Download PDF
Achieving always-on systems for just-in-time excellence with IBM and Oracle
Technology Category
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud
Applicable Industries
- Electronics
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Manufacturing System Automation
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Getac Technology Corporation, a leading manufacturer of rugged computing solutions for extreme environments, was facing challenges with its aging IT systems. The company's Oracle solutions supported all of its processes, from the factory floor to final delivery to customers. However, if these Oracle solutions were to go offline unexpectedly, practically every business process would be forced to stop, causing severe delays. Being unable to meet delivery schedules would jeopardize customer relationships, posing a significant risk to the business. To safeguard its customer relationships, Getac wanted to ensure the smooth running of its global business. To achieve this goal, it looked to refresh the infrastructure for its mission-critical Oracle applications with a robust, reliable, and scalable solution.
About The Customer
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan, Getac Technology Corporation is a leading manufacturer of rugged computing solutions for extreme environments. The company generates annual revenues equivalent to approximately USD26.4 billion and employs 11,500 people worldwide. Through acquisition and organic growth, Getac has expanded its operations significantly in recent years. Today, the company manages a global base of manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities to serve customers around the world. To help manage its global enterprise, Getac uses an end-to-end solution based on Oracle E-Business Suite software.
The Solution
After reviewing solutions from a number of different vendors, Getac decided to implement a new platform based on high-performance IBM Power Systems servers. For its Oracle application production, development, and test environments, Getac designed a new IT infrastructure based on IBM Power 720 and IBM Power 750 servers, running the IBM AIX operating system and virtualized with IBM PowerVM software. The new platform includes a storage area network running on IBM System Storage SAN24B-4 Express fabric switches, with IBM Storwize V7000 disk systems. To ensure the resilience of critical business data, Getac selected IBM Tivoli Storage Manager software, which enables regular, automated back-ups to an IBM System Storage TS3310 Tape Library. With the specification for the new Oracle software platform in place, Getac engaged IBM Business Partner Asgard System, Inc. to help it to migrate from its existing UNIX-based Sun servers to the new solution.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
Related Case Studies.
Case Study
Remote Temperature Monitoring of Perishable Goods Saves Money
RMONI was facing temperature monitoring challenges in a cold chain business. A cold chain must be established and maintained to ensure goods have been properly refrigerated during every step of the process, making temperature monitoring a critical business function. Manual registration practice can be very costly, labor intensive and prone to mistakes.
Case Study
Cloud Solution for Energy Management Platform-Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric required a cloud solution for its energy management platform to manage high computational operations, which were essential for catering to client requirements. As the business involves storage and analysis of huge amounts of data, the company also needed a convenient and scalable storage solution to facilitate operations efficiently.
Case Study
Leveraging the IoT to Gain a Competitive Edge in International Competition
Many large manufacturers in and outside Japan are competing for larger market share in the same space, expecting a growing demand for projectors in the areas of entertainment, which requires glamor and strong visual performance as well as digital signage that can attract people’s attention. “It is becoming more and more difficult to differentiate ourselves with stand-alone hardware products,” says Kazuyuki Kitagawa, Director of Service & Support at Panasonic AVC Networks. “In order for Panasonic to grow market share and overall business, it is essential for us to develop solutions that deliver significant added value.” Panasonic believes projection failure and quality deterioration should never happen. This is what and has driven them to make their projectors IoT-enabled. More specifically, Panasonic has developed a system that collects data from projectors, visualizes detailed operational statuses, and predicts issues and address them before failure occurs. Their projectors are embedded with a variety of sensors that measure power supply, voltage, video input/ output signals, intake/exhaust air temperatures, cooling fan operations, and light bulb operating time. These sensors have been used to make the projector more intelligent, automatically suspending operation when the temperature rises excessively, and automatically switching light bulbs. Although this was a great first step, Panasonic projectors were still not equipped with any capability to send the data over a network.