BMMI deploys Sun solutions to boost performance

All existing business applications within BMMI are based on Microsoft Windows Operating System. Sun's Solaris Operating System will replace all existing business applications.

Seeking server consolidation, reliability, scalability, security and performance; BMMI opted for Sun Fire servers and storage and backup solutions to provide easy access to critical information on a real-time basis, reduce system unavailability, improve the overall management of services, and reduce costs.

"We needed to build an environment that was scalable in nature to enable BMMI to grow its business seamlessly, both within Bahrain and beyond our natural borders," said Mike Kruger, CIO, BMMI. "Having built our ERP solutions on a typical three tier architecture and single instance environment, the hardware infrastructure would need to be capable of delivering and meeting our requirements. This would require a migration to a UINIX environment."

Kruger added:

"Sun's global recognition as leaders in the UNIX environment and the Sun Solaris Operating System was the natural choice to provide us with enhanced capabilities. Our prior experience with Sun and our ongoing relationship is a source of confidence for BMMI. The professionalism and expertise displayed by them during implementation was remarkable. We expect to start seeing ROI within twelve months of all systems going live."

Slated to go live before the end of the year, BMMI's deployment includes Sun Fire servers (V890, V490, V240, T2000) which will offer unmatched performance and scalability, significant power, cooling and space savings. Delivering up to three times the throughput of previous generation servers, Sun Fire servers offer the industry's most robust, secure, and popular UNIX operating system. The Sun Fire family of servers is designed to meet BMMI's most challenging network computing requirements.

"We have worked with BMMI closely to understand their business requirements, and have been successful in fulfilling them through this implementation," said Hani Esber, territory sales manager Gulf, Sun Microsystems, MENA. "We deployed a team of professionals to achieve the installation on time and according to their internal standards. All hurdles had been dealt with in the most professional manner, proving Sun's commitment to customer satisfaction. We remain committed to support BMMI in its drive towards global expansion."

BMMI have also opted for storage and back up solutions to effectively meet tiered storage needs and growing backup and archiving requirements. The solutions will help BMMI stream data-intense applications continuously at top speed, including email and databases. It will also provide modular flexibility to adapt to dynamic business requirements.

"The new infrastructure will enable BMMI to increase productivity and utilise our resources effectively, making it possible for us to offer better, competitive services to our customers," added Kruger.

The IT infrastructure project was carried out well in advance of the beginning of the SCM implementation, allowing BMMI to undertake the challenge of a new SCM system with a reliable infrastructure platform. The SCM project is currently being implemented, while the Office applications are currently in production use.

"Based on the requirements of the Oracle e-business suite, Sun was best suited to meet BMMI's criteria with the UltraSPARC Solaris product line," said Vazir Singh of AlMoayyed Computers, Sun's partners in Bahrain. "The new line of Sun servers also provided the best products for Office Windows applications. We worked closely with BMMI to carry out Storage and Backup Consolidation with Sun Storagetek SAN array. High Availability was implemented with Sun cluster software and implementation services on the Sun Solaris platform. AlMoayyed also carried out a seamless migration of the office applications to the new Sun hardware on the Microsoft Windows platform"

BMMI is a Bahrain based pan-regional, diversified trading and services group, that provides comprehensive range of import-export, warehousing and distribution services in all Gulf ports and employs around 600 people.