Superior Silica Sands (SSS) operates in an environment where technology usually goes to die. Based south of San Antonio, their facility is a high-intensity, 24/7/365 mining operation exposed to the full weight of the Texas elements: heat, dust, lightning strikes, and power surges.
When CFO Stefan Hochegger joined the organization in 2021 during a critical restructuring, he inherited an IT infrastructure that was a primary point of friction. Servers sat exposed to the elements, and the entire operation relied on a single point of failure for connectivity. For a business that never sleeps, this wasn't just a technical problem—it was a major operational risk.
The "Central Hub" Strategy
Stefan didn't need a vendor; he needed a strategic ally to act as the "central hub" for the business.
Envoy began by architecting a foundation built for longevity and stability. To protect against the environmental hazards that previously crippled their network, we replaced the fragile connection with a triple-redundancy system:
Primary: Enterprise Ethernet connection.
Backup: A local backup loop.
Failover: 5G wireless antenna coverage across the entire facility.
"You almost have three systems running in parallel," Stefan explains. "If one goes down, you can still operate."
Precision Work Under Pressure
To further insulate the business from physical risk, Envoy migrated outdated on-site server equipment—much of which was suffering from exposure—to a secure cloud environment. This move didn't just protect the data; it improved process documentation and long-term scalability.
The transition required the kind of "extra mile" commitment Envoy is known for. During the network upgrade, the Envoy team provided support through 2:00 AM troubleshooting calls to ensure the plant kept running and "load out" was never interrupted.
Measuring the Impact
The results of this engineering-first approach have been measurable and profound:
Operational Focus: Stefan’s time spent managing IT triage has dropped from a significant burden to just 5-10% of his role.
Cost Control: Despite a volatile market, SSS has maintained flat cybersecurity insurance premiums because Envoy’s security protocols and annual assessments proved they were a lower risk.
Zero-Worry Infrastructure: The organization no longer "thinks" about IT—not because it's invisible, but because they have a trusted partner managing the complexity for them.
"For any company that doesn't have the size to really do IT well internally... Envoy is very competitive. And you're getting a much broader solution than you could build yourself." — Stefan Hochegger, CFO, Superior Silica Sands
