Alliance Group maximise business capabilities

29 May 2006

Alliance Group maximise business capabilities to streamline processes from farmyard to the dinner table

Alliance Group has implemented a Unisys solution to support its internal and external integration requirements across the organisation, its shareholder suppliers and its global customers. The Unisys ClearPath Libra 595 server alongside the existing ClearPath CS7201 server, and world-class RAD Enterprise Application Environment (EAE) software, will deliver enhanced service levels at reduced costs.

Alliance Group is a New Zealand farmer-owned co-operative which produces high quality meat products for international markets. On average Alliance Group processes more than 8 million lamb, sheep, cattle and deer annually.

The combined Libra 595 and EAE environment provides Alliance Group with world-class computing capabilities. The secondary ClearPath CS7201 server, which has identical EAE software, provides a highly available back up to minimise loss of productivity and help protect the integrity of Alliance Group’s business during any unplanned interruption or outage. It also helps enable the timely response to seasonal market demands as and when required.

Additionally this implementation utilises the new and innovative pay-for-use business model which enables Unisys mainframe clients to pay only for the processing power they use for each specific business purpose. This enables clients to better align IT requirements and expenses with those of their business.

“The new Libra usage-metering model suits Alliance Group’s IT workloads very well. It has allowed Alliance Group to take advantage of the full power of the hardware when required and has increased throughput by up to six times, with great benefit to the seasonal nature of our business,” said Kevin McCrone, Alliance Group IT manager. “The installation of the new machine went without a hitch and the crossover from the old platform to the new took less than fifteen minutes after which all databases and software were fully operational for its five hundred users. This was achieved by applying the disaster recovery process which was jointly developed by Alliance Group and Unisys IT personnel.”

These ClearPath technologies deliver a one hundred percent increase in business processing for Alliance Group. To further capitalise on this implementation Alliance Group plans to upgrade its business continuance solution to best-practice class, through the deployment of the Unisys Remote Database Backup technology.

“The new enterprise servers solution provided by Unisys deliver a high performance infrastructure that supports numerous business processes and functions in line with Alliance Group’s evolving business requirements,” says Mike Dooner, director programmes and alliances, Unisys Australia New Zealand.

“Unisys expertise has enabled Alliance to meet their business objectives by relocating their enterprise workload to a system that supports an innovative and cost-effective business model, without interruption to day-to-day business processing,” Dooner added.

Unisys, a trusted technology partner for Alliance Group since 1975, also provides both industry and technology consultancy services.

ENDS

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