Case Study: Consolidating For Growth

Mitchell International, Inc. is a leading provider of data, software and e-business solutions for the automotive collision industry. Mitchell’s clientele include automotive insurance, collision repair, medical claims and glass replacement businesses.

THE PROBLEM

Over the past several years, Mitchell has expanded rapidly. Today, they handle several million transactions with over 16,000 partners each month.

While business has been booming, however, Mitchell’s IT infrastructure has faced serious challenges in keeping pace with the company’s growth. Problems included:

* Inability to accommodate new services and delivery methods.
* A patchwork of aging servers that required multiple operating systems and staff cross training.
* Costs and environmental concerns associated with excess space and energy consumption.
* Cumbersome infrastructure requiring constant maintenance.
* Steady high operating costs not reflective of Mitchell’s fluctuating processing demands.

For John Pantarolo, Senior Director, Server Systems and Communications at Mitchell, the bottom line is: “Our servers have to be up and stay up, and they have to deliver top performance at all times.”

THE SOLUTION

thinkASG architected and implemented a server consolidation solution for Mitchell that put its performance into overdrive, while curbing costs through a much simpler IT infrastructure.

The experts at thinkASG migrated Mitchell’s entire UNIX processing system into just three IBM pSeries servers. These 18-way 590’s now run the entire business, hosting application, development, production, integration and testing environments.

“Mitchell really had no choice but to consolidate both physically and virtually if their business continued to grow at the same pace,” says Dave Henn, Senior Account Executive at thinkASG, “This set the foundation for the decision to move to the IBM Blade Center architecture, with all the benefits of virtualization.”

“What really gave thinkASG and IBM the edge was how well they supported our entire evaluation process and the depth of their knowledge and expertise,” Mr. Pontarolo explains. “thinkASG demonstrated to us how we could immediately take advantage of IBM’s virtual micro-partitioning technology – which would give us the flexibility and ease of management we were seeking.”

THE RESULT

Today, Mitchell’s operations are more flexible, powerful and efficient than ever before. As a result, they have cut costs, improved customer service and prepared for future growth.

Customer Service

Mitchell’s customer service offering has improved as a result of the server implementation:

* Information, once provided only in book form, is now delivered electronically.
* Clients now draw on a suite of applications that streamline the claims process.
* New applications deliver sophisticated estimation, communication and analysis of claims information.
* The new e-business portal eliminates costs and inefficiencies from the claims management process, while boosting customer satisfaction.

Economy

The new infrastructure has improved cost efficiency in several ways:

* Partitioning enables resource sharing for horsepower optimization.
* Consolidated servers eliminate redundant maintenance and employee cross-training.
* Consolidation reduces software licensing costs.
* The new system occupies ¼ of the previous space.
* The new system has significantly reduced cooling costs.

Scalability On Demand

Perhaps the biggest benefit to a growing, innovating business like Mitchell is the On Demand Operating Environment the solution has created.

“The spare processing power is all there; Mitchell simply has to turn it on as needed,” notes Mr. Henn. “With this solution, they have constant scalability, and the option of pay-as-you-go capacity – something that fits perfectly with the on demand nature of Mitchell’s business.”

Mr. Pontarolo adds, “If I have to support a new product from one of our business divisions, or scale to meet customer volume, I know I can do it, quickly and easily. I can add a CPU, I can change the partition and not affect my shrinking maintenance window.”

Partnering for the Future

“This has been a good experience for us,” says Mr. Pontarolo. “thinkASG has been very helpful and knowledgeable, and brought in the right experts at the right time. We’re now looking at how we can apply similar benefits of consolidation to our entire inventory of Intel based machines.”

Case Study: Strategy Made the Difference

Mazda North American Operations provides racing support in North America through MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS DEVELOPMENT. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Mazda North American Operations oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. thinkASG has provided Enterprise Business Solutions to Mazda for several years and has supported the Mazda Motorsports racing teams for the past 3 years.

The Problem

Mazda Motorsports fields cars in both the American Le Mans and Grand American Road Racing ROLEX GT race series, and while they have always won on the track, their computer automotive diagnostics were limited, and the team’s real-time racing strategy was informed by manual data gathering during pit stops, or by radio communication from the driver.

“While the quality of our cars and team members has always been first rate, our monitoring and racing diagnostic capabilities were really in the stone age,” said John Doonan, manager of Mazda Motorsports North America. “They were holding back our team.”

The Solution

Working with Mazda and other technology partners like Bosch Diagnostics and Motec, thinkASG architected an IT solution that enabled the Mazda team to track real-time telemtery and diagnostic information during the race, while meeting the team’s grueling performance, travel and stability requirements.

In May 2008, the Mazda SpeedSource RX8 won the Grand-Am GT race at Limerock and beat the numerous Porsches. This was the first time in 18 years that a Porsche had not won this race at Limerock.

“The great solutions that thinkASG provided us helped us manage the information to make great pit calls for the races. At the track we make split second decisions, and being able to manage and display critical information can make the difference between winning and losing. thinkASG has made a real impact in the performance of our team.”

– Sylvain Tremblay, Team Owner and Driver – Winner of the 2008 Rolex GT Race at Limrock, SpeedSource Race Engineering

“On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas racing than any other brand of vehicle.” said Rich de Michele, Senior Account Executive at thinkASG. “It is this commitment to racing that enables Mazda to compete against other car manufacturers with much larger race budgets. The Mazda SpeedSource and BK Motorsports Racing Teams utilize our solutions to gather real time race telemetry to make in-race decisions that the difference between winning and losing.”

The Result

This solution has shown immediate results: with 4 wins already this season compared to 3 last season. And the season is only half over.

“We have the same cars, the same crew: it’s the ability to develop and modify strategy in real time that has made the difference,” noted Doonan.

For example, during a recent race this summer, the decision was made on the first pit stop to skip a tire change: the system showed the tires had enough life to finish the race. In the end, the Mazda team came out ahead by nearly 20 seconds under green flag conditions.

“That decision won the race,” said Doonan.

thinkASG technology solutions have also helped the team bring its custom parts fabrication in-house, allowing greater quality control and cost savings for the division.

Looking Ahead

“Being able to manage and display critical information can be the difference between winning and losing. thinkASG made a real impact on the performance of our professional teams,” said Doonan. “They understand Motorsports, and I look forward to continuing our relationship.”

Lantronix, Inc. is a global leader of secure communication technologies that simplify remote access, management, and control of virtually any electronic device.

THE CHALLENGE

Lantronix Inc. required the partnership of a hardware firm to expand rack space, refresh several Windows servers and create a more energy efficient and robust pathway for provisioning Windows servers.

THE SOLUTION

thinkASG delivered implementation of fibre attached DS3400 SAN storage and implementation of two high powered x3950 with VMware ESX.

“By using an alternative to conventional physical servers, we were able to create an option of virtual servers that met the customer’s needs,” said Patrick Selzer, Account Executive for thinkASG .

THE RESULT

thinkASG’s successful 5 week implementation process, built on a robust, proven foundation, led to increased efficiency of the virtualization software for Lantronix Inc. and exceeded expectations in that:

* The total solution with VMware, Storage, Training and servers was less than $80k, which proved that virtualization could be accomplished within budget
* Initially, 9 servers consolidated to 2 or only 78% of the initial reduction model. Now, more servers are scheduled in the total consolidation plan that will increase this by approximately 90%

Southern California-based mortgage lender, Guild Mortgage, turned to their trusted technology partner, thinkASG, to help them select a robust business continuity solution. thinkASG is an IBM Premier Business Partner and IBM Beacon Award Winner in 2007.

thinkASG provides consulting and infrastructure services that address high-level business and technology challenges for small and midsize businesses in all industries.

THE CHALLENGE

Guild Mortgage had a need for an in depth company wide disaster recovery plan in the event of a business disaster. They relied on the business assessment of thinkASG to identify the best market offering to meet their business needs.

THE SOLUTION

The key ingredient in any business continuity solution is confidence in the provider. thinkASG engaged the IBM Global Services team to present the detailed Business Continuity portfolio. Guild Mortgage was impressed with the breadth of the IBM offerings and chose the IBM disaster recover hot site service. They signed a three-year contract and the sales cycle took less than 60 days.

THE RESULT

thinkASG and IBM delivered a solution that ensures Guild Mortgage can continue business operations in the event of an unplanned outage; safeguard company data and ensure e-mail continuity; and address data center, workplace and network recovery.

The IBM Business Continuity Solution provides Guild Mortgage with:

* Customized services for re-establishing their network following a disaster
* It helps safeguard company data continuity during disasters and unexpected business disruptions
* Provides recovery specialists to assist with the recovery process
* The IBM Recovery Center provides a broader scope of Services when compared to other competitive offerings

Case Study: High Performance ERP

From humble beginnings as a single store in Chino, California in 1989, Active Ride Shop is a business riding hard and fast. By offering great customer service and superior inventory, Active now operates 20 locations and a booming website.

THE PROBLEM

With growth comes challenge—especially from an IT standpoint.

“Our reputation for great service depends on having what that customer wants in stock, when and where they want it,” explains Todd Melinn, VP of IT and Operations at Active Ride Shop. With hundreds of brands and thousands of products, Active Ride Shop’s inventory requires careful and constant management.

That task was inhibited by IT systems that couldn’t keep up with the retailer’s growth.

“Until recently, we were opening store after store without much regard for the impact on our IT systems,” says Mr. Melinn. The company realized its future depended on a scalable ERP system that would provide visibility into inventory as well as customer information and product trends.

“With limited space and IT resources, Active Ride Shop needed reliable servers that would perform at a higher level, be more energy efficient than their existing DELL equipment and be able to scale easily to their growth demands,” says Tim Nguyen, of thinkASG.

THE SOLUTION

With store openings outpacing its IT infrastructure, Active Ride Shop decided partner with thinkASG and implement a robust, scalable ERP system that would help manage inventory, enhance customer service and provide greater insight into purchasing behavior. But what hardware would deliver that functionality reliably, while supporting and scaling to aggressive growth plans?

“We looked at DELL and HP, but thinkASG architected an IBM solution that addressed all our requirements, and presented it in a clear and compelling way,” says Mr. Melinn. “They really seemed to understand our needs.”

thinkASG implemented an ERP system based on IBM’s X-Architecture® technology with Quad-Core Intel® processors. The solution was powerful, streamlined and scalable. It also featured power-management tools to provide vital information about consumption and temperature.

THE RESULT

Active now has an ERP system powerful enough to handle all its business functions, yet flexible enough to handle future expansion projects.

The new infrastructure, “gives us the flexibility of adding more processors, memory and hardware without affecting our business applications and processes,” explains Mr. Melinn.

He also appreciates, “The ability to do server load balancing on our servers, [which] helps us maximize our server investment and in turn gives us better performance output, with less risk to the business.”

Plus, Active Ride Shop is operating a green, energy-efficient data center that reduces energy consumption and saves money.

PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE

“thinkASG has been very responsive to our needs and easy to work with,” says Mr. Melinn, “We are pleased with the results… We can scale this solution as we add stores, and not worry about any interruptions to our business.”