Retail ICT solutions provider UCS Solutions muscled out UUNet to win a multi-million rand three-year project to supply satellite connectivity to listed furniture group Ellerines.
The solution involves linking Ellerines` 600 stores using Sentech`s satellite service to connect in real time with their head office.
This is aimed at improving movement and management of stock and giving the group`s companies a range of communications and collaboration tools to make the business more profitable, with better customer service.
Ellerines IT director Dennis Mauer says the satellite communications link was needed because the group recently introduced a new point-of-sale system that operated in the Java environment.
"The new system uses more bandwidth than the old 4GL system that we had running for about 14 years. This means the dial-up connections we used were not adequate."
According to a statement, Ellerine`s satellite-based network provided by UCS Solutions is not affected by lack of infrastructure in outlying areas or by the danger of cables being stolen. The remoteness of some stores means cabling infrastructure is effectively not an option. By using carefully designed synchronisation and queued communications, bandwidth usage can be optimised and costs controlled.
The core of the project is the new satellite-based network, which is managed as part of UCS Solutions` RetailNet value-added network offering. The individual stores will be connected into RetailNet through Sentech wireless satellite links (with the exception of Namibia, which will use their national fibre system, Swaziland, which uses Diginet lines, and Zambia, which will use the PalmTree satellite network).
The network backbone is redundant, with high-speed links connecting the UCS data centre with Sentech`s network, as well as to Ellerines` head office and the data centres managed by UCS Software. Ellerines` head office servers are hosted at the UCS Solutions data centre at Megawatt Park.
Each store now has an "always on" low-bandwidth link, with UCS Solutions designing the system to allow efficient synchronisation with head office, as well as value-added services such as Electronic Funds Transfer, email and electronic faxing to the stores.
There has recently been an increase in spending by retail groups as profits in the sector have surged since the decline in interest rates to 23-year lows. Many retail groups see the implementation of new IT systems as a way of extending that profitability cycle.
Yesterday Ellerines posted interim results that showed gross profits rising by 15.9% to R928.192 million for the period ended February.
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