Johannesburg, 06 May 2005
Wireless application service provider and mobile media company iTouch has used Sybase technology on Linux to ensure a reliable, secure and highly stable environment for the company's data server operations.
iTouch, which offers mobile device personalisation and information messaging services for corporate users and the general public, uses Linux extensively throughout the company, making it Sybase's largest Linux site in SA. An SMS engine is at the core of iTouch's mobile business.
The three services offered by iTouch include SMS alerts for a range of infotainment, such as sports results, weather reports, news headlines, stock market prices and astrological content; downloadable ringtones, cellphone graphics, messaging services and requests for once-off data in the Mobile Magic and 35050 offering; and interactive voice response (IVR) services, including DateLine, CarValueLine and ShareLine.
"24x7 availability is paramount in the mobile business, so a reliable operating system is crucial," says Shawn Fletcher, senior systems administrator at iTouch. "Before we went the Linux route, we needed to reduce data server operating costs while still increasing performance levels. Linux provides a secure and stable environment for our operations and has proven to be very quick and reliable for our purposes. It is used throughout the company and on the platform for the Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) data servers, enabling lower running costs than on a comparable Unix system."
Using Sybase open client connectivity and ASE, iTouch developed the rapid and robust SMS engine 35050, which manages loads of traffic that vary between 3 000 and 30 000 transactions an hour.
"One of the major challenges faced by the mobile market is that technology changes about every three months. Rapid development, tight turnaround times and stiff competition pressurise new innovations, so software companies need to keep re-engineering their business models and infrastructure. Sybase database technology provides the flexibility and stability required for these adaptations," says Fletcher.
In 1999 Sybase was the first company to deliver an enterprise-class relational database management system (RDBMS) on Linux and was recently voted the best RDBMS on Linux by readers on the LinuxWorld site.
"Linux has progressed from being the lesser trusted, underdog system to one that is robust, fast, secure and inexpensive - and as such, it forms a natural platform for most Sybase applications," says Rob Simpson, MD at Sybase Cape. "Sybase on Linux offers a low cost of ownership, performance, ease of use and the benefits of open technology."
Fletcher says iTouch throughput grew substantially during 2004, having reduced total cost of ownership in terms of skills and skill sets required for the day-to-day running of the database.
"Our partnership with Sybase has been critical for our business, not only for helping us implement and upgrade our systems on an ongoing basis, but also from a database perspective: a good relationship with your vendor is almost more important than the technology itself. Sybase has been considerably more than just a database vendor to iTouch," says Fletcher.
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