Servimática boosts resiliency with smarter computing from IBM

To read a Spanish version of this case study, click here.

Servimática S.A., a subsidiary of Ibermática S.A., is an IT services company that caters predominately for three banking customers – Kutxa, Caja Vital and Banco de Madrid. The organization offers outsourced IT support services as well as production and system services. Incorporated in 1996, the company has its headquarters in San Sebastian, Spain, and employs 37 people.

Servimática manages and operates the IT infrastructures for its three main banking customers from a single data processing center. To meet international regulations concerning bank data security, Servimática needed to enhance its existing business continuity and resiliency solution, or risk being unable to meet financial services customers’ demands.

The company used a continuity and resiliency service provided by IBM, based on tape backup and restore procedures that could recover systems within two days of an outage. Satisfied with the overall IBM solution, Servimática wanted to augment its existing contract to improve system restore times and to increase overall business resiliency. At the same time, the company saw an opportunity to upgrade many of its existing IT infrastructure with more reliable and stable IBM technology.

Servimática engaged IBM Global Technology Services and IBM Business Partner Open Norte to build and implement a new business resiliency plan. IBM began by installing two IBM System Storage DS8100 storage systems, one at each of the company’s data centers, which are separated by a distance of 500 miles.

The IBM System Storage disk arrays are integrated with IBM Global Mirror and IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center for Replication V3.3 software. IBM Global Mirror provides data replication over extended distances between two sites for business continuity and disaster recovery, with just a few seconds delay in transmission of data between the two sites.

IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center for Replication simplifies replication configuration for the complex environments hosted by Servimática, helping reduce replication errors between the two data centers. The software provides a simple graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring automation, managing ongoing activities and monitoring the progress of key tasks. This is combined with IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, which provides a backbone for automated workload management and monitoring. Servimática’s storage environment also includes an IBM TotalStorage 3494 Enterprise Tape Library device and five IBM TotalStorage 3590 Tape Drives.

To improve the reliability of Servimática’s server environment, IBM implemented an IBM System z9 Enterprise Class server running the IBM z/OS V1.7 operating system and, for backup, and upgraded its IBM zSeries 990 server to an IBM zEnterprise 196 (z196). The servers support core banking applications and IBM DB2 V7.2 database software.

The IBM System Storage technology provides the performance and reliability that Servimática needs to back up and store business-critical data for its customers. The IBM System z servers provide leading-edge reliability, providing consistent uptime for core banking applications and databases. The System z servers offer the perfect platform for the banks’ main applications, based on IBM Customer Information Control System (CICS) and IBM DB2 information management software.

Based on IBM System Storage and IBM System z technology, Servimática’s new server and storage infrastructure offers improved system resiliency, a benefit that can be passed onto clients, translating into greater uptime and faster recovery from disaster. Highly reliable, stable and secure IBM System z servers run the company’s banking applications, keeping sensitive client data safe at all times.

Using the Global Mirror and TotalStorage Productivity Center for Replication software, Servimática has cut system and services restore times from two days to four hours – even if all of the systems at its main data center go down. This capability has improved the client’s ability to help its customers address increasingly stringent data security regulations, such as the Basel II Accord.

Batch processing time has been cut from one day to four hours, saving more than 50 percent, and system restore time has been cut from two days to a matter of hours, typically a better than 80 percent saving. The time improvements help Servimática to meet agreed service levels with clients and boost IT department productivity, contributing to IT savings of 10 percent and overall increased profitability.

The improved resilience and reduced restore time also helps Servimática consistently and efficiently meet agreed service levels. This enhanced business performance helps ensure that the key existing clients are retained, and that new customers are attracted. With a scalable, high-performance infrastructure in place, adding new clients does not add significant new costs, helping Servimática benefit from the economies of scale and leading to improved profit margins.

By offering a single point of control for fast, effective storage management, the TotalStorage Productivity Center for Replication application simplifies control of a complex environment, saving administrative time and effort and helping Servimática maintain exceptional data and business continuity in a cost-effective manner. IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler provides real-time alerts, reports and self-healing capabilities, enabling automation of numerous workload management capabilities that were previously handled as a manual service by Servimática employees.

Designed for Data: IBM technology including IBM Global Mirror and IBM Tivoli Productivity Center for Replication software facilitates reliable continuous replication of business-critical data between the company’s two data center locations. The solution helps Servimática meet the Basel II Accord covering business continuity, security, resilience and data governance.

Tuned to the Task: IBM System z mainframe servers offer leading-edge reliability, ideal for Servimatica’s core banking applications and databases. IBM System Storage hardware enables the company to consolidate enterprise data and exploit integrated virtualization capabilities.

Managed in the Cloud: The solution allows Servimática to offer reliable, flexible hosting services to customers, carving up capacity on its IBM System z mainframe to suit business requirements. IBM Tivoli software, including IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, enables the company to benefit from automated back-up capabilities and optimize the workload across the available processing capacity.

Driving Innovation: Through enhanced performance, scalability and security, Servimática has cut internal costs and improved productivity, enabling the company to add new clients and develop business services without increasing its operational expenses.