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Appliance computing reduces IT complexity, costs


Johannesburg, 16 Aug 2004

Plug-and-play integration of enterprise IT systems is becoming a reality with the development of appliance computing. Although still in its infancy, the technology is proving particularly useful in areas where currently configured, manual intervention and costly management are a drain on IT resources.

"Collaborative software appliances reduce integration complexity and costs," says Richard Marks, senior pre-sales consultant at Cast Iron Systems UK.

Represented in SA by Cornastone, US-based Cast Iron Systems - a pioneer in the field of application integration appliances - recently introduced a solution to high-cost applications integration: the Cast Iron Appliance Router.

"It`s a special purpose hardware device that effectively reduces application integration to a plug-and-play exercise, thereby eliminating the integration stack between the server, operating system and database," Marks adds.

"As appliance computing technology matures, the potential savings will be too great for IT departments to ignore. The move to appliance technology will indeed eliminate mundane tasks performed by IT departments, freeing up highly qualified professionals to focus on adding real value to their companies, rather than sort out what are essentially `plumbing` problems," he says.

Lufuno Nevhutalu, executive chairman at Cornastone, which specialises in the provision of middleware integration solutions to the local enterprise market, says that because integrating enterprise applications is costly and usually creates unnecessary complexity, appliance computing is the way forward.

"South African businesses and parastatals stand in line to benefit from appliance computing. It not only helps to integrate the required applications, but it also minimises information transfer errors, including maintaining accurate billing and producing sales forecasts in real-time," he says.

While many companies perform a large number of flat file transfers, they also need to communicate with numerous databases - appliance computing reduces the complexity associated with the integration between these systems.

As companies continue to buy new technology, they often reach stale-mate when it comes to its deployment. The Cast Iron Application Router easily manages this process remotely thanks to its intuitive Web interface, while the IT department is able to solve problems and ensure transactions occur in real-time.

In addition, the Cast Iron Application Router does not adversely affect or change anything from the customer or organisation`s perspective. Instead, companies can now get their databases to talk to one another quickly and easily.

"Appliance computing is a highly cost-effective business solution, with a rapid and proven return on investment (ROI). However, this cost is based on the applicable hardware configuration and market specific solution requirements," says Marks.

"Companies need to rethink the application integration process and adopt a mindset that appliances can manage all computing tasks. In conjunction with Cornastone, we are heading towards a proof of concept model that will prove that IT departments in SA no longer have to spend time selecting and configuring servers, operating systems, middleware and applications. It will simply be a matter of purchasing a collaborative software appliance and plugging it into the network," he concludes.

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Cast Iron

Cast Iron Systems is the inventor of the Application Router, and is working with a premier group of customers and inventors to build a revolutionary solution to application integration. Cast Iron`s unique products enable enterprises to drastically reduce their integration costs by offering a simple yet scalable device. Based in Mountain View, California, Cast Iron was founded in 2001 and consists of a world-class team committed to solving the costly and complex IT application integration challenges facing today`s Fortune 500 organisations. For more information, visit Cast Iron`s Web site at www.castironsys.com.

Cornastone

Cornastone Technology Holdings is a black owned company founded by two IT professionals and entrepreneurs with an extensive track record of delivering business value to stakeholders. BMI-T Forge Ahead and Black IT Forum honoured both Hamilton and Lufuno as members of Top 20 Black IT Professionals in SA in 1999. Cornastone has assembled an array of highly skilled professionals at management and technical level, with outstanding track records in sales and solutions delivery.

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