IBM Case Studies Edwards drives growth, cuts costs and boosts computing power by 70 percent with SAP and IBM

Edit This Case Study Record

	Edwards drives growth, cuts costs and boosts computing power by 70 percent with SAP and IBM IBM

Edwards drives growth, cuts costs and boosts computing power by 70 percent with SAP and IBM

IBM

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Discrete Manufacturing
Use Cases	Manufacturing System Automation Predictive Maintenance
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services System Integration
Challenge	Anticipating continued growth for its flourishing global business, Edwards needed to extend its SAP environment. The company sought a flexible hosting solution with the scalability to accommodate current and future expansion, as well as rapid provisioning capabilities to support quickly changing business demands. And, with operations in 30 countries worldwide, it was critical that Edwards teamed with a hosting provider offering global resources and an extensive international reach. Read More
About Customer	Headquartered in Crawley, England, Edwards is a leading developer of innovative vacuum technologies used in manufacturing, industrial and scientific environments. The company was founded in 1919 and has more than 3,200 employees worldwide who design, manufacture and support its products. It is a 94-year-old company serving a USD 6 billion marketplace, has a turnover of USD 1 billion a year, and has recently been acquired by Atlas Copco. Read More
Solution	IBM Global Technology Services developed an IBM Cloud Managed Services and IBM Cloud Managed Services for SAP Applications hosting infrastructure designed to meet the company’s requirements. Configured for data replication between the IBM data center in Ehningen, Germany, and the IBM recovery center in Greenford, England, the solution architecture includes 25 virtual machines and offers robust disaster recovery capabilities. The Edwards scope includes both SAP and non-SAP components which are seamlessly delivered as an integrated global service. The application landscape comprises ERP, Business Warehouse, Supply Chain Management, CRM, Webshop and associated periphery systems. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Discrete Manufacturing

Use Cases

Manufacturing System Automation

Predictive Maintenance

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

System Integration

Challenge

Anticipating continued growth for its flourishing global business, Edwards needed to extend its SAP environment. The company sought a flexible hosting solution with the scalability to accommodate current and future expansion, as well as rapid provisioning capabilities to support quickly changing business demands. And, with operations in 30 countries worldwide, it was critical that Edwards teamed with a hosting provider offering global resources and an extensive international reach.

About Customer

Headquartered in Crawley, England, Edwards is a leading developer of innovative vacuum technologies used in manufacturing, industrial and scientific environments. The company was founded in 1919 and has more than 3,200 employees worldwide who design, manufacture and support its products. It is a 94-year-old company serving a USD 6 billion marketplace, has a turnover of USD 1 billion a year, and has recently been acquired by Atlas Copco.

Solution

IBM Global Technology Services developed an IBM Cloud Managed Services and IBM Cloud Managed Services for SAP Applications hosting infrastructure designed to meet the company’s requirements. Configured for data replication between the IBM data center in Ehningen, Germany, and the IBM recovery center in Greenford, England, the solution architecture includes 25 virtual machines and offers robust disaster recovery capabilities. The Edwards scope includes both SAP and non-SAP components which are seamlessly delivered as an integrated global service. The application landscape comprises ERP, Business Warehouse, Supply Chain Management, CRM, Webshop and associated periphery systems.

Impact #1	The IBM Cloud platform provides Edwards with 70 percent more computing power at a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) for its SAP hosting infrastructure.
Impact #2	It drives significant efficiency improvements, including 50 percent faster SAP Customer Relationship Management processes, 40 percent faster overnight run times for the SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) tool, 30 percent faster SAP Business Warehouse (BW) load processing and 50 percent faster SAP R/3 batch processing.
Impact #3	Most importantly, the IBM solution supports Edwards’s larger strategic vision.

Impact #1

The IBM Cloud platform provides Edwards with 70 percent more computing power at a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) for its SAP hosting infrastructure.

Impact #2

It drives significant efficiency improvements, including 50 percent faster SAP Customer Relationship Management processes, 40 percent faster overnight run times for the SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) tool, 30 percent faster SAP Business Warehouse (BW) load processing and 50 percent faster SAP R/3 batch processing.

Impact #3

Most importantly, the IBM solution supports Edwards’s larger strategic vision.

Benefit #1	70 percent more computing power
Benefit #2	50 percent faster SAP Customer Relationship Management processes
Benefit #3	40 percent faster overnight run times for the SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) tool

Benefit #1

70 percent more computing power

Benefit #2

50 percent faster SAP Customer Relationship Management processes

Benefit #3

40 percent faster overnight run times for the SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) tool

Download PDF Version

Overview

Edwards drives growth, cuts costs and boosts computing power by 70 percent with SAP and IBM

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit