Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) today announced that German municipal transport operator Stuttgarter Strassenbahnen AG (SSB) has successfully implemented Unicenter to improve services and reduce the costs of running its leading-edge enterprise IT environment.
SSB selected Unicenter after evaluating management products from IBM/Tivoli and BMC because of its more extensive functionality and greater cost-effectiveness.
"CA`s Unicenter provides us with the complete range of functionality we need - from job scheduling to help desk - in a highly integrated manner," Herbert Adamczyk, head of the Unicenter project at SSB. "This integration was important to both the success of our initial deployment and to the maximized productivity of our technical staff over time."
SSB`s computing environment includes 25 IBM RS/6000 systems running AIX and approximately 100 servers and 1400 desktops running Windows NT. The company`s application environment features SAP R/3 as well as several other mission-critical applications. Unicenter Network and Systems Management proactively monitors all of these diverse resources from a single console, enabling SSB technicians to rapidly respond to potential problems - thereby maximizing application availability and performance.
SSB has also deployed CA`s Unicenter ServicePlus Service Desk, which allows systems specialists to manage inquiries from customers, assign priorities, monitor problem resolution and build a knowledge base that continuously enhances the effectiveness of the company`s technical personnel. Unicenter ServicePlus Service Desk generates a variety of useful reports that help managers pinpoint chronic problems. A simple, drag-and-drop interface eases routine tasks, increases IT staff productivity and ensures end users get the rapid service they need to do their jobs.
Unicenter AutoSys Job Management provides SSB with state-of-the-art workload management for its distributed environment, automating processes in the company`s SAP R/3 system as reliably and flexibly as its previous mainframe system did for R/2.
In addition to supporting SSB`s own operations, Unicenter is being deployed by SSB`s IT services subsidiary, Stuttgarter IT-Gesellschaft (S'IT). S'IT`s mission is to develop and deploy vertical solutions for local public transport systems. Together with partner Beka ebusiness GmbH, S`IT operates the leading e-procurement marketplace for transport companies, power utilities and other municipal utilities - "beka4business." This marketplace provides simple Service Provider-style access to high-value industry resources and is hosted at SSB`s advanced, high-availability computer center.
"As SSB so clearly demonstrates, a well-managed, efficient IT operation can both improve the effectiveness with which a company delivers its core services and enable it to branch out into new eBusiness ventures," said Peter Rasp, County Manager, CA Germany. "We are delighted to have become an integral part of SSB`s technology strategy and deliver the benefits of improved services to the users of its local transportation systems in Stuttgart and the broader constituency of its evolving eBusiness initiatives."
Share
Five hundred trains and buses and 2800 staff allow Stuttgarter Strassenbahnen AG (SSB) to keep its passengers on the move. The SSB transportation network boasts a total of 70 lines, covering a distance of 880 km. On any single working day, 500,000 people use at least one of these lines. In the year 2000, transport revenues amounted to 134 million euros. The company, founded in 1868 as the "Stuttgarter Pferde-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft" (Stuttgart Horse and Rail Company), is thus one of the largest and most modern local transport companies in Germany. The challenge for SSB is to provide better service and greater value for money than the competition. Information Technology will play an important role in achieving this goal.
Computer Associates
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) delivers The Software That Manages eBusiness. CA`s world-class solutions address all aspects of eBusiness management through industry-leading brands: Unicenter for infrastructure management, eTrust for security management, BrightStor for storage management, CleverPath for portal and business intelligence, AllFusion for application life cycle management, Advantage for data management and application development, and Jasmine for object-oriented database technology. Founded in 1976, CA serves organizations in more than 100 countries, including 99 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit http://ca.com.
Editorial contacts