Featured success story
Business need:
Sanitation services supplier Embasa wished to replace its legacy business management and operational software with modern commercial solutions. With operational data and millions of customer records managed cost-effectively by IBM DB2 on the IBM System z platform, the company needed to find a high-performance, cost-effective way to introduce new software while continuing with the tried and trusted database solution.
Solution:
Embasa hosted SAP ERP applications for business management on Linux partitions on an IBM System z196, with their databases on IBM DB2 for z/OS.
Benefits:
By implementing the new SAP applications and consolidating to the System z196, Embasa has simplified its IT infrastructure, making significant savings on data center energy, cooling and floorspace.
Because the applications and database are connected internally within the z196 environment, Embasa has been able to eliminate external cabling, network switches and power supplies, further simplifying the system landscape, which is now easier to understand and maintain.
See how Linux on System z helps you do more with less.
Learn from success stories and recommendations from IBM clients how they have put Linux on System z (zEnterprise, z10, z9, zSeries) to work for them to lower cost and reduce energy consumption.
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Banking / Financial Services
Migration Path: From distributed Intel and SUN SPARC servers to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 running under z/VM on IBM z9 and z10 mainframes. Recovered 30 percent of datacenter floor space. Reduced power consumption by 38 percent. 20 percent return on investment (ROI) over the life of the platform. Simplified, more efficient deployment.
Banco Pastor host DB2 and SAP ERP HCM on just two dedicated IBM System z10 servers. The z10 servers also host IBM Lotus Domino and IBM Lotus Notes services in additional logical partitions.
The company successfully consolidated its environment while deploying hundreds of Linux instances to support its performance requirements. By retiring unnecessary and under-performing hardware, the company was able to double processing speeds and optimize its data center.
Besides focusing on system uptime and business continuity, Equens decided to consolidate the different platforms in its European data centers. This resulted in a centralized mainframe IT staff in Italy.
SDV runs a number of very large databases within the virtualized Linux environments. The company also relies on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to support online banking services for the Sparda Banking Group's 4.2 million customers.
By running Linux, Java and database workload alongside core banking systems on an IBM System z10, Handelsbanken benefits from a single easy-to-manage platform with rapid disaster recovery capabilities.
Vietin Bank selected an IBM System z to run a new operational risk management solution, which will enable the bank to deliver premium services to its customers.
Chemicals & Petroleum
Gruppo API consolidated numerous distributed servers running SAP and other business-critical systems to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z running on an IBM z10 Enterprise Class mainframe.
Computer services
Running multiple Linux environments on a single Enterprise Linux Server can potentially reduce TCO by up to 80 percent, compared to a traditional distributed x86 environment, and IBM Capacity Backup Upgrade enables full, rapid disaster recovery while keeping operational costs low.
BG-Phoenics run z/OS and Linux on the z196 servers, IBM AIX on Power Systems blade servers, and both Linux and Microsoft Windows on Intel-architecture blades in the same zBX. BG-Phoenics runs Lotus Domino servers for email and collaboration on Linux, hosted on z/VM on the z196 servers. Email is still highly important; using Linux makes it cost‑effective to run this service on the ultra-reliable z196 hardware with the efficiencies of virtualization on z.
The ability to run multiple virtual servers side-by-side on a single mainframe processor ensures low software costs for the solution, enabling Business Connexion to offer a powerful solution at a highly competitive price.
The IBM Enterprise Linux Server (ELS) has the potential to provide the best of both worlds for our clients – combining the traditional reliability, availability and serviceability of System z with the openness and flexibility of Linux. Consolidating on the ELS platform gives us and our clients a way to cut costs while increasing agility and contributing significantly to Green IT objectives.” - Paul Casey, Datacentre Platforms Practice Leader at Computacenter.
"With the availability of the IBM Integrated Faculty for Linux (IFL) processors, we had for the first time the opportunity to run Lotus Domino on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for IBM System z—and when we did the calculations, this turned out to be a very cost-effective option," said Müller-Ahlheim, Head of Infrastructure Technology and Databases at GaVI.
Total cost of ownership has been reduced by 30 per cent with the help of zIIP and IFL technology. System z and System Storage technologies help gkd-el to maintain a flexible yet easy-to-manage infrastructure, provision new Linux on System z application servers within minutes, and balance workload efficiently.
With one common BI solution worldwide, IBM was also able to scale down on operational support and infrastructure costs, while increasing efficiency. The cost of delivering BI throughout IBM was reduced by 70 percent. The cost savings were a result of consolidating into one centralized, scalable infrastructure.
The IBM Cognos 8 BI for Linux solution on System z enables a streamlined approach for the IBM sales force of 30,000+ to access critical business information from a single Web portal, when and where they need it. The solution scales well, is secure, provides significant cost savings and has increased the productivity of its users within IBM FMS.
Numius constructed a much simpler architecture with Cognos running on top of the WebSphere application server and the DB2 on z/OS running on IBM System z.
Numius recognized that by getting rid of multiple servers and technologies, it could construct a much simpler architecture with IBM Cognos for System z running SUSE 10 Linux on top of IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM DB2 9 on z/OS.
Transzap migrated to System z and virtualized its critical applications on Linux on System z, a platform that supports Transzap's dynamic Java and Oracle environments. "We intend to deliver a 99.9% application uptime guarantee to our customer base, thanks to the availability characteristics of System z." - Peter Flanagan, CEO of Transzap, Inc. Transzap provides its customers with software as a service, meaning that its customers rely on Transzap's IT infrastructure.
Earlier this year, Mainframe Executive had an opportunity to talk with Per Johansson, senior manager of Mainframe Global Infrastructure & Operations. Johansson leads the mainframe operations of Volvo Information Technology (Volvo IT).
Education
"The emphasis is on business intelligence, which requires high-performance infrastructure such as Linux on System z. A typical example would be finance students accessing the SAP Controlling and Profitability Analysis application." - Christine Davis, Executive in Residence at Walton College.
"The IBM System z Solution Edition for Cloud Computing eliminates the trouble and expense of buying and managing new infrastructure, making the development of small-scale solutions much more viable." - Professor Visaggio, full professor of Software Engineering at the University of Bari
Energy & Utilities
Embasa hosted SAP ERP applications for business management on Linux partitions on an IBM System z196, with their databases on IBM DB2 for z/OS.
Shikoku Electric selected the IBM System z9 Business Class server, a framework that allowed them to consolidate their server group onto a single machine, saving money and increasing operational efficiency. Logical partitions in conjunction with z/VM enable Shikoku Electric to run multiple SAP database and application servers on the z9.
“The IBM System z uses open-source Linux and virtualization technology to provide multiple copies of Lotus Notes/Domino in one machine. The reliability that the central system demonstrates is also realized in the open environment, making this an effective system structure,” - Haruo Kanetake, System Promotion Group Assistant Leader, Shikoku Electric Power Company.
Government
John R. Palmer, section head of Enterprise Hosting, Directorate of Information Management Technologies, describes how DND's creativity resulted in cost-effective 'whole-of-government' enterprise hosting.
This Independent Assessment case study looks at how a visionary, dedicated mainframe team turned an end-of-life mainframe situation around and elevated the mainframe in the eyes of the DND to true hybrid enterprise hosting.
Dundee upgraded its mainframe environment with two powerful IBM System z10 servers, and introduced the IBM XIV Storage System to replace a mixed storage environment. The new infrastructure runs a range of Linux applications and Oracle databases – supporting key systems such as social services 24x7.
To achieve a smart datacenter, Eurocontrol and IBM are consolidating part of the present server environment into a virtual hybrid datacenter based on an IBM System zEnterprise Server with Linux as operating system. The zEnterprise environment is extremely well suited to operate Linux on System z, as well as to operate Linux on Intel blades and Power blades.
Miami-Dade County’s Enterprise Technology Services Department looked at System z as a platform they could quickly, easily and cost-efficiently leverage to meet the growing BI demand across the organization, while adhering to their current budget constraints.
Searched for a replacement for proprietary software for its IBM mainframe servers that could provide greater flexibility, manageability, and utilization opportunities. Migration Path: HP–UX to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Implemented an System z9 server running z/VM and Linux. Tivoli Storage Manager, IBM Content Manager OnDemand, and IBM DB2 support data management. Custom applications on the z9 server copy digital content from original documents
“We estimate employee productivity has increased by 50 percent since the implementation of the IBM solution,” says Laila Binti Abdul Majid, Chief Assistant Director. “With the SAL (Statistics and Data Extraction Request Management System) application performing to its full potential, crucial information is available 24/7, just a few mouse clicks away. User feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Healthcare
IBM Business Partner Haddon Hill Group automates software implementation with IBM software. The virtual environment is hosted by an IBM System z10 Enterprise Class mainframe running the Linux operating system for maximum stability, efficiency and utilization of server resources.
IBM helped consolidate 140 HP Intel-architecture servers to a single IBM System z with six IFL engines. Key applications now run in SUSE Linux Enterprise virtual servers, while IBM DB2 databases run on z/OS on the same physical machine.
IBM worked with UNC to create a robust, closely governed data warehouse solution that unifies multiple data stores, making it possible to quickly and easily access data and transform it into useful information.
Industrial Products
Baldor consolidated to SAP Business Suite applications, hosted on 70 virtual machines running SUSE Novell Linux on an IBM z10 Enterprise Class server, and migrated data to the IBM System Storage DS8100 platform.
“Working with IBM, we conducted a detailed cost-benefit analysis to compare a Linux on System z solution to alternatives such as IBM Power servers or x86-architecture machines,” says Aribert Starnell, Division Manager, Production Computer Center at Endress+Hauser InfoServe. “We were very encouraged by the results. … Most importantly, we wanted to have all critical systems in the same environment to make disaster recovery simpler, faster and more reliable.”
Colacem uses IBM's latest z10 EC architecture running zVM (virtual machine) as a host operating environment that controls underlying Linux instances. SAP's enterprise suite of ERP applications (accounting, financials, etc.) have been deployed to run-the-company and its associated businesses.
Insurance
In short, the driver for Allianz was to see how it could rationalise the infrastructure as much as possible, ideally onto one box. It did so through the deployment of a new mainframe and zLinux. A move which Coles says was pretty seamless for customers but one that provided the company with "significant benefits".
Dongbu will work to streamline operations and build an integrated IT infrastructure based on IBM technology. Four IBM System z10 servers will serve as the backbone of the system, running on z/OS and Linux operating systems as well as IBM DB2 and WebSphere Application Server.
“Our cost-benefit analysis, which included hardware, software and operational costs, showed that a distributed architecture based on x86 cores would be significantly more expensive than an IFL engine – which shows that it’s definitely worth investigating the Enterprise Linux Server option even for relatively small environments.” - Tim Bennett, Project Manager, Marsh
Nationwide deployed two IBM System z™ mainframes running Linux®. The solution is a cornerstone of Nationwide's strategy of moving all new development to virtualization and J2EE as a means of "future-proofing" its IT environment. US$15 million cost savings anticipated over three years - 85-90 percent server utilization - 80 percent reduction in environmental costs - Web hosting costs lowered by 50 percent.
Media & Entertainment
With the move to the hosted IBM solution, Hoplon elected to leverage IBM’s expertise and capabilities and switched to DB2. IBM assisted Hoplon in porting its software to run smoothly under Linux on zSeries, including thorough testing. WebSphere has also become part of the total solution, supporting the billing transactions.
Retail
AutoData Norge AS runs SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for System z alongside z/VSE on an IBM zEnterprise 114. The SUSE operating system provides a lower-cost and more flexible platform for creating new web-based applications, helping AutoData to expand its offerings in an efficient manner.
Now all Hannaford's partner and supplier data, inventory controls, and payment and order processing run simultaneously on 23 separate and secure partitions on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 and z/OS on the single System z9.
The z196 was optimized from the start to handle diverse workloads beyond conventional z/OS workloads. It could handle Linux, Java, WebSphere, Cognos, and any combination of workloads, including image and video serving.
Peter Hahn then migrated their IBM DB2 database with IBM z/VSE applications to a modern DB2 on Linux on System z environment.
“Continous availability and manageability are the design principles of our IT architecture. We're proud of our ability to failover without data loss in a very short period of time. The improved availability and disaster recovery capabilities delivered by running the SAP applications on Linux for System z provide an extra layer of insurance against potentially damaging and expensive outages.” - Clifford W. Gum, SAP Technical Architect, The Home Depot
Travel and transportation
Marriott installed its first zEnterprise machine in December of 2010, but has already seen the advantages of the new platform. “We have seen absolutely no cost increases for the Linux IFLs that we run on zEnterprise, yet we’ve seen a 40 percent increase in our capacity.” - Misha Kravchenko, Vice President, Global Enterprise Mainframe Systems for Marriott International.
Wholesale Distribution & Services
Fratelli Carli, a leading producer of premium olive oil and other consumer products, choose the IBM System z10 because of its ability to integrate modern Linux systems with fast VSE 'Legacy' applications in an extremely reliable and highly secure environment.
Miami Dade - Improving Government Systems with Cognos on z - IBM Client Reference Video
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