Univar USA gets great results from early tests of DB2 9 for z/OS.

Univar USA is the leading chemical distributor in the United States, providing more industrial chemical products and related services than any other company in the marketplace. The Univar distribution network, with locations coast to coast, helps guarantee fast, reliable service to customers. The parent company, Univar N.V., is listed on the Euronext Stock Exchange with a registered office in Rotterdam. Univar also operates in Canada and 18 European countries.

Overview
Univar USA
Redmond, Washington
www.univarusa.com
Industries
• Chemical Distribution
• Waste Management
• Value Added Services
Products
Testing Environment
(part of Early Support Program):
• IBM DB2 9 for z/OS
• IBM DB2 9 Developer Workbench
for z/OS
Production Environment:
• IBM DB2, Version 8 for
• IBM DB2 tools

Challenge
Univar USA is growing rapidly and is dependent on accurate and easily accessible information to run its expanding chemical distribution network. To keep up with the growth, Univar needed a data server that could grow with the company and help it access accurate information immediately while providing the highest quality of service.

Solution
To improve the capabilities and performance of its core applications, Univar USA migrated applications that had been running on Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) to IBM DB2® for z/OS®, Version 8, with IBM DB2 tools for enhanced performance, running on a System z™ mainframe. With the IBM hardware, operating system, data server and tools tightly coupled, Univar has seen a dramatic improvement in the capabilities and performance of its applications and a substantial return on investment (ROI) while providing high quality of service (QOS).

With those positive results, Univar USA agreed to participate in IBM’s Early Support Program (ESP) for DB2 9 for z/OS. The new data server is due to be introduced into the marketplace during 2007. As a participant in the ESP, Univar USA has been testing DB2 9 since June 2006.

Benefits
The tests revealed continued extremely high QOS and even more striking results in the ability of DB2 9 to compress data than that seen in Version 8. The HW compression allows the data server to store more data in less space, with corresponding improvements in performance and significant cost savings. Univar’s tests of DB2 9 for z/OS revealed up to a 75 percent savings in space. Along with the striking compression results, Univar tests found a corresponding boost in performance and the potential for significant savings. Beyond these operational improvements, Univar USA is particularly interested in the functional enhancements that DB2 9 introduces. New features extending the support for application development make DB2 9 an ideal choice for Web applications.

“We have been very pleased with the efficiencies and performance improvements that DB2, Version 8 has provided to Univar USA. DB2 9 for z/OS builds on the core strengths of Version 8 in the areas of performance and availability while introducing meaningful new functionality. From traditional transaction processing to data warehousing and Web applications,DB2 9 for z/OS promises to be an exciting release.”
—Kevin Campbell, Univar USA