Power7 Is Already Helping Businesses Advance
Take the IT scenario at GHY International, a family-owned Winnipeg, Manitoba business that is now using Power Systems for three operating environments (AIX, IBM i and Linux) to manage a robust international trade services and consulting business. The POWER7 systems are helping customers manage worldwide trade, such as compliance and risk management in real time, saving time and money by expediting the production of customs forms. "This is critically important in a time when we have smarter applications and the horsepower to drive them," said Nigel Fortlage, VP of IT. "IBM Power Systems have allowed us to use a cross platform server consolidation and virtualization strategy to effectively manage these new, emerging customs workloads. The ability of IBM Power servers to run multiple operating systems simultaneously is an enormous benefit to GHY, and the impact of virtualization on productivity has been astounding." Then there's Advance Auto Parts, an automotive parts dealer with 3,500 stores and over 51,000 employees. The company has deployed IBM's Smart Analytics System, which debuted with the newest Power systems, to efficiently analyze national sales and inventory data. The new system has speeded up that process 10-fold. "IBM's level of optimization addresses the growing demands of data-intensive workloads versus other competitive offerings while also helping to reduce IT costs," said Bill Robinette, director of business Intelligence, The system is making it easier to analyze data integrated from multiple databases and given the company an ability to turn that data into actionable insight. "That allows us to understand what our customers are buying at specific store locations. Data on the make and model of the cars they own can help us more effectively manage inventory to ensure the right auto parts such as batteries, headlights, and brakes are in stock," said Robinette. Obviously, 'power' means business power when it comes to IBM technology. |
