As part of its ongoing move towards obtaining a "flexible heterogeneous infrastructure of IT systems", Shoprite Checkers has invested what is believed to be more than R6m with Open Workstations and Servers (OWS), part of the Maxtec group, for the supply of Network Appliance "filers" - devices which improve a company`s storage capabilities and accelerate application performance across diverse platforms.
Commenting on the recent installation, Orlando da Silva, General Manager Group Information Services Division at Shoprite Checkers, said: "The aim of most IT installations is the obtainment of a flexible, responsible infrastructure that the Gartner Group sees as the main object of successful future installations. This infrastructure, or flexibility, enables any application package transaction, or new system, to be easily absorbed and integrated into the whole, allowing for the easy flow of coherent and consistent information across all systems. This is the fundamental reason for our decision to opt for the installation of the filers from OWS - it forms part of this drive to ensure that we continue to build a transparent and flexible IT environment across the entire enterprise."
Open Workstations and Servers (OWS) - the exclusive local distributor of the Network Appliance range of Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems - was recently acquired by the Maxtec Group, one of SA`s leading digital data storage companies, and the local distributor of IBM`s storage products.
Maxtec purchased OWS, together with the other companies of the CAD/CAM Systems Holdings group, for R40m in a cash and share swap transaction.
Da Silva said the company was looking to downsize its IT systems as part of its ongoing move to migrate from its ICL mainframe system - and to establish a "totally open systems environment".
"The Filer devices from OWS give us the storage capacity and flexibility we require - and form part of our rightsizing IT strategy," he said.
Da Silva said he believes Shoprite Checkers possesses the most open IT system in the SA retail industry. As part of the deal OWS provided Shoprite Checkers with two filer devices from Network Appliance, one of the world`s leading storage solutions companies. Both are at installed Brackenfell, Cape Town, with one of the filers installed off-site for disaster recovery purposes - "and is used for the constant mirroring of mission critical data".
While each Net Filer from Network Appliance boasts a total of 1.3 terabytes, OWS also supplied a near-line cartridge storage unit which boasts 5.7 terabytes of disk space.
The Net filers from OWS run in parallel with the retailer`s ICL mainframe system.
Network Appliance filers accelerate application performance, scale from small workgroups to large enterprise environments, and accommodate the world`s most technological diverse and demanding networks. The filers act to simplify data management in today`s diverse networks by enabling computers that run different operating systems to access the same data simultaneously.
Commenting further, da Silva said: "We are an incredibly open retailer.
We can move from Unix to NT or to HTTP - literally at the flick of a switch. Our flexibility and openness is not just at operating system level, however, as we ensure that our systems are completely open - right down to application level."
Da Silva said that after the New Year every application will be open.
"As part of this exercise we were also looking at the cost of of storage per gigabyte. In addition to this we wanted to have more inter-changeable disk units. We looked at a range of solutions to see which product, or solution, would integrate the best with our core business divisions - namely our data warehouse, our Web and web-based applications, our SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, production and our buying functions.
"Instead of having to manage disks at each server level we are now far more flexible and can re-assign disk space as and when required - and we can work across any environment, be it UNIX, NT or AIX. This," he added, "also happens transparently to the user."
Integrating OK Bazaars
One must remember, said da Silva, that Shoprite Checkers has not grown organically. It has grown by acquisition. Not so long ago Shoprite Checkers was just 30 stores. "In 1992 we bought 235 stores from Checkers and then 160 from OK Bazaars - which we integrated fully in six months. If we had not been following an open systems route - and had relied on the mainframe as our primary IT platform - we would have put ourselves under extreme financial pressure. The IT costs of taking on these additional stores would have been monumental. Indeed, it is because of our open and streamlined IT systems that we have astounded the world by totally assimilating OK Bazaars into the group within six months."
Explaining further, da Silva said Shoprite Checkers has four operational levels - buying, branch, financials and distribution. OK was brought on board on 2 November 1997 and by mid-December all buying functions had already been integrated.
By March 1998 all stores, except Hyperama, were using the same systems, with distribution being integrated by April, finance by July and, by November of the same year, all of the OK Bazaar`s IT systems for its furniture division (which reputedly boasted a turnover in the region of R1 billion) had also been integrated.
"There is, in effect, nothing left of OK Bazaars - except for some of their staff. This achievement was made possible thanks to the flexibility, openness and robustness of our IT systems. The acquisition of the Net Filers from OWS fits comfortably into our vision of remaining open and focused - and of being as flexible, from an IT perspective, as is possible," said da Silva.
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