Capespan, SA`s largest fruit exporter, has completed the R1.3 million platform switch of its financial and accounting system - Sage Enterprise Solutions` Sage Enterprise - from Informix to Oracle, the first time in the world the system has been implemented on a Windows 2000/Oracle platform.
The project was managed and implemented by PQ Tetra, PQ Africa`s specialist business management solutions division, which, as the largest Sage Enterprise Solutions partner in Africa, also supplied and implemented the Sage Enterprise system. PQ Tetra also managed the Visual Basic translation of the Capespan-specific Informix 4GL modules to Oracle.
Capespan was founded from the merger of exporting giants Unifruco and Outspan and is the fifth largest fruit exporter in the world. Its market is split across Europe (60%), North America, the Middle and Far East. The company is also responsible for 70% of all fruit exports in SA, with an export volume of 60 million to 70 million cartons this year.
"Subsequent to the merger of the companies - and two disparate software environments - one of the group`s strategies was to standardise on an operating platform, that being Oracle," says group IS manager Stef Rigotti.
"We also had to implement a consolidated financial environment, and for various reasons - including speed of deployment, existing user experience and lower expenditure - we chose Sage Enterprise (then Tetra), which was already installed at Unifruco."
Sage Enterprise was installed on an Informix Standard Engine platform (Unifruco was running on Informix at the time), so once the decision to migrate to Oracle was taken, plans were put in place to migrate the Sage Enterprise installation as well.
Capespan applications manager Johan Muller concurs: "The key reasons for the migration to Oracle was the Informix Standard Engine`s comparative lack of robustness, reliability and data integrity standards. Informix Dynamic Server would have given us the required improvements but it did not fit our standardisation approach.
"Moving to Oracle gives us simpler data access, making information more accessible with a higher degree of integrity than was previously possible. Pilot testing of Sage Enterprise on the new platform also showed significant processing speed improvements and we will be able to measure improvements accurately with the system live and put through its paces under the stresses of real-world conditions."
"Some of the improvements will also accrue from our switch to a more powerful hardware platform (in the form of an IBM NetFinity server), but the benefits of fast, reliable data access can be put down to the successful migration of Sage Enterprise to Windows 2000 and Oracle," adds group financial manager Johann Hugo.
"Credit must also go to the PQ Tetra team for completing the project on time and within budget, with few unbudgeted costs or technical delays. That`s an achievement in itself, considering this was a world-first benchmark project."
The project commenced in April and went live at the end of July. PQ Tetra is running on-site configuration and after-sales workshops for Capespan users to make sure the transition to the new platform runs as smoothly as possible.
"Now the system has gone live, we can`t take any chances that minor interface or process changes affect Capespan`s productivity," says PQ Tetra divisional manager Stephen Howe.
"The value of Sage Enterprise has always been in lowering a company`s total cost of ownership, which hinges on a successful implementation and the consistent support of Sage`s implementation partners all over the world."
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Based in Cape Town with offices throughout SA, PQ Africa`s PQ Tetra division forms part of the PQ Africa Professional Services group in the Western Cape. It is the largest certified Sage Enterprise Solutions implementation partner in Africa, with the only Sage-certified support centre for Sage resellers and clients in Africa. It also hosts the only Sage-accredited professional training centre outside the UK. PQ Tetra`s service portfolio extends to Crystal Decisions` (previously Seagate Software) business intelligence tools, Preactor`s advanced planning system software and DPS International`s routing and planning tools.
PQ Tetra services vertical markets in the electronics, telecommunications, agriculture, packaging, printing and leisure industries, among others. Its client portfolio includes some of SA`s leading corporates, including Vodacom SP, Capespan, Independent Newspapers, Bowler Metcalf, Tellumat and BP South Africa.
PQ Africa
PQ Africa was formed as a result of the merger of Persetel Holdings and Q Data. Comparex Holdings Limited has a 50% minus one share interest in PQ Africa. The black empowerment group NITAC (the National IT Acquisition Consortium), led by Real Africa Holdings Limited, holds a controlling interest of 50% plus one share in PQ Africa.
PQ Africa is SA`s leading provider of competitive, innovative and flexible business solutions based on information and communications technology. These comprehensive business solutions include systems integration, consulting, package implementation, software development, outsourcing, hardware, software, peripherals, voice, video and data communication systems, customer relationship management solutions and networking equipment and services. Internet solutions include the development and deployment of electronic commerce and electronic data interchange-based solutions and digital authentication.
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