iseries systems delivering technology innovations and maximum business productivity to retailers for their On Demand Business IBM _` iseries systems Retail
Highlights Helps simplify IT environments by reducing server requirements, administration requirements, and maintenance costs Designed to protect against unplanned downtime with a secure, virus-resistant environment Provides maximum flexibility, and facilitates IT cost savings to enable reinvestment in the business Retail enterprises operate in a highly competitive, rapidly changing business environment which requires easy, fast and cost-effective access to consumer data and supply chain information. Technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) have the potential to provide retailers with an unprecedented amount of valuable inventory data to help retailers make betterinformed management decisions. However, many retailers lack the IT environments necessary to process the vast amount of data generated by such systems. They also face significant information management challenges because their IT systems are often widely distributed, built from a wide range of dissimilar components, and costly to manage. To extract product and consumer insight from their data, many retail organizations have historically expanded capacity by continuing to add servers. Many retail enterprises rely on generations of legacy systems and a variety of platforms, which have created highly complex IT environments, expensive overhead and large server farms. The challenges associated with this kind of ad hoc expansion are amplified in the retail industry as a result of growth through acquisition. Retailers recognize the importance of efficiently and cost-effectively collecting, analyzing, and sharing information across the enterprise to drive revenue, reduce costs, and stay competitive. Since complex computing environments can drive up the costs of implementing, managing and maintaining strategic IT operations, retailers can gain competitive advantages by simplifying their systems and breaking down information silos. 2
The right IT solution can help retailers reduce these costs while providing a scalable, flexible, and secure platform to support advanced business applications in the future. To achieve the best total cost of ownership, IT solutions for the retail industry must meet three requirements: Simplify current IT environments through consolidation regardless of the number or diversity of servers running applications Provide a flexible environment that can adapt quickly and cost-effectively to meet rapidly changing business demands Provide a secure, virus-resistant environment to prevent unplanned downtime and the loss of critical data Flexible, standards-based platforms combined with sophisticated management software can help retail IT departments transition from complex, resource-intensive, localized environments to streamlined ones in which resources can be managed remotely and cost-effectively. To compete successfully as On Demand Businesses, retail companies need the ability to collect, analyze, and share detailed customer and product information securely across the enterprise. Designed to run thousands of the world s most popular business applications, IBM _` iseries systems can provide fast, reliable and highly secure ways to help retailers simplify their IT environments. By reducing the number of servers and associated staff required to run the business, iseries systems can help businesses save money and reinvest in growth. 3
Choose the best applications Traditionally, organizations running different applications in multiple business units used separate servers for each type of application and sometimes multiple servers to run a single application. iseries systems are ideal for businesses seeking to simplify their IT environment and therefore, reduce costs to enable investment in business growth. With an iseries system, an organization can have one of the most complete and secure integrated business solutions designed to run thousands of the world s most popular business applications. An iseries system provides faster, more reliable and highly secure ways to help simplify the IT environment by reducing the number of servers and associated staff required to help save money and reinvest in business growth. By running all of the applications that a business needs on one secure, easyto-manage system, iseries systems facilitate server consolidation, which can help eliminate complexity, enhance manageability and deliver low total cost of ownership (TCO). To help consolidate, iseries systems can run multiple operating systems and applications simultaneously. They support applications running in IBM i5/os, Microsoft Windows (via Integrated xseries Adapter [IXA] or Integrated xseries Server [IXS]), Linux, IBM AIX 5L, Java, WebSphere and Lotus Domino environments all at the same time and all on one highly reliable system. Built-in security features on iseries systems can help businesses meet regulatory requirements and safeguard critical data across all of these application environments. In addition, IBM _` iseries systems can help businesses to maintain critical customer service levels and handle growth in demand by automatically balancing application resource demands and scaling up and down to match business cycles. These IBM Virtualization Engine systems technologies give companies the freedom to run a wide variety of business applications without the costs and complexity often associated with managing multiple servers. Deploy new capabilities quickly and confidently with integrated, secure turnkey systems On demand computing requires tools to build key business applications and extend core business applications to the Web. Staying competitive means becoming agile enough to adapt to change as it occurs which is why iseries systems include a complete suite of integrated database, storage 4
and application development tools designed to help lower acquisition costs, speed deployment and further enhance manageability. Additionally, the iseries Initiative for Innovation is designed to foster the growth of new, innovative solutions for iseries customers unleashing the combined talents of IBM and IBM independent software vendors (ISVs) to help customers reach their goals and execute growth plans by accelerating the deployment of new applications and tools. iseries systems provide the key capabilities companies need to support their business applications right out of the box. Everything necessary to support a robust solution is included a comprehensive, multi-user operating system, IBM DB2 Universal Database (UDB) software, built-in security and virus resistance features, scalable online transaction processing (OLTP), systems management, networking, highperformance Java Virtual Machine (JVM) software and sophisticated, automated work management. iseries systems provide a complete contrast to other servers that are purchased in individual pieces and have to be assembled and tested at the customer location. Handle changing demands by automatically balancing application requirements The IBM _` iseries product line is equipped with a range of flexible scalability features designed to help companies meet constantly shifting business priorities. Clients in a variety of industries experience short-term spikes in processor utilization often caused by seasonality or unpredictable changes in the market. By using building block capabilities designed to facilitate costeffective growth on these systems, a company can pay for only the processing capacity required at the time of system purchase, adding blocks of processing capacity when transaction loads peak. Micro-Partitioning enables processor and storage resources to be moved from idle partitions to partitions experiencing high transaction volumes, either automatically or manually based on business needs. In addition, with Capacity on Demand features, customers can quickly respond to changing application workload demands by activating dormant processors to match the processing needs of peak transaction loads. Select from thousands of available applications With support for multiple operating systems and application environments on iseries systems, customers can choose from a vast array of industry-leading software solutions tailored to specific industries and business needs. A global network of ISVs offers an outstanding portfolio of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), business intelligence 5
(BI) and human resource management applications as well as a robust portfolio of industry-specific solutions. These applications can be quickly and easily deployed and help lower TCO by providing proven solutions tested to run on iseries systems. Rely on a tradition of total support IBM delivers outstanding support and stands behind its commitment to provide the highest possible customer satisfaction for every system sold. A vast network of distributors, resellers, ISVs, and IBM Business Partners is dedicated to the success of IBM _` iseries and its customers. Advanced maintenance and diagnostic capabilities built into every iseries system allow remote service, enabling enhanced availability and reducing management overhead. Quick access to technical information and tools is also available through the Web. In addition, IBM and IBM Business Partners go a step beyond technical support by offering business consulting, implementation and support services designed to assist organizations in maximizing the resources of their iseries system. These services can help businesses harness the uncompromising power and reliability of iseries products. Take advantage of flexible financing options IBM Global Financing provides singlesource financing for complete, multivendor IT solutions that can include hardware, software and services. By consolidating IT acquisitions into a single financing contract and single, periodic invoice, businesses can budget more effectively, manage costs more efficiently and simplify IT investment planning. Financing from IBM Global Financing can make acquiring complete solutions less expensive through competitive rates, fair market value leases, innovative offerings and special financing promotions. On demand financing offerings can allow companies to structure payment schedules to accommodate cash flow while enabling capacity adjustments to handle changes in demand. In addition, low-rate financing helps make a wide range of IBM products and services more affordable with flexible payment plans and rates that are frequently below market. 6
As retailers transform themselves into an On Demand Business, an increasingly competitive marketplace will continue to push them to extract information insights from vast data stores, share these insights across the value chain and adopt technology standards such as RFID. To accomplish these goals, companies in the retail industry must optimize their IT environments for flexibility and resiliency by using cost-effective, standards-based platforms. iseries systems can play a key role in supporting these initiatives with an integrated design which combines operating systems, middleware, databases, security and storage into one system that can be deployed quickly and is easy to manage. As the only system with this type of integrated design, all the parts of the iseries are built and tested together from end-to-end helping eliminate the seams between most layers of technology and applications. iseries systems help retailers create flexible, highly responsive IT environments that adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace with the capability to support a wide variety of industrystandard technologies. iseries systems also provide business flexibility by supporting thousands of the world s most popular business applications that run on IBM i5/os, IBM AIX 5L, Linux on POWER and Linux on Intel and Microsoft Windows 1 operating systems. By helping reduce server requirements as well as the number of people required to manage those servers iseries systems can form a solid foundation for IT simplification and cost reduction. iseries systems can also improve the sharing, integrity and management of company data through its integrated IBM DB2 Universal Database database. With IBM DB2 software on an iseries system, retailers can have a single view of data regardless of application usage or source of data. iseries systems are built to run with securely and reliably with no unscheduled outages, and so they can help companies integrate new features and hardware with minimal business disruptions. Designed to deliver technology innovations and IT simplification, iseries systems deliver maximum business productivity to retailers for their On Demand Business. 7
For more information To learn more about IBM _` iseries servers, please contact your IBM representative or visit ibm.com/eserver/iseries Copyright IBM Corporation 2005 IBM Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 Produced in the United States June 2005 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, AIX 5L, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, _`, i5/os, iseries, POWER, and xseries are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. A full list of US trademarks owned by IBM may be found at: ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. IBM hardware products are manufactured from new parts, or new and used parts. In some cases, the hardware product may not be new and may have been previously installed. Regardless, IBM warranty terms apply. References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. All statements regarding IBM s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only. The IBM homepage on the Internet can be found at ibm.com 1 via Integrated xseries Adapters and Integrated xseries Servers ISB01130-USEN-00