References

High-Performance Connection to System p and IBM Storage via Internet

Compass Group

The Compass Group Deutschland in Eschborn has made the realisation of particular customer requirements with individual and innovative solutions a priority. The German subsidiary of the British Compass Group PLC, one of the world’s leading companies in the catering and foodservice sector, achieves an annual turnover of around 650 million euros a year, predominantly in commercial, sports and leisure catering, in the health and social care sector and in supplying vending machines.

“We want to achieve the highest customer and guest satisfaction by doing the right things right” is an established company law and also applies figuratively to cooperation with external service providers. Therefore, when around 250 staff at the Company Group (Schweiz) needed a highperformance connection to the Eschborn IT environment in the course of the SAP Web DynPro introduction, Compass Group Deutschland turned to the FRITZ & MACZIOL team in Frankfurt. The reason was obvious: thanks to an existing close and trustworthy relationship those in charge were certain they would find the “right” solution here after consideration of all requirements and issues.

The final factor in awarding the contract was FRITZ & MACZIOL’s binding delivery promise despite a very tight time frame. Expansion of availability, optimised service and greater flexibility of centralised hardware with the option of moving performance limits spontaneously – FRITZ & MACZIOL responded to these requirements with a proposal that included a flexibly sized SAP landscape and an expandable, open concept of the operating system platform including consideration of the SAN and backup environment. The hardware part is provided by the IBM System p with p570 Power 5 as 4- Way server, p52A MES Upgrade, Hardware Management console and IBM Rack 7014-T42. The storage infrastructure comprises redundant IBM Switch Model 2005-B16 and the disk subsystems DS4800 with EXP810. Two IBM TS3310 Tape Libraries Model 3576-L5B act as a backup. In terms of software, the System p operating system AIX is used alongside Partition Load Manager with VIO. The internal processes and the individual customising are completely fulfilled within the specified timetable, so that migration to the new environment and actual operation can be effected as soon as possible. The hardware along with AIX and SAN are already prepared. As part of the proposed service FRITZ & MACZIOL is not only taking on system design, conception and sizing in the project development phase.

The scope of services also includes system set-up, integration into the existing IT landscape, adjustment of workflows and coordination with the customer’s SAP team for the set-up, to operation-ready installation and transfer with testing. Once actual operation begins the Compass Group will have an IT solution with which the connected users can access the external server via the Internet and without any tangible change in performance. Other advantages are greater flexibility, growth potential, investment protection and, above all, centralisation of the competent IT resources in Eschborn. A later consolidation of SAP and individual environments of the European companies will also be possible without further work.