Published on 02-Dec-2006
Validated on 01 May 2009
"Our server infrastructure is so much simpler now. Because the System i Solution supports multiple operating systems, we were able to consolidate all of our mission-critical applications onto just one server." - James C. Skelton, Senior Vice President and CIO, Ruan
Customer:
Ruan
Industry:
Travel & Transportation
Deployment country:
United States
IBM Business Partner:
Associated Computer Systems, Ltd.
Overview
Ruan is a leading transportation and logistics company servicing customers across the United States. The company offers a broad range of complete, customized dedicated contract carriage, logistics, bulk transportation, warehousing, brokering and technology solutions.
Business need:
Ruan had been experiencing a steady stream of growth, and its current IT systems were being hard-pressed to keep up. Ruan was looking to replace its hardware with modern, state-of-the-art servers that would be easy and cost-effective for its IT staff to manage and maintain.
Solution:
Ruan engaged IBM Premier Business Partner Associated Computer Systems, Ltd. (ACS) to implement a single IBM System i5™ 570 system to absorb the entire workload of the company’s previous ten servers. The new server is configured with five logical partitions—two partitions running the IBM i5/OS® operating system and three partitions running the IBM AIX 5L™ operating system.
Benefits:
• Boosted employee productivity through improved server performance and response time, particularly for remote users
• Decreased server maintenance costs by consolidating all business applications onto a single server
• Cut management costs with a reduced server footprint
Case Study
Case Study IBM System i Solution
Consolidation onto an IBM System i5 platform helps Ruan reduce costs while increasing performance.
“Our server infrastructure is so much simpler now. Because the System i® Solution supports multiple operating systems, we were able to consolidate all of our mission-critical applications onto just one server.”
—James C. Skelton, Senior Vice President and CIO, Ruan
Ruan is a leading transportation and logistics company servicing customers across the United States. The company offers a broad range of complete, customized dedicated contract carriage, logistics, bulk transportation, warehousing, brokering and technology solutions.
Challenge
Ruan had been experiencing a steady stream of growth, and its current IT systems were being hard-pressed to keep up with the success of the organization. Previously, the organization had standardized its company database and financial systems on seven IBM RS/6000® servers running the IBM AIX® operating system. The company also relied on three IBM AS/400® servers to support its remote users. While reliable, these systems lacked the performance, capacity and flexibility the company needed to support future growth. Ruan was looking to replace its hardware with modern, state-of-the-art servers that would be easy and cost-effective for its IT staff to manage and maintain.
Solution
Ruan engaged IBM Premier Business Partner Associated Computer Systems, Ltd. (ACS) to implement a single IBM System i5™ 570 system to absorb the entire workload of the company’s previous ten servers.
The new server is configured with five logical partitions—two partitions running the IBM i5/OS® operating system and three partitions running the IBM AIX 5L™ operating system. The i5/OS operating system-based partitions support production and test environments for the company’s fleet trucking operations, and the IBM AIX operating system-based partitions act as a production and test environment for the company’s database and financial software.
Benefits
• Boosted employee productivity through improved server performance and response time, particularly for remote users
• Decreased server maintenance costs by consolidating all business applications onto a single server
• Cut management costs with a reduced server footprint
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Hardware:
System i: System i5 570
Operating system:
AIX 5L, i5/OS
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006 IBM Corporation Systems Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America 11-06 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, AIX, AIX 5L, AS/400, i5/OS, RS6000, System i and System i5 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. The information contained in this documentation is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. IBM and Associated Computer Systems, Ltd. are separate companies and each is responsible for its own products. Neither IBM nor Associated Computer Systems, Ltd. makes any warranties, express or implied, concerning the others’ products.
