Published on 11-Jan-2007
Validated on 25 Jun 2012
"Using the XML support of the DB2 9 data server, we can maintain mass data and make it available to our business-critical applications very flexibly, right on time and with extremely high quality. —Dr. Andreas Birkendorf, Team Leader, Data Logistics, DOUGLAS HOLDING AG" - —Dr. Andreas Birkendorf, Team Leader, Data Logistics, DOUGLAS HOLDING AG
Customer:
Douglas Holding AG
Industry:
Retail
Deployment country:
Germany
Solution:
Information On Demand, Leveraging Information
Overview
DOUGLAS HOLDING AG is a specialty retailer of perfumes, fashion accessories and cosmetic supplies. The group currently maintains more than 1,600 retail shops in Europe and the United States and an additional 800 perfumeries in Europe.
Business need:
Previously, staff at DOUGLAS HOLDING had gathered cash register reports by exporting the data as text files, converting them to a format that could be imported by the back-end systems and then consolidating the data. So many steps made it difficult to find the origin of inconsistency when errors occurred.
Solution:
By upgrading to an IBM DB2 9 data server, network administrators will fashion an optimized operational data storage solution that acts as a bridge between the cash register systems and the data warehouse. As the only data server to offer pureXML support, DB2 9 will be used to automatically compress and verify this information, storing sales data in both relational and XML formats.
Benefits:
• Supported improved reporting capabilities and accuracy of information by validating the pureXML data stored in the DB2 9 data server against cash register records
• Accelerated the storing of XML data by eight times over previous levels
• Encouraged time and cost savings by enabling streamlined data warehouse operations and automated manual processes
Case Study
DOUGLAS HOLDING AG accelerates sales reporting by storing pureXML data eight times faster in its IBM DB2 9 data server.
DOUGLAS HOLDING AG is a specialty retailer of perfumes, fashion accessories and cosmetic supplies. The group currently maintains more than 1,600 retail shops in Europe and the United States and an additional 800 perfumeries in Europe.
Challenge
Previously, staff at DOUGLAS HOLDING had gathered cash register reports by exporting the data as text files, converting them to a format that could be imported by the back-end systems and then consolidating the data. So many steps made it difficult to find the origin of inconsistency when errors occurred.
In a first redesign step of the process, DOUGLAS received the cash register data as XML files and stored it in an operational data store with IBM DB2® 8 for consolidating the data. Preparing to double data volumes and ease consolidation, executives at DOUGLAS HOLDING began searching for a flexible information management solution that could more easily support XML files and improve data accuracy.
Solution
By upgrading to an IBM DB2 9 data server, network administrators fashioned an optimized operational data storage solution that acts as a bridge between the cash register systems and the data warehouse. The solution mostly handles enterprise resource planning (ERP), sales and logistics records. As the only data server to offer pureXML support, DB2 9 is used to automatically compress and verify this information, storing sales data in both relational and XML formats. This XML data can then be directly accessed by other company applications or generated into sales reports without extensive conversion processes.
The XML processing is performed on data derived from 700 DOUGLAS stores in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands and the United States.
Benefits
- Supported improved reporting capabilities and accuracy of information by validating the pureXML data stored in the DB2 9 data server against cash register records
- Accelerated the storing of XML data by eight times over previous levels
- Encouraged time and cost savings by enabling streamlined data warehouse operations and automated manual processes
| DOUGLAS HOLDING AG Hagen, Germany www.douglas-holding.com |
| Industry
• Retail |
| Product
• IBM DB2 9 |
| “Using the XML support of the DB2 9 data server, we can maintain mass data and make it available to our business-critical applications very flexibly, right on time and with extremely high quality.”
—Dr. Andreas Birkendorf, Team Leader, Data Logistics, DOUGLAS HOLDING AG |
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Software:
DB2 Enterprise 9
Legal Information
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