritious produce to Kiwi families and export markets alike.
Proudly family-owned and operated and with farms in Gisborne, Pukekohe and Chertsey, LeaderBrand manages over 3,500 hectares of land across the country and operates fully integrated operations – from growing and harvesting through to processing and distribution.
But while the LeaderBrand farms are ideally located for growing premium produce, they’re not prime spots for internet connectivity. The farm sites were struggling to stay reliably linked to the network, which was causing considerable disruption throughout operations.
“The internet was dropping out an average of 24 hours a week across all our sites,” says Bayne Dalziell, Senior Systems Engineer at LeaderBrand.
“When the wind blew too hard in Gisborne, we had no internet. We were putting in tickets for change requests or problems multiple times a day. And if someone was working at their computer for an hour, they’d often spend 15 minutes waiting for something to reconnect. Across 200-odd users, it starts to really add up.”
Dalziell and the team knew that the best solution was to install Starlink at all its sites and migrate to an SD-WAN. In mid-2024 LeaderBrand went to market to find a new partner to help implement the project. Datacom “shone the brightest” as a technology partner they could work with to solve their network challenges and teams across both organisations began planning immediately.
“Together we mapped out a plan that directed each step down to the minute,” says Dalziell.
“We had IT people close to all our farms, and they were able to install equipment. The communication was so great that we were able to just fly through it – things that in a normal situation would take a day took half an hour. The preplanned plug-ins were seamless and there were zero disruptions. The teams from both sides were super impressed with how well it went through.”
The migration was completed in around two months with LeaderBrand moving onto the new SD-WAN in February 2025. The project finished on time, and under budget.
The results were immediate and dramatic for LeaderBrand. Instead of averaging 24 hours of internet outages every week, the company might now have three minutes of outages in an entire month. Tickets have gone from several each day to one a month. That has meant a significant improvement in productivity, thanks to the massive decrease in downtime. The first monthly report on network status was such a departure from the old system that a manager queried it with Dalziell because it seemed too good to be true.
“When you consider we were having whole sites out for days at a time, it’s like chalk and cheese,” says Dalziell. “This project has already paid for itself multiple times over. The new system is better and cheaper; it’s saving us a huge amount of money. We now have the time to focus on internal projects, so we’re able to do more work in-house, and we’re able to focus on making improvements, not just fighting fires.”
The management team has been particularly pleased with the newfound stability of its financial reporting and systems. These are all hosted internally, and with reliable connectivity the business can get accurate data in real time, instead of facing long delays caused by patchy service.
"Our work with LeaderBrand is a great example of what happens when deep technical expertise meets true collaboration. By working closely with the LeaderBrand team to understand what they needed and having experts on the ground, we were able to deliver a seamless migration that’s already transforming their operations," says Datacom GM Networks, Stephen Marlow.
"This project shows the value of getting connectivity right. By helping LeaderBrand move to a more resilient, stable network, we’ve not only reduced downtime but we’ve also unlocked time and capacity for their team to focus on more productive work."
For Dalziell, the migration has been a gamechanger. Previously, he needed to stick close to his desk and outages frequently derailed his other work. Now, though, he has considerably more freedom.
Based in Gisborne, he’s been able to tour the other two locations and fully assess the company’s total IT infrastructure. And after two years in the job, he’s finally taken a holiday.
“I’m enjoying my work more,” says Daziell. “It’s been lovely.”
One factor in the success of the migration was how well the LeaderBrand and Datacom teams worked together, with detailed communication, shared technical expertise and collaborative problem-solving.
“We knew the direction we needed to take, and with Datacom’s help we’ve been able to steer the ship to where we are today. I’ve been involved in a lot of IT infrastructure upgrades, and this has been one of the best outcomes across the board. It’s gone flawlessly. It has been an absolute joy to work with Datacom.”
LeaderBrand went from days of downtime to just minutes a month, showing how Datacom’s managed WAN delivers resilient, secure, and always-on connectivity.
With 24/7 enterprise-class monitoring, ITIL-aligned processes, and seamless scalability across multiple sites and hybrid teams, Datacom’s WAN services cut costs, boost productivity, and keep your business moving forward.
