Announcements

Many organizations have put a lid on new technology spending — choosing, instead, to get by with what they have. This isn’t always the best strategy, nor is it always necessary. Sometimes savvy technology providers like DataSeek can recommend creative alternatives that enable customers to update an aging infrastructure without breaking their budgets.

Lancer Corp., (ASE: LAN) a manufacturer of soft drink dispensing equipment, can attest to that fact. A DataSeek customer for several years, Lancer had implemented an ERP solution consisting of Baan and Oracle software and needed new technology to support the applications. When DataSeek senior sales executive Steve Millette called on the account, he learned of Lancer’s dilemma and developed a unique approach to solving the problem.

Taking a total cost of ownership point of view, DataSeek recommended a solution consisting of two RP7410 and two RP2500 servers, plus a VA7400 disk array. Dennis Moore, Lancer’s Systems and Network manager, was delighted to learn he could upgrade his servers and storage for less than it would cost to maintain the current infrastructure.

"Having outgrown our legacy software and the hardware behind it, we were at risk for unplanned downtime. The equipment that we had was about seven years old and we were starting to experience failures that normally come with running old equipment, plus the higher maintenance costs. We needed reliable, highly available systems. That we could actually save money by upgrading was great news," he said.

DataSeek worked hand in hand with HP throughout the yearlong implementation project, which was expanded to include management software from HP OpenView — specifically IT Operations, Storage Area Manager and Data Protector.

The system, in place since December 2002, has given Lancer even more than it bargained for. The company expected performance improvements but Moore says the performance is much better than anticipated.

"One Oracle report that took one hour to run on the old system now takes about 30 seconds on the new one. A second report that also took roughly an hour now runs in about 8 minutes," Moore said. "Within the ERP application itself, we had a financial posting that normally ran for about seven-and-a-half hours and now finishes in about 35 minutes. Some project cost calculation routines that were taking about four-and-ahalf hours now finish up in about 39 minutes.

"After we went live our support calls went up dramatically because end-users would tell the system to do something and it would immediately come back with a prompt. They were accustomed to waiting and so they thought it wasn’t working. We fielded a lot of those calls and said, ‘No, no, no. It really did what you told it to do.’"

The high-performance system also takes up much less physical space than the older technology it replaced. “We went from 10 cabinets down to three," Moore said.

"The 10 cabinets that we had were packed pretty full. Within the three cabinets that we now have there is plenty of room to expand. "It’s a lot easier to cool," he added with a laugh.