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Friday, May 18, 2012
Inspiron 17R Laptop
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Popular multimedia laptop with 8GB memory and the largest hard drive available.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Dell to Acquire Make Technologies, Further Expanding Capabilities
Dell today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Make Technologies, a leading global provider of application modernization software and services that reduce the cost, risk and time required to re-engineer applications.
Companies are modernizing their applications portfolios so they can reduce legacy infrastructure operating costs. These applications run most effectively on open, standardized platforms including the cloud. With the acquisition of Make Technologies, Clerity Solutions and existing Dell Services capabilities, Dell provides end-to-end solutions from hardware through application migration services.
Make Technologies’ unique approach to the automation of application and code migration has helped IT departments significantly reduce both volume of code and associated operational costs. The company differentiates in several ways:
• Provides customers with end-to-end application portfolio transformation solutions that modernize entire portfolios of legacy applications in less time and with higher precision
• Provides automated application and code migration tools to re-architect legacy application software and data to a more modern architecture
• Reduces cost of maintaining and managing legacy applications
• Drastically reduces the amount of custom code in legacy portfolios, while protecting the legacy information and business processes of the business functions it supports
• Increases business agility through a re-engineered application that better aligns with our customers’ current and future business processes
Make Technologies was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Make Technologies has developed unique intellectual property, including TLM Enterprise Suite®, its applications migration software suite. Dell looks forward to welcoming Make Technologies’ approximately 100 employees to the Dell Services team. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction remains subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of Dell’s fiscal year.
Quotes
“The addition of Make Technologies and Clerity Solutions to Dell Services positions us to lead in the fast-growing applications modernization space,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Services. “We have the capabilities to help customers with all their modernization needs—from re-hosting and re-platforming to code re-engineering. These offerings will enable Dell to support the thousands of commercial and public sector customers looking to migrate business-critical applications to open, standards-based architectures, including the cloud.”
“We continue to build and acquire the intellectual property necessary to execute on our strategy, and enable our customers to more simply and quickly deploy solutions that meet their needs,” said Dave Johnson, senior vice president, Dell Corporate Strategy. “By implementing the technologies acquired in Clerity Solutions and Make Technologies, Dell can help customers consolidate their legacy application on industry standard infrastructure. This will simplify their operational environments, lower their infrastructure costs, and enable them to leverage the cloud.”
"The combination of Make Technologies and Dell provides the market with a single vendor solution for any modernization activity and is an exciting step in expanding growth opportunities for our core application modernization software and services," said Bill Bergen, president and CEO Make Technologies, Inc. "Together, with Dell's global reach, scale and reputation for customer support, Make's methodology and tools will become even more accessible to more customers struggling with the dilemma that surrounds legacy environments."
About Make Technologies
Make Technologies is a leading global provider of legacy modernization software and services. Founded in 1999, Make Technologies has guided organizations that maintain portfolios of legacy applications to transform and implement business-agile systems. By using our proven methodology and tools, our clients maximize their IT investments to support their customers’ demand for results, reduce costs, and increase productivity. The Make Technologies brand is a trusted name in enterprise legacy modernization, including relationships with Oracle and IBM.
About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell Services develops and delivers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in applications, business process, consulting, infrastructure and support to help customers succeed.
Companies are modernizing their applications portfolios so they can reduce legacy infrastructure operating costs. These applications run most effectively on open, standardized platforms including the cloud. With the acquisition of Make Technologies, Clerity Solutions and existing Dell Services capabilities, Dell provides end-to-end solutions from hardware through application migration services.
Make Technologies’ unique approach to the automation of application and code migration has helped IT departments significantly reduce both volume of code and associated operational costs. The company differentiates in several ways:
• Provides customers with end-to-end application portfolio transformation solutions that modernize entire portfolios of legacy applications in less time and with higher precision
• Provides automated application and code migration tools to re-architect legacy application software and data to a more modern architecture
• Reduces cost of maintaining and managing legacy applications
• Drastically reduces the amount of custom code in legacy portfolios, while protecting the legacy information and business processes of the business functions it supports
• Increases business agility through a re-engineered application that better aligns with our customers’ current and future business processes
Make Technologies was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Make Technologies has developed unique intellectual property, including TLM Enterprise Suite®, its applications migration software suite. Dell looks forward to welcoming Make Technologies’ approximately 100 employees to the Dell Services team. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction remains subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of Dell’s fiscal year.
Quotes
“The addition of Make Technologies and Clerity Solutions to Dell Services positions us to lead in the fast-growing applications modernization space,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Services. “We have the capabilities to help customers with all their modernization needs—from re-hosting and re-platforming to code re-engineering. These offerings will enable Dell to support the thousands of commercial and public sector customers looking to migrate business-critical applications to open, standards-based architectures, including the cloud.”
“We continue to build and acquire the intellectual property necessary to execute on our strategy, and enable our customers to more simply and quickly deploy solutions that meet their needs,” said Dave Johnson, senior vice president, Dell Corporate Strategy. “By implementing the technologies acquired in Clerity Solutions and Make Technologies, Dell can help customers consolidate their legacy application on industry standard infrastructure. This will simplify their operational environments, lower their infrastructure costs, and enable them to leverage the cloud.”
"The combination of Make Technologies and Dell provides the market with a single vendor solution for any modernization activity and is an exciting step in expanding growth opportunities for our core application modernization software and services," said Bill Bergen, president and CEO Make Technologies, Inc. "Together, with Dell's global reach, scale and reputation for customer support, Make's methodology and tools will become even more accessible to more customers struggling with the dilemma that surrounds legacy environments."
About Make Technologies
Make Technologies is a leading global provider of legacy modernization software and services. Founded in 1999, Make Technologies has guided organizations that maintain portfolios of legacy applications to transform and implement business-agile systems. By using our proven methodology and tools, our clients maximize their IT investments to support their customers’ demand for results, reduce costs, and increase productivity. The Make Technologies brand is a trusted name in enterprise legacy modernization, including relationships with Oracle and IBM.
About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell Services develops and delivers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in applications, business process, consulting, infrastructure and support to help customers succeed.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Options IT: Changing the financial services industry with smarter computing
Options IT is a leading provider of private financial cloud services to more than 120 investment banks, broker dealers, proprietary trading firms, and traditional and alternative investment management firms across Europe, North America and Asia.
Business need:
Provide clients with a hosted market data and trade execution service that offers ultra-low latency connectivity and high throughput systems performance to enable them to act quickly on small changes in price and maximize profit.
Solution:
Options IT deployed new blade servers in its global data center locations to support flexible, scalable private cloud capabilities within its proprietary Options PIPE platform.
Benefits:
Enabled Options IT to provide a custom-built, private cloud computing model for its clients, establishing the PIPE platform as a competitive staple for financial institutions. The PIPE Private Financial Cloud makes it possible for Options IT’s clients to respond rapidly to emerging opportunities in the fast-moving global capital markets system.
Case Study
Options IT is a leading provider of private financial cloud services to more than 120 investment banks, broker dealers, proprietary trading firms, and traditional and alternative investment management firms across Europe, North America and Asia.
Empowering its clients to overcome shrinking margins
During the last several years, increased automated trading volumes and thinner spreads on international stock exchanges had been driving transaction volumes up and per-trade profit margins down for trading firms. Options IT wanted to offer its clients an optimized low-latency market data and connectivity service so they could quickly capitalize on small movements in price and improve trading profit margins.
Transforming IT architecture to offer a flexible, scalable solution
Using IBM systems technology, Options IT deployed new blade servers in its global data center locations to support private cloud capabilities. Branded as the Options PIPE Private Financial Cloud services platform, these private cloud computing capabilities can facilitate rapid strategy deployments to ensure rapid response to emerging opportunities in the fast-moving global capital market system. The PIPE platform architecture reduces management costs, lowers energy impact and increases scalability for the technology provider. PIPE clients are able to make IT costs an operational expense rather than a capital expenditure, which removes the risk associated with IT ownership, management and maintenance. Clients are able to focus on their service delivery and business objectives.
Integrating the system architecture to accommodate rapid changes in demand
To help deliver the performance, agility and cost-efficiency that clients demand, the PIPE Private Financial Cloud is based on a versatile, redundant hardware infrastructure. The environment includes embedded Ethernet and fabric switches, power supplies and cabling, and a single management console for all systems. This integrated system architecture and consolidated management interface significantly simplifies system administration.
When a client requires more capacity, Options IT can easily plug an additional compatible blade server into an existing chassis in any one of its 18 global data centers, immediately integrating the server with the existing platform. The rapid expansion of the PIPE platform enables the provider to deliver high levels of performance at very short notice.
Paul Bryant, CTO of Options IT says, “The cross-compatibility is excellent; we can run a mixture of different blades within a single chassis without any issues, and we can move workload from one blade to another... As a result, it’s possible for us to meet very precise client requirements as and when they arise, without having to embark on periodic hardware replacement projects.”
High-security, high-performance computing power
In order to deliver the required performance and responsiveness, the Options PIPE platform is built on a highly versatile hardware infrastructure leveraging IBM BladeCenter servers. These systems are accessed via high-quality, low-latency private circuits, providing both excellent performance and a high level of security.
Automating the delivery of new services
Beyond simply adding physical capacity to the PIPE platform, Options IT can also rapidly meet its clients’ changing performance needs by being able to add or remove system capacity and service diversity on-demand.
When a client requires connectivity to a new market or a new trading application through its PIPE Velocity service, Options IT is able to quickly provision the services on the PIPE platform. Velocity provides an ultra-low latency market-data, connectivity and application-hosting service for all major markets across North America, Europe and Asia.
Changing the game by providing high performance trading technology services in the private cloud
The PIPE Velocity service provides clients with a fully optimized ultra-low latency market data and application hosting service for firms executing high frequency trading strategies. Velocity, like all Options PIPE services, is delivered as a private cloud solution. So when a client sees an opportunity, Options IT can help them exploit it quickly.
“The PIPE platform helped us meet demanding deadlines for go-live of our new strategy area,” says the CTO of a U.S. hedge fund manager. “Instead of trying to build the IT infrastructure ourselves we are using a proven platform that already had the characteristics we needed - many of which would otherwise have been outside the project budget.”
Becoming an operational staple for clients seeking a competitive advantage
Options IT helps its clients take advantage of global trading opportunities that previously may have been out of reach due to lack of technology agility or resources. By leveraging a specialized, private cloud computing platform for their most demanding technology requirements, financial institutions can gain a competitive advantage through improved responsiveness and lower IT costs.
“Our partnership with IBM makes a significant contribution to our ability to deliver the levels of service that our clients need,” comments Bryant. “The flexibility and manageability provided by the IBM BladeCenter platform is very important, helping us to provide new systems rapidly and manage them efficiently.”
Designed for Data
A single management console within the systems greatly simplifies systems management, while the cross-compatibility of the solution makes it possible for Options IT to run several different blades within a single chassis or move workload between blades to meet specific clients’ needs with no issues.
Tuned to the Task
Additional capacity can be added in minutes with automated provisioning of network and processor resources.
Managed in the Cloud
The Options PIPE platform is built on a highly secure, versatile hardware infrastructure leveraging IBM BladeCenter servers. Capacity can be adjusted on demand, enabling Options IT to rapidly meet client’s fluctuating needs.
Driving Innovation
Service-level and performance-based offerings enable end-clients to focus on their service delivery and business objectives and not IT management and maintenance.
Business need:
Provide clients with a hosted market data and trade execution service that offers ultra-low latency connectivity and high throughput systems performance to enable them to act quickly on small changes in price and maximize profit.
Solution:
Options IT deployed new blade servers in its global data center locations to support flexible, scalable private cloud capabilities within its proprietary Options PIPE platform.
Benefits:
Enabled Options IT to provide a custom-built, private cloud computing model for its clients, establishing the PIPE platform as a competitive staple for financial institutions. The PIPE Private Financial Cloud makes it possible for Options IT’s clients to respond rapidly to emerging opportunities in the fast-moving global capital markets system.
Case Study
Options IT is a leading provider of private financial cloud services to more than 120 investment banks, broker dealers, proprietary trading firms, and traditional and alternative investment management firms across Europe, North America and Asia.
Empowering its clients to overcome shrinking margins
During the last several years, increased automated trading volumes and thinner spreads on international stock exchanges had been driving transaction volumes up and per-trade profit margins down for trading firms. Options IT wanted to offer its clients an optimized low-latency market data and connectivity service so they could quickly capitalize on small movements in price and improve trading profit margins.
Transforming IT architecture to offer a flexible, scalable solution
Using IBM systems technology, Options IT deployed new blade servers in its global data center locations to support private cloud capabilities. Branded as the Options PIPE Private Financial Cloud services platform, these private cloud computing capabilities can facilitate rapid strategy deployments to ensure rapid response to emerging opportunities in the fast-moving global capital market system. The PIPE platform architecture reduces management costs, lowers energy impact and increases scalability for the technology provider. PIPE clients are able to make IT costs an operational expense rather than a capital expenditure, which removes the risk associated with IT ownership, management and maintenance. Clients are able to focus on their service delivery and business objectives.
Integrating the system architecture to accommodate rapid changes in demand
To help deliver the performance, agility and cost-efficiency that clients demand, the PIPE Private Financial Cloud is based on a versatile, redundant hardware infrastructure. The environment includes embedded Ethernet and fabric switches, power supplies and cabling, and a single management console for all systems. This integrated system architecture and consolidated management interface significantly simplifies system administration.
When a client requires more capacity, Options IT can easily plug an additional compatible blade server into an existing chassis in any one of its 18 global data centers, immediately integrating the server with the existing platform. The rapid expansion of the PIPE platform enables the provider to deliver high levels of performance at very short notice.
Paul Bryant, CTO of Options IT says, “The cross-compatibility is excellent; we can run a mixture of different blades within a single chassis without any issues, and we can move workload from one blade to another... As a result, it’s possible for us to meet very precise client requirements as and when they arise, without having to embark on periodic hardware replacement projects.”
High-security, high-performance computing power
In order to deliver the required performance and responsiveness, the Options PIPE platform is built on a highly versatile hardware infrastructure leveraging IBM BladeCenter servers. These systems are accessed via high-quality, low-latency private circuits, providing both excellent performance and a high level of security.
Automating the delivery of new services
Beyond simply adding physical capacity to the PIPE platform, Options IT can also rapidly meet its clients’ changing performance needs by being able to add or remove system capacity and service diversity on-demand.
When a client requires connectivity to a new market or a new trading application through its PIPE Velocity service, Options IT is able to quickly provision the services on the PIPE platform. Velocity provides an ultra-low latency market-data, connectivity and application-hosting service for all major markets across North America, Europe and Asia.
Changing the game by providing high performance trading technology services in the private cloud
The PIPE Velocity service provides clients with a fully optimized ultra-low latency market data and application hosting service for firms executing high frequency trading strategies. Velocity, like all Options PIPE services, is delivered as a private cloud solution. So when a client sees an opportunity, Options IT can help them exploit it quickly.
“The PIPE platform helped us meet demanding deadlines for go-live of our new strategy area,” says the CTO of a U.S. hedge fund manager. “Instead of trying to build the IT infrastructure ourselves we are using a proven platform that already had the characteristics we needed - many of which would otherwise have been outside the project budget.”
Becoming an operational staple for clients seeking a competitive advantage
Options IT helps its clients take advantage of global trading opportunities that previously may have been out of reach due to lack of technology agility or resources. By leveraging a specialized, private cloud computing platform for their most demanding technology requirements, financial institutions can gain a competitive advantage through improved responsiveness and lower IT costs.
“Our partnership with IBM makes a significant contribution to our ability to deliver the levels of service that our clients need,” comments Bryant. “The flexibility and manageability provided by the IBM BladeCenter platform is very important, helping us to provide new systems rapidly and manage them efficiently.”
Designed for Data
A single management console within the systems greatly simplifies systems management, while the cross-compatibility of the solution makes it possible for Options IT to run several different blades within a single chassis or move workload between blades to meet specific clients’ needs with no issues.
Tuned to the Task
Additional capacity can be added in minutes with automated provisioning of network and processor resources.
Managed in the Cloud
The Options PIPE platform is built on a highly secure, versatile hardware infrastructure leveraging IBM BladeCenter servers. Capacity can be adjusted on demand, enabling Options IT to rapidly meet client’s fluctuating needs.
Driving Innovation
Service-level and performance-based offerings enable end-clients to focus on their service delivery and business objectives and not IT management and maintenance.
Freie Universität Berlin
Working in close collaboration with other institutions, researchers at this university used a massively improved computing environment to create a solution that enables rapid identification of certain cancers so patients can be alerted and treated earlier
Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of nine German universities successful in all three funding lines in the federal and state Excellence Initiative, thereby receiving additional funding for its institutional future development strategy. The university’s performance in the Excellence Initiative has provided funding for several new graduate schools and transdisciplinary research clusters. Freie Universität Berlin is a member of the IBM Academic Initiative.
Business need:
Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin and MATHEON, both world-class German research institutions, sought better methods for analyzing human blood proteins as a means of detecting diseases earlier than was previously possible. Their focus: cancer. Their general approach: proteomic pattern diagnostics, a relatively new method for the early detection, surveillance and monitoring of diseases through the identification of disease-specific proteomic “fingerprints”—roughly, specific, abnormal mixtures of proteins in the blood.
Solution:
By working closely with mathematicians and other collaborators, computer scientists at the university created a solution enabling scientists to analyze 12,000 patient records in real time—each comprising roughly 2.5 GB of data—at a rate approximately 250 times faster than they had before. The solution analyzes and compares samples of healthy and diseased individuals by applying statistical algorithms that help identify disease-specific features of proteome profiles. When moved to a clinical setting, doctors and their patients will get more test results and more precise diagnoses—faster.
Benefits:
-Increased the speed of analyzing patient records by 250 times -Allowed scientists to examine 12,000 2.5 GB patient records in real time -Detected and validated new “fingerprints” for bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancers—a result that, according to the university’s clinical partners, would not have been possible using current blood-testing techniques -Lent a boost to the search for earlier and less aggressive cancer therapies that have a positive impact on a patient’s quality of life and prognosis, as compared with existing treatments
.
Case Study
Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of nine German universities successful in all three funding lines in the federal and state Excellence Initiative, thereby receiving additional funding for its institutional future development strategy. The university’s performance in the Excellence Initiative has provided funding for several new graduate schools and transdisciplinary research clusters. Freie Universität Berlin is a member of the IBM Academic Initiative.
The Opportunity
Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin and MATHEON, both world-class German research institutions, sought better methods for analyzing human blood proteins as a means of detecting diseases earlier than was previously possible. Their focus: cancer. Their general approach: proteomic pattern diagnostics, a relatively new method for the early detection, surveillance and monitoring of diseases through the identification of disease-specific proteomic “fingerprints”—roughly, specific, abnormal mixtures of proteins in the blood.
What Makes It Smarter
One of the primary challenges in proteomics is dealing with the immense data sets involved in comparing and mapping proteins at a speed that will help save lives. By working closely with mathematicians and other collaborators, computer scientists at the university created a solution enabling scientists to analyze 12,000 patient records in real time—each comprising roughly 2.5 GB of data—at a rate approximately 250 times faster than they had before. The solution analyzes and compares samples of healthy and diseased individuals by applying statistical algorithms that help identify disease-specific features of proteome profiles. When moved to a clinical setting, doctors and their patients will get more test results and more precise diagnoses—faster.
Real Business Results
- Increased the speed of analyzing patient records by 250 times
- Allowed scientists to examine 12,000 2.5 GB patient records in real time
- Detected and validated new “fingerprints” for bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancers—a result that, according to the university’s clinical partners, would not have been possible using current blood-testing techniques
- Lent a boost to the search for earlier and less aggressive cancer therapies that have a positive impact on a patient’s quality of life and prognosis, as compared with existing treatments
Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of nine German universities successful in all three funding lines in the federal and state Excellence Initiative, thereby receiving additional funding for its institutional future development strategy. The university’s performance in the Excellence Initiative has provided funding for several new graduate schools and transdisciplinary research clusters. Freie Universität Berlin is a member of the IBM Academic Initiative.
Business need:
Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin and MATHEON, both world-class German research institutions, sought better methods for analyzing human blood proteins as a means of detecting diseases earlier than was previously possible. Their focus: cancer. Their general approach: proteomic pattern diagnostics, a relatively new method for the early detection, surveillance and monitoring of diseases through the identification of disease-specific proteomic “fingerprints”—roughly, specific, abnormal mixtures of proteins in the blood.
Solution:
By working closely with mathematicians and other collaborators, computer scientists at the university created a solution enabling scientists to analyze 12,000 patient records in real time—each comprising roughly 2.5 GB of data—at a rate approximately 250 times faster than they had before. The solution analyzes and compares samples of healthy and diseased individuals by applying statistical algorithms that help identify disease-specific features of proteome profiles. When moved to a clinical setting, doctors and their patients will get more test results and more precise diagnoses—faster.
Benefits:
-Increased the speed of analyzing patient records by 250 times -Allowed scientists to examine 12,000 2.5 GB patient records in real time -Detected and validated new “fingerprints” for bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancers—a result that, according to the university’s clinical partners, would not have been possible using current blood-testing techniques -Lent a boost to the search for earlier and less aggressive cancer therapies that have a positive impact on a patient’s quality of life and prognosis, as compared with existing treatments
.
Case Study
Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of nine German universities successful in all three funding lines in the federal and state Excellence Initiative, thereby receiving additional funding for its institutional future development strategy. The university’s performance in the Excellence Initiative has provided funding for several new graduate schools and transdisciplinary research clusters. Freie Universität Berlin is a member of the IBM Academic Initiative.
The Opportunity
Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin and MATHEON, both world-class German research institutions, sought better methods for analyzing human blood proteins as a means of detecting diseases earlier than was previously possible. Their focus: cancer. Their general approach: proteomic pattern diagnostics, a relatively new method for the early detection, surveillance and monitoring of diseases through the identification of disease-specific proteomic “fingerprints”—roughly, specific, abnormal mixtures of proteins in the blood.
What Makes It Smarter
One of the primary challenges in proteomics is dealing with the immense data sets involved in comparing and mapping proteins at a speed that will help save lives. By working closely with mathematicians and other collaborators, computer scientists at the university created a solution enabling scientists to analyze 12,000 patient records in real time—each comprising roughly 2.5 GB of data—at a rate approximately 250 times faster than they had before. The solution analyzes and compares samples of healthy and diseased individuals by applying statistical algorithms that help identify disease-specific features of proteome profiles. When moved to a clinical setting, doctors and their patients will get more test results and more precise diagnoses—faster.
Real Business Results
- Increased the speed of analyzing patient records by 250 times
- Allowed scientists to examine 12,000 2.5 GB patient records in real time
- Detected and validated new “fingerprints” for bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancers—a result that, according to the university’s clinical partners, would not have been possible using current blood-testing techniques
- Lent a boost to the search for earlier and less aggressive cancer therapies that have a positive impact on a patient’s quality of life and prognosis, as compared with existing treatments
NorthgateArinso builds a compact, energy-efficient and scalable solution
With smarter computing from IBM
NorthgateArinso™ (NGA) provides payroll and human resource services to global corporations. From hosted systems through to fully outsourced solutions, NGA offers a complete range of services to match each customer’s needs.
Business need:
NorthgateArinso needs to deliver the same impeccable level of service to clients regardless of underlying fluctuations in business volumes. Supporting multiple systems to meet varying customer needs with separate physical servers proved expensive to procure and support.
Solution:
Consolidated to an architecture based on IBM Power and IBM BladeCenter technologies. Data storage is provided by IBM System Storage DS8100 and DS4800, configured as a SAN and managed by IBM SAN Volume Controller. The entire infrastructure is controlled, monitored and managed using IBM Tivoli software.
Benefits:
The single shared infrastructure is easier to manage and more flexible in handling fluctuating workload, enabling NGA to adapt its IT response to fit the business need. The company can also follow a single set of governance policies, offering provable regulatory compliance.
.
Case Study
Designed for Data
The data generated by the IBM Tivoli software is written to the Tivoli Data Warehouse, and histories are analyzed by Tivoli Common Reporting for trends and service management forecasting. The information generated by Tivoli allows NorthgateArinso to report on service delivery to customers, and to help plan likely growth in capacity needs.
Tuned to the Task
Extensive server virtualization permits simultaneous operation of three operating systems, meaning NGA no longer needs dedicated systems to run high speed applications. The company can assign each customer the most appropriate platform and processor capacity for the agreed service levels and transaction workload
Managed in the Cloud
The solution enables NGA to add instances as required and treat processors, memory, network and storage as a single resource pool; masking the complexity of the underlying components.
Driving Innovation
Leveraging Capacity on Demand agreements with IBM allows NGA the headroom to expand resources by 40 percent in the event of an unexpected surge in demand.
NorthgateArinso™ (NGA) provides payroll and human resource services to global corporations. From hosted systems through to fully outsourced solutions, NGA offers a complete range of services to match each customer’s needs.
Business challenge
Much of the transaction workload is highly time-specific. Customers, not to mention their employees, expect wage calculations and bank transfers to be completed on time, every time. Peak workload varies both predictably, such as at the end of the tax year, and unpredictably, such as during periods of high seasonal demand or temporary staffing. The NGA customers expect the same impeccable level of service delivery regardless of underlying fluctuations in business volumes.
Customers have widely varying needs: some want very fast processing of tens of thousands of employee records, some want more comprehensive analysis and human resource management services. The result is a broad range of payroll and human resources applications and databases, running in the IBM AIX, IBM i and Microsoft Windows operating environments.
In the past, supporting the multiple applications, databases and operating systems would have resulted in separate physical servers and unconnected storage devices. This architecture was expensive to procure and support, and complex dependencies made it difficult to ensure that disaster recovery, backup and archive solutions would perform as expected, raising data governance issues.
Description of solution
To manage these demands, NGA has consolidated to highly integrated primary data centers in London and Brussels, each one twinned with a failover data center. Built with integrated IBM Power and IBM BladeCenter technologies, with extensive server virtualization to permit simultaneous operation of all three operating systems. Data storage is provided by IBM System Storage DS8100 and DS4800 disk arrays, configured as a SAN and managed by IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC). The entire infrastructure is controlled, monitored and managed using IBM Tivoli Systems Manager and related Tivoli software.
For example, an NGA application runs on the IBM i platform, providing very high speed payroll processing. Previously this would have typically required a standalone server running the IBM i operating system with dedicated storage. Now, NGA runs the IBM i operating system as a virtual server on a machine that also runs, simultaneously, IBM AIX. The NGA software makes use of existing processor, memory, network and storage infrastructure, which is itself included in the data center’s comprehensive data backup, archive and disaster recovery solution.
Using virtualization, NGA assigns each customer the most appropriate platform and processor capacity for the agreed service levels and transaction workload. At seasonal peaks such as Christmas, NGA has Capacity on Demand agreements with IBM that allow processing capacity to be added temporarily, by activating additional processors for defined periods. For example, in the UK the primary IBM Power 595 server has 17 POWER6 processors active out of a total of 24 installed, representing an instant 40 percent extra headroom if demand surges unexpectedly.
Similarly, NGA uses SAN Volume Controller as the gateway to the DS8100 and DS4800 devices, making the total storage capacity available to all systems regardless of application or operating system. SVC allows NGA to direct data to the best storage device for the task at hand, without having to make costly or time-consuming changes at the application level.
For example, benchmarking new user services only makes sense if during the test period they are configured for real-world running. Virtualization allows the processing capacity to be adjusted and high-performance disk to be allocated for test duration, and then released to the pool on completion.
Tivoli Monitoring provides a single view of performance, covering file systems, disk capacity limits, processor response and more. The data generated by Tivoli is written to the Tivoli Data Warehouse, and histories are analyzed by Tivoli Common Reporting for trends and service management forecasting. The information generated by Tivoli allows NGA to report on service delivery to customers, and to help plan likely growth in capacity needs.
Benefits
With shared processing and storage capacity, NGA has created an integrated platform that allows it to adapt its IT response to fit the business need. Multiple separate standalone servers, applications and databases have been replaced with a single shared infrastructure that is easier to manage and more flexible in managing very large swings in transaction workload.
Data governance policies and procedures, critical for a company handling payroll and personnel details for international corporations, can be imposed globally on a single architecture. NGA complies with Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations (commonly abbreviated as SAS 70) and ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Management System (ISMS) standards, much of which would be difficult in a fragmented environment.
David Gibson, Enterprise Systems Manager at NGA comments, “IBM Capacity on Demand gives us the ability to respond to customer needs from a single platform in a variety of ways. Trial Capacity on Demand allows us to add processors over a defined period to test our need for a larger base load configuration. On/Off Capacity on Demand allows us to add processors at short notice for smaller time periods, to weather the storms if required. Exception Capacity on Demand allows us to activate every processor in a disaster recovery scenario to ensure we are not held back by capacity issues at critical times. Capacity on Demand gives us a flexible way to adjust capacity at any level we choose, assigning the additional power to a specific application or to a range of virtual servers, ensuring we meet our service delivery commitments.
“The ability to run IBM i as a guest operating system has led to the resurgence of high-speed applications such as the one we use for payroll processing. We no longer need dedicated systems to run this application, and for some customers it offers the ideal solution. We can add instances in a very cost-effective manner, sharing processors, memory, network and storage, which makes it a very attractive proposition commercially.”
“Data governance is very high on our agenda, because sensitive Personal data requires that we follow the correct operational procedures. The shared services model in our data centers allows us to follow a single set of data governance and security policies across the infrastructure, offering greater ease of management and provable regulatory compliance.”
NorthgateArinso™ (NGA) provides payroll and human resource services to global corporations. From hosted systems through to fully outsourced solutions, NGA offers a complete range of services to match each customer’s needs.
Business need:
NorthgateArinso needs to deliver the same impeccable level of service to clients regardless of underlying fluctuations in business volumes. Supporting multiple systems to meet varying customer needs with separate physical servers proved expensive to procure and support.
Solution:
Consolidated to an architecture based on IBM Power and IBM BladeCenter technologies. Data storage is provided by IBM System Storage DS8100 and DS4800, configured as a SAN and managed by IBM SAN Volume Controller. The entire infrastructure is controlled, monitored and managed using IBM Tivoli software.
Benefits:
The single shared infrastructure is easier to manage and more flexible in handling fluctuating workload, enabling NGA to adapt its IT response to fit the business need. The company can also follow a single set of governance policies, offering provable regulatory compliance.
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Case Study
Designed for Data
The data generated by the IBM Tivoli software is written to the Tivoli Data Warehouse, and histories are analyzed by Tivoli Common Reporting for trends and service management forecasting. The information generated by Tivoli allows NorthgateArinso to report on service delivery to customers, and to help plan likely growth in capacity needs.
Tuned to the Task
Extensive server virtualization permits simultaneous operation of three operating systems, meaning NGA no longer needs dedicated systems to run high speed applications. The company can assign each customer the most appropriate platform and processor capacity for the agreed service levels and transaction workload
Managed in the Cloud
The solution enables NGA to add instances as required and treat processors, memory, network and storage as a single resource pool; masking the complexity of the underlying components.
Driving Innovation
Leveraging Capacity on Demand agreements with IBM allows NGA the headroom to expand resources by 40 percent in the event of an unexpected surge in demand.
NorthgateArinso™ (NGA) provides payroll and human resource services to global corporations. From hosted systems through to fully outsourced solutions, NGA offers a complete range of services to match each customer’s needs.
Business challenge
Much of the transaction workload is highly time-specific. Customers, not to mention their employees, expect wage calculations and bank transfers to be completed on time, every time. Peak workload varies both predictably, such as at the end of the tax year, and unpredictably, such as during periods of high seasonal demand or temporary staffing. The NGA customers expect the same impeccable level of service delivery regardless of underlying fluctuations in business volumes.
Customers have widely varying needs: some want very fast processing of tens of thousands of employee records, some want more comprehensive analysis and human resource management services. The result is a broad range of payroll and human resources applications and databases, running in the IBM AIX, IBM i and Microsoft Windows operating environments.
In the past, supporting the multiple applications, databases and operating systems would have resulted in separate physical servers and unconnected storage devices. This architecture was expensive to procure and support, and complex dependencies made it difficult to ensure that disaster recovery, backup and archive solutions would perform as expected, raising data governance issues.
Description of solution
To manage these demands, NGA has consolidated to highly integrated primary data centers in London and Brussels, each one twinned with a failover data center. Built with integrated IBM Power and IBM BladeCenter technologies, with extensive server virtualization to permit simultaneous operation of all three operating systems. Data storage is provided by IBM System Storage DS8100 and DS4800 disk arrays, configured as a SAN and managed by IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC). The entire infrastructure is controlled, monitored and managed using IBM Tivoli Systems Manager and related Tivoli software.
For example, an NGA application runs on the IBM i platform, providing very high speed payroll processing. Previously this would have typically required a standalone server running the IBM i operating system with dedicated storage. Now, NGA runs the IBM i operating system as a virtual server on a machine that also runs, simultaneously, IBM AIX. The NGA software makes use of existing processor, memory, network and storage infrastructure, which is itself included in the data center’s comprehensive data backup, archive and disaster recovery solution.
Using virtualization, NGA assigns each customer the most appropriate platform and processor capacity for the agreed service levels and transaction workload. At seasonal peaks such as Christmas, NGA has Capacity on Demand agreements with IBM that allow processing capacity to be added temporarily, by activating additional processors for defined periods. For example, in the UK the primary IBM Power 595 server has 17 POWER6 processors active out of a total of 24 installed, representing an instant 40 percent extra headroom if demand surges unexpectedly.
Similarly, NGA uses SAN Volume Controller as the gateway to the DS8100 and DS4800 devices, making the total storage capacity available to all systems regardless of application or operating system. SVC allows NGA to direct data to the best storage device for the task at hand, without having to make costly or time-consuming changes at the application level.
For example, benchmarking new user services only makes sense if during the test period they are configured for real-world running. Virtualization allows the processing capacity to be adjusted and high-performance disk to be allocated for test duration, and then released to the pool on completion.
Tivoli Monitoring provides a single view of performance, covering file systems, disk capacity limits, processor response and more. The data generated by Tivoli is written to the Tivoli Data Warehouse, and histories are analyzed by Tivoli Common Reporting for trends and service management forecasting. The information generated by Tivoli allows NGA to report on service delivery to customers, and to help plan likely growth in capacity needs.
Benefits
With shared processing and storage capacity, NGA has created an integrated platform that allows it to adapt its IT response to fit the business need. Multiple separate standalone servers, applications and databases have been replaced with a single shared infrastructure that is easier to manage and more flexible in managing very large swings in transaction workload.
Data governance policies and procedures, critical for a company handling payroll and personnel details for international corporations, can be imposed globally on a single architecture. NGA complies with Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations (commonly abbreviated as SAS 70) and ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Management System (ISMS) standards, much of which would be difficult in a fragmented environment.
David Gibson, Enterprise Systems Manager at NGA comments, “IBM Capacity on Demand gives us the ability to respond to customer needs from a single platform in a variety of ways. Trial Capacity on Demand allows us to add processors over a defined period to test our need for a larger base load configuration. On/Off Capacity on Demand allows us to add processors at short notice for smaller time periods, to weather the storms if required. Exception Capacity on Demand allows us to activate every processor in a disaster recovery scenario to ensure we are not held back by capacity issues at critical times. Capacity on Demand gives us a flexible way to adjust capacity at any level we choose, assigning the additional power to a specific application or to a range of virtual servers, ensuring we meet our service delivery commitments.
“The ability to run IBM i as a guest operating system has led to the resurgence of high-speed applications such as the one we use for payroll processing. We no longer need dedicated systems to run this application, and for some customers it offers the ideal solution. We can add instances in a very cost-effective manner, sharing processors, memory, network and storage, which makes it a very attractive proposition commercially.”
“Data governance is very high on our agenda, because sensitive Personal data requires that we follow the correct operational procedures. The shared services model in our data centers allows us to follow a single set of data governance and security policies across the infrastructure, offering greater ease of management and provable regulatory compliance.”
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