Polar Beverages

Customer Profile

Polar Beverages is the largest independent bottling company in the U.S., producing sparkling fruit drinks, seltzers, and mixers. With over 1,000 employees and facilities across multiple states, their IT team supports a fast-paced operation serving 25,000+ convenience and grocery stores throughout the Northeast.

Before SysAid: IT Struggles with Visibility and Workflow

Through SysAid’s open API, Astral integrated their monitoring tools and centralized their workflow. By connecting SysAid with their webcam dashboard, the team can instantly link live visuals of their billboards to ticket data, eliminating the need to jump between systems. This integration not only saves time but also ensures faster response times by putting all the necessary information at their fingertips. 

Keeping Eyes on Every Board with Asset Management

Polar Beverages’ previous system wasn’t built for scalability. Tickets often got lost, lacked due dates, and were difficult to track, leading to inefficiencies and frustration among users and IT alike.

Without a structured ITSM approach, the company had lacked the ability to automate IT operations. They also had to handle change management through scattered tickets, offering little visibility or accountability. IT requests were frequently misrouted, and asset tracking was difficult, making it challenging to manage IT resources efficiently.

Why SysAid Was the Right Fit for Polar’s IT Evolution

When looking for a new IT solution, Polar Beverages needed a platform that could bring real structure, accountability, and automation to their growing IT operations. SysAid stood out for its ITSM-compliant workflows that aligned with how the team actually wanted to work. The platform felt intuitive for both IT staff and end users, making adoption easier from day one.
Even small automation features, like routing tickets based on keywords or flagging urgency, made a noticeable impact right away. One of the most unexpected wins by the IT team was structured change management, which brought new clarity and consistency to a process that had previously been handled ad hoc. Polar opted for SysAid’s cloud version from the start to eliminate reliance on on-prem infrastructure and improve accessibility.
And when questions did come up, the SysAid Customer Care experience made all the difference.

“Support has been awesome. We get a really quick response when we need it. The helpdesk has also been fantastic.” said Jay.

The Impact of SysAid: 40% More Efficient, Every Day

Since implementing SysAid, Polar Beverages has seen measurable improvements across key areas of IT performance. The impact has been both immediate and significant.
Automation and structured workflows now save the IT team approximately 5 hours every day, allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives instead of repetitive manual tasks. Overall efficiency has jumped by 40%, thanks to faster triaging, clearer workflows, and better asset visibility.
Meanwhile, user behavior is shifting too. Adoption of the self-service portal has quadrupled, jumping from under 5% to 20% of all ticket submissions. That means fewer email requests, less back-and-forth, and a more streamlined experience for both users and the IT team.

Tracking Every Step with Ticket History

Accountability and visibility are two of the biggest challenges in IT support, and two of the areas where SysAid made an immediate impact at Polar Beverages. With ticket history tracking built into the platform, every step, change, and update is automatically logged. That’s been a huge help when tickets move between hands or when questions arise about who did what and when.

This built-in transparency has made it easier to resolve internal disputes, and given the IT team confidence that nothing falls through the cracks.

Bringing Order to Change Management

At Polar Beverages, change requests used to be ad hoc, often just hallway conversations or vague tickets with no real structure. There was no consistent way to log, track, or follow up on changes, which led to confusion and inefficiencies.
SysAid changed that. What began as a nice-to-have feature quickly became a core part of the team’s workflow. With a dedicated space for change management, the IT team could introduce structure, set clearer expectations, and ensure that every change request was properly recorded and addressed.

User Satisfaction: A Shift in Perception

Before SysAid, the perception of IT within Polar Beverages was not ideal. Tickets were frequently lost, there were no due dates, and users often felt like their requests fell into a black hole. Now, thanks to structured workflows, better automation, and increased transparency, user satisfaction has drastically improved.
The shift to a self-service portal has also played a role in improving satisfaction. Guided ticket submissions ensure users provide all necessary details, reducing back-and-forth and getting issues resolved faster. As a result, approximately ⅔ of users now report greater satisfaction with IT services compared to the previous system.

Looking Ahead: Scaling Smart with SysAid

The success of SysAid within Polar’s IT department has sparked interest across the company. Other teams are already exploring how they might benefit from similar workflows and automation. As Polar continues to strengthen its IT foundation, the team is excited about the possibility of extending SysAid’s value to other departments.
With growing confidence in the platform and a clear understanding of its impact, Polar is well-positioned to scale thoughtfully, bringing the same structure, efficiency, and visibility to more areas of the business.