Johannesburg, 05 Jul 2004
Agricultural services group, Afgri, has kicked off a R4.5 million project with Datacentrix, IT infrastructure and solutions provider, to convert its existing mainframe to a Microsoft platform.
Says Tommie van Schalkwyk, Information and Technology Manager at Afgri: "Our mainframe system was costly to maintain and was not providing the flexibility, which a fast growing business like Afgri requires. The key objectives of this project were to replace the existing technology with new technology that could grow with the business and that was more user friendly."
According to Van Schalkwyk, the agri services business decided to replace its ageing mainframe with a best-of-breed solution set, incorporating Microsoft Business Solutions` Great Plains, UCS Software`s ActiveRetail solution and CreditEase software by K'e Concepts as well as a number of other solutions. The software will be integrated through an integration hub using Microsoft BizTalk Server.
"We decided to standardise on the software and hardware requirements with Microsoft and HP respectively," he says. "In addition, we opted for a combination of rack-mounted and blade servers for a centralised, hosted data centre and also decided to implement a Storage Area Network (SAN). The feeling was that a best-of-breed solution would be able to provide us with the flexibility and scalability needed."
Datacentrix sourced and implemented the server and SAN hardware for the project. "Datacentrix` wide skills base was a key consideration in its selection as an Afgri technology partner. We needed a company with strong vendor relations and that had successfully undertaken this type of project previously," adds Van Schalkwyk. "Datacentrix met these requirements and its strong position in the local market cemented our decision."
Says Shawn Winterburn, account manager at Datacentrix: "The Afgri project is distinctive in terms of the size and the short timeframe given to implement the solution. Datacentrix managed not only to meet these tight deadlines for the different project phases, but also had the entire implementation up and running within the specified timeframe.
"Datacentrix` status as an HP Premier partner gave us a distinct advantage. Additionally, Datacentrix is the largest and only value added reseller with a direct contract with HP across the company`s entire range of hardware products, including the Compaq acquired products," Winterburn adds.
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