IBM Case Study Baleno integrates collaborative capabilities into its business processes Overview The Challenge An unreliable, insecure messaging and collaboration platform failed to support business processes adequately for this growing fashion retailer Why IBM? IBM offers a security-rich, reliable and easy-to-manage messaging and collaboration platform The Solution A flexible infrastructure for e-mail, instant messaging, document management and collaborative business applications based on IBM Lotus software The Benefits Security and reliability features of the messaging platform reduce administrative overhead Integrated collaborative capabilities inform and accelerate business processes, helping to increase organizational productivity With more than 5,000 outlets spread across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Middle East, fashion retailer Baleno Holdings can truly claim to be dressed for success. Founded in 1996 in Hong Kong, Baleno has achieved rapid growth because of its ability to offer stylish clothing at an affordable price. Today, Asian pop-culture icons like Andy Lau line up to be spokespeople for the clothing company a testament both to the company s appeal to youth and to its glowing success. Faced with breakaway growth, Baleno needed to revamp its messaging and collaboration systems to support its employees worldwide. The Lotus Domino Document Manager lets us share documents throughout the organization. Plus, it helps us track changes to documents so we avoid duplicating work. Horace Lee, IT Manager, Baleno Holdings
Among the many benefits Lotus Domino software provides are server-side spam control, DNS blacklisting and other mail rules to help prevent spam and viruses. Additionally, Baleno opted for Lotus Domino WebMail software to allow the company s 2,000 Lotus users to access their e-mail via the Web. A secure and reliable communications platform is very important, Lee explains. In our fast-moving business, we can t afford the cost of lost opportunities due to missing e-mails. Baleno enjoys improved access to business-critical documents Besides its messaging and collaboration applications, Baleno chose IBM Lotus Domino Document Manager to structure its document library. Lotus Domino Document Manager supports collaborative document creation and management across groups of globally dispersed creators, contributors, reviewers and approvers helping to ensure accurate, up-to-date documents that are available where and when they are needed. The Lotus Domino Document Manager lets us share documents throughout the organization, Lee continues. Plus, it helps us track changes to documents so we avoid duplicating work. The retail fashion business is heavily dependent on the ability to collaborate effectively on documents, and the Lotus Domino Document Manager helps Baleno streamline operations across multiple departments throughout the company. We use Lotus Domino Document Manager to manage CAD files, word documents, spreadsheets, photos, drawings, reports and many other mission-critical documents, Lee explains. It provides a single repository for all of our documents, and it gives our staff the ability to share information across the enterprise. All of the documents are stored safely on one secure server, so unlike in the past, our employees don t have to waste time finding all project-related documents. Lotus Workflow allows us to define, create and manage the execution of work when we develop new software. It helps us automate our actual work process, which reduces the use of paper, improves the communication among different departments and increases efficiencies. Horace Lee, IT Manager, Baleno Holdings 3
Baleno develops advanced workflow applications Baleno used IBM Lotus Domino Designer and IBM Lotus Workflow software to develop security-rich workflow applications for access by the Lotus Notes client as well as by browsers over the Web. Lotus Domino Designer and Lotus Workflow enable Baleno to build applications that bring structure to collaborative business processes. Currently, we are developing an application that will help us streamline the workflow around our lead-generation process, Lee says. Lotus Workflow allows us to define, create and manage the execution of work when we develop new software. It helps us automate our actual work process, which reduces the use of paper, improves the communication among different departments and increases efficiencies. When asked to elaborate on how automated workflow applications benefit business operations, Lee points to the example of opening a new store. A shop opening took four weeks to complete using our previous manual processes for planning, designing, renovating and transferring merchandise to the new store, he claims. Nowadays, the workflow applications provide a structure for this procedure and better instructions for every employee to carry out. This has shortened the time it takes us to open a shop from four weeks to two weeks, which means we have more time for sales. Future development plans call for a business process portal Besides standardizing on Lotus Notes and Domino for messaging and collaboration, Baleno plans to implement a business process portal using IBM WebSphere Portal software. The Baleno portal will integrate company-wide business processes in a single place. It will present Lotus Notes and Domino capabilities and applications through an integrated set of portlets, enhancing and extended their value. The portal will integrate all of our business process functionality in one place. It will give employees a unified interface to all of our different systems, with a single sign-on, Lee explains. Employees will be able to access their e-mail and documents as well as business applications through the portal, and we will be able to implement role-based distinctions so different employees will have access to different resources based on their job functions and needs. For example, some employees will be able to access the enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems through the portal, as befit their roles. Nowadays, the workflow applications provide a structure for [the shop opening] procedure and better instructions for every employee to carry out. This has shortened the time it takes us to open a shop from four weeks to two weeks, which means we have more time for sales. Horace Lee, IT Manager, Baleno Holdings 4
Key Components Software IBM Lotus Notes IBM Lotus Domino Enterprise Server IBM Lotus Domino Document Manager IBM Lotus Workflow IBM Lotus Sametime IBM Lotus Domino WebMail IBM Lotus Domino Designer Servers IBM eserver iseries 520 server IBM eserver xseries 346 server Baleno seeks enterprise-class messaging For many years, Baleno used Microsoft Outlook and Exchange for its e-mail and messaging activities. But the company found Exchange lacking in many respects. We had a lot of problems with Exchange, explains Horace Lee, IT manager at Baleno. The Exchange server wasn t running properly. People weren t receiving e-mails. Users were getting viruses. And there seemed to be a lot of spam. In addition to the problems with its messaging infrastructure, Baleno needed more advanced collaborative tools to support its business operations. As business at Baleno continued to grow, the company required a reliable, high-performing collaboration and messaging platform to support operations. Our Exchange and Outlook infrastructure just delivered e-mail without any collaborative applications, Lee explains. We have more than ten offices spread across Asia, and we needed the means to collaborate in ways beyond what e-mail alone can provide. Plus, in our environment we needed six Exchange servers in different locations to serve our users, which proved difficult and expensive to maintain. Baleno embarked on an evaluation process in which it compared newer versions of Microsoft Exchange against products from IBM and others using a host of criteria, including infrastructure and administration requirements, security, scalability and reliability. In the end, a solution built around IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino Enterprise Server offered the security features, reliability and enterprise-class messaging and collaboration capabilities Baleno required. When we contacted IBM, they did a number of demonstrations for us, Lee explains. Then they let us test the software in our environment for a couple of months. We found the results very impressive, so we decided to go with the IBM Lotus software. Baleno experiences more reliable collaboration To revamp its collaboration and messaging functions, Baleno deployed a suite of IBM Lotus products. It selected Lotus Notes and Domino for messaging, calendaring and scheduling, and workflow applications. 2
Lotus Domino delivers efficiencies The improved reliability and security features of its Lotus Notes and Domino messaging and collaboration infrastructure have gained Baleno greater efficiencies. Liberated from constantly responding to spam and viruses, the technical staff at Baleno is free to focus on technical matters of strategic importance. Having a collaboration platform that is easy to build and manage has improved the productivity of the Baleno IT group by allowing it to focus on technical development that improves business productivity instead of merely reacting to IT nuisances. And the automated workflow applications have led to streamlined processes that result directly in more sales. For more information For more information, contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit: ibm.com/software/lotus 5
Copyright IBM Corporation 2006 IBM Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States June 2006 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, Domino, Domino Designer, eserver, iseries, Lotus, Lotus Notes, Lotus Workflow, Sametime, WebSphere and xseries are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED AS-IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IBM EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR INFRINGEMENT. References in this document to IBM products, programs or services does not imply that IBM intends to make such products, programs or services available in all countries in which IBM operates or does business. Offerings are subject to change, extension or withdrawal without notice. Any reference to an IBM program or product in this document is not intended to state or imply that only that program may be used. Any functionally equivalent program or product, that does not infringe IBM s intellectual property rights, may be used instead. It is the user s responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any non-ibm product, program or service. All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental costs and performance characteristics may vary by customer. G225-4439-00