Business needG.I.B looked to drive sales by

demonstrating its SAP® HANA™

–powered Dispo-Cockpit software

to customers. It needed an IT

partner to help deliver a

demonstration environment.

Solution

Together with Dell, G.I.B installed an

SAP HANA appliance based on Dell™

PowerEdge™ servers. It also worked

with Dell ProSupport™ to help the

project stay on schedule.

Benefits• G.I.B clients can analyse critical data

in seconds not minutes

• Business ensures SAP HANA

demonstration is ready for

key event

• Flexible support helps G.I.B meet

its business needs

• G.I.B drives SAP HANA success

globally with customer support

• Technical expertise ensures work

stays on schedule

Application areas• Application Services

• Server Solutions

• Support Services

Customers improve decision making with SAP applianceGermany-based developer of supply chain management software gives customers access to critical data in seconds through SAP HANA technology

Customer profile

Company Gesellschaft für

Information und

Bildung (G.I.B)

Industry Technology

Country Germany

Employees 60

Website www.gibmbh.de

“ With our Dell SAP HANA appliance, we’ve got data access down to 40 seconds – and we’re aiming to reduce it further. It will mean customers get business insight faster for better decision making.” Nikolaj Schmitz, IT Manager, G.I.B

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“ We would recommend Dell’s accredited SAP HANA appliance to companies because it delivers the power and stability to maximise the performance of business-critical SAP environments.” Nikolaj Schmitz, IT Manager, G.I.B

G.I.B has been an SAP software partner for more than seven years and continues to develop its solutions for companies to remain competitive in a challenging business environment.

G.I.B customers want faster access to supply chain data to help them increase efficiency and make better decisions. Because of this, G.I.B welcomed the development of SAP® HANA™, which enables businesses to analyse SAP data faster and in real time. The company saw the potential impact of SAP HANA on its market and looked to develop its G.I.B Dispo-Cockpit software to perform well in SAP HANA environments. Nikolaj Schmitz, IT Manager at Gesellschaft für Information und Bildung (G.I.B), says: “This technology would offer access to large volumes of data at much faster speeds. For the success of the business, it was critical for G.I.B Dispo-Cockpit to run on this new platform.”

Business sets challenging goal for SAP HANA developmentG.I.B wanted to develop its software for SAP HANA without delay and fixed a deadline for completing a demonstration of Dispo-Cockpit running in an SAP HANA environment. Its goal was to present the demonstration to around 300 customers at an event called G.I.B Success Days. “We didn’t want to lose any time creating an SAP HANA platform for our solution and began looking for an SAP HANA appliance,” says Schmitz.

G.I.B chooses IT partner with SAP expertise, offering great support The company soon found an accredited SAP HANA appliance when it turned to its long-standing IT partner Dell. “I knew that Dell had an SAP HANA solution, so we immediately contacted our account team,” says Schmitz. The IT Manager had confidence in Dell from the beginning because of his experience in Dell technology. Its servers and storage had supported G.I.B well for many years and the business liked the responsiveness of the support services. Importantly for Schmitz, Dell also has an alliance with SAP, which approved the SAP HANA appliance to ensure the best possible performance. What’s more, within Dell there’s a high level of expertise in SAP technology, with more than 500 SAP consultants worldwide, who are trained in designing and implementing SAP

Gesellschaft für Information und Bildung (G.I.B), based in

Siegen, Germany, is an expert in SAP. The company builds

add-ons for SAP environments and is achieving growing

success with its G.I.B Dispo-Cockpit solution, which

improves supply chain management.

Technology in practice

Services

Dell Application Services

Dell Support Services

– Dell ProSupport™ with Next Business Day Onsite Service

Hardware

Dell™ PowerEdge™ R910 server with Intel® Xeon® processors X7560

Software

SAP® HANA™

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environments. “We didn’t have any doubts about Dell delivering an SAP HANA appliance for developing our software,” says Schmitz.

But technology wasn’t the only reason that G.I.B chose Dell. “We also wanted a partner that would help us present our SAP HANA solution to customers at the G.I.B Success Days. We knew that Dell would provide us with the necessary support and customers would respond well to our association with the Dell brand,” says Schmitz.

Close working ensures G.I.B meets its requirementsBy working with Dell, Schmitz also found a solution provider with a flexible approach to G.I.B’s business needs. To meet its financial requirements, G.I.B wanted to borrow an SAP® HANA™ appliance from Dell to create the demonstration environment and look to purchase appliances once the event was over and client orders started arriving. “Because Dell works closely with its customers, I think it understands their needs well. When we spoke to Dell about testing an SAP HANA appliance there were no barriers,” says Schmitz.

Customer avoids delays with expert supportG.I.B avoided any challenges when it came to implementing SAP HANA by working with Dell Services. A Dell consultant installed the appliance, which consisted of a Dell™ PowerEdge™ R910 server with Intel® Xeon® processors, 128 gigabytes (GB) of memory and a 1.5 terabyte hard disk. Altogether, it took three days to deploy the technology and complete testing. “The work from Dell ran on time and to schedule, so we could meet our tight deadline,” says Schmitz. The Dell consultant also made time to discuss with G.I.B personnel about operating and managing SAP HANA. Schmitz says: “We came away with a great working knowledge of SAP HANA thanks to the dedication and expertise of Dell.”

To create the demonstration, G.I.B personnel configured an SAP enterprise resource management environment, complete with SAP Landscape Transformation Server for replicating data in SAP HANA. They also deployed an SAP BusinessObjects Explorer application to make the data easily searchable. Working with Dell, G.I.B upgraded the network for its Dell SAP HANA appliance to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE). Schmitz says: “We spoke to Dell because we needed to transfer very large data sets to our SAP HANA appliance. Together we decided to create a 10 Gigabit network. Within a few days, the networking kit was here and a Dell engineer installed the technology for us. We didn’t lose any time and work on our demonstration environment stayed on track.”

G.I.B wins customer support for SAP HANA expansionAs a result of its collaboration with Dell, G.I.B successfully completed its demonstration environment to show customers how much faster its Dispo-Cockpit software operates with SAP HANA. Schmitz says: “Our Dispo-Cockpit solution running on a Dell SAP HANA appliance offers customers even more value. The response of customers has been positive and we are looking for pilot customers to jointly install the solution. Dell supported us well, highlighting the close relationship we have with our technology partners.”

Customers analyse critical business data in secondsThe event will show G.I.B clients how they can optimise their logistics and stock processes more easily with faster access to supply chain data. This will be possible because of the performance increase that the Dell SAP HANA appliance gives to Dispo-Cockpit software. “In the past, a customer could expect to access a database containing two million bits of data in around three minutes,” says Schmitz. “With our Dell SAP HANA appliance, we’ve got data access down to 40 seconds – and we’re

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“ Our Dispo-Cockpit solution running on a Dell SAP HANA appliance offers customers even more value.” Nikolaj Schmitz, IT Manager, G.I.B

Availability and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visit dell.com/servicedescriptions

© July 2012 , Dell Inc. Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Intel and Intel Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. This case study is for informational purposes only. DELL MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS CASE STUDY. Reference number: 10011205

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aiming to reduce it further. It will mean customers get business insight faster for better decision making.”

G.I.B secures IT partner to drive SAP HANA success worldwideThe company aims to partner with Dell as it promotes its products running on SAP® HANA™. Schmitz is clear that Dipso-Cockpit software, powered by a Dell SAP HANA appliance offers a compelling solution to customers worldwide. “We would recommend Dell’s accredited SAP HANA appliance to companies because it delivers the power and stability to maximise the performance of business-critical SAP environments,” he says.

Technical expertise ensures quick resolution of challengesApart from performance and reliability, G.I.B also recommends Dell due to its support services – which G.I.B has worked with for a number of years. G.I.B understands the importance of support in its market and likes the fact that Dell puts just as much value on its own services. For the Dell SAP HANA appliance, G.I.B specifically chose Dell ProSupport™ with Next Business Day Onsite Service. “The great thing about Dell ProSupport is that it’s not only there for when things go wrong. You can approach its personnel for advice at any time,” says Schmitz.