Johannesburg, 16 Feb 2004
Iscor has implemented an HP Superdome server and Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) storage solution with IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix. The implementation has assisted the organisation in meeting the capacity requirements for its growing SAP implementation.
According to Tobie Otto, team leader at Iscor, the need for improved hardware capabilities came to the fore during a segment of the company`s enterprise wide SAP rollout, where the SAP Sales and Distribution module was being implemented at two major plants in Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle respectively.
"We needed to do a `box` upgrade on our Vanderbijlpark hardware and decided on the HP Superdome. At the same time, we also elected to review the consolidation of our servers and disk space, this in particular was a specific issue at the Vanderbijlpark plant. For this part of the project, a 4.7TB HP EVA was selected," explains Otto.
Says Rassie Jacobs, account manager at Datacentrix: "This was the first South African implementation of an EVA with a Superdome server, HP`s largest UNIX box. The increase in performance that Iscor has seen since the rollout of the hardware and SAP Sales and Distribution module has been as successful as expected."
According to Kevin Barnard, HP UNIX and Itanium Product Manager, with the implementation of the HP Superdome technology, Iscor has created the foundation of true investment protection.
"The key factors behind our choice of technology, besides that HP is our preferred supplier of hardware from PDAs to the enterprise level hardware, were the cost and the effectiveness of the hardware," Otto continues. "Since the project implementation in January 2003, we have seen an elimination of the bottlenecks on our disk access and an improvement in response times of between 20 and 40 percent."
An added benefit of the EVA solution is the remote management feature, which enables Iscor`s technical staff situated at Vereeniging to easily manage the hardware in Vanderbijlpark via a Web interface.
"Datacentrix is one of our preferred IT partners," Otto explains. "Their status as HP`s largest partner in South Africa and consequent experience in HP projects are important factors in our relationship. Iscor`s lengthy relationship with Datacentrix was another significant motive behind their selection as implementation partner for this project."
Share