Petrobras, Brazil`s largest derivatives fuel distributor, has implemented a Web-based ordering system that runs on Cach'e database technology from InterSystems.
Cach'e allows Petrobras to offer all the functionality of a fully-fledged e-commerce system without the system overhead it so often implies due to business logic running on the Web servers. With Cach'e all the business logic is run in the database and delivered to a slimmer Web front-end, improving the return on investment and performance.
"The decision to revamp the company Web portal was combined with a decision to acquire a Cach'e database solution due to its ability to integrate data generated in various systems throughout the supply chain," says Frederico Kotouc, IT and telecommunications distributor manager at Petrobras in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Petrobras operates in exploration, production, refining, retailing and the transportation of petroleum and its byproducts in Brazil and out. The adoption of the Web-based ordering system formed part of a greater company-wide restructure.
The new company model sees it operating in four key areas: Exploration and Production (E&P); Supply; Gas & Energy; and International. Two separate divisions provide support, including Financial and Services, across the company. The first phase of the project linked internal systems. Cach'e enabled Petrobras to collate information from the various divisions and offer resellers a single point of contact and a single view of the business of ordering fuel. The next phase of the project will make further use of Cach'e`s ability to integrate with many different data sources and enable customer credit worthiness checks.
About 60 partners, consisting of petrol stations and corporate fleet owners participated in a pilot project. This project is gradually being extended throughout Brazil and will be active countrywide by the end of the year. "Cach'e has enabled Petrobras to cut the delay between ordering and delivering fuel and fuel products by automating the previously manual process using the Internet and Cach'e`s ability to interface with multiple data input and Web-based ordering systems," says Henry Adams, country manager of InterSystems in SA.
He adds that before the Web-based system, when Petrobras customers requested a sales call, the order was logged on paper and then the delivery process was started. Now customers can place orders online, 24-hours a day.
Doing business over the Web has changed the face of application development and suddenly, to companies like Petrobras, scalability means providing excellent performance to a few users or to a few million. The ability to scale and adapt is provided through rapid application development and deployment, made all the more easy with front-end Web applications linking to business logic programmed into Cach'e.
"Because business logic is not sitting in each Web application, these applications are slimmer and can therefore be re-developed or altered far quicker to suit changing business requirements," concludes Adams.
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