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MacromatiX rings upsmart IT growth
1. IBM Systems and Technology Retail
Case Study
MacromatiX rings up
smart IT growth
With IBM BladeCenter H and System x
Whether it’s making sandwiches or selling clothes, today’s retail busi-
Overview nesses are stocked with complexity. Basic questions, such as how many
slices of bread to order or how many jeans to manufacture, can be tough
The need
to answer without data to help make good business decisions.
MacromatiX, a leading provider of
end-to-end retail management software
solutions for global retailers, needed to That’s where MacromatiX is making a difference. Founded in 1999,
improve availability and transaction MacromatiX is a leading provider of end-to-end retail management soft-
speeds for its cloud services. ware solutions for global retailers, including restaurants and convenience
The solution stores, that need help managing the many layers of their operations.
MacromatiX worked with IBM and
IBM Premier Business Partner Corus360 Making a difference in retail
to implement IBM BladeCenter® HS22 With U.S. headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, and additional operations
and HS22V servers, and IBM System x®
3650 M3 and x3550 M3 servers all with
in Australia, China and the United Kingdom, MacromatiX is delivering
intelligent Intel® Xeon® processors. robust, scalable and reliable solutions to help retailers manage their
business more effectively and intelligently with a web-based service
The benefit
called the MacromatiX Retail Operating System (ROS).
The IBM solution processes transactions
20 percent faster, increases the availabil-
ity to near 100 percent uptime and This solution is delivered by MacromatiX through a private cloud to
provides a flexible, scalable environment help customers deal with critical issues. Capabilities of the ROS include
with new virtualization capabilities. inventory control, cash management, labor scheduling, time and
attendance management, forecasting and comprehensive reporting.
“Basically we provide a set of tools to help many global retailers increase
their productivity and their bottom line,” explains Alaa Pasha, president
and chief executive officer of MacromatiX. “It helps you manage the store
and the entire enterprise.”
For example, restaurants need to know exactly how much food to order
to ensure adequate supply while minimizing spoilage. Convenience stores
need a way to account for and track the movement of cash and other
2. IBM Systems and Technology Retail
Case Study
tender types at the register. Retailers of all types need a way to manage
staff schedules and labor costs. And they also need a way to access all of
“We’re confident that with this information through a relevant and actionable reporting process.
IBM, we are investing in
“Retailers are very keen on having their store managers focus on
a reliable and innovative customer service as opposed to sitting in the back crunching numbers,
solution that we can rely looking at reports, etc.,” says Pasha. “Our tools are focused to substan-
on for the long term.” tially reduce the time required to complete back-office tasks, resulting
in increased manager’s productivity and more time focused on
customer-facing activities.”
—Alaa Pasha, president and chief executive
officer, MacromatiX
Success leads to growth challenges
The valuable insight delivered by MacromatiX over the years has been
MacromatiX hugely popular. In fact, the company started growing so rapidly that it
needed to expand its IT infrastructure to keep up with the two to three
million transactions processed on a daily basis.
“Our business grew by more than 60 percent last year,” explains Pasha.
“Supporting global retailers with thousands of stores requires the use of
reliable technology and infrastructure.”
Adding to the existing IT infrastructure was also important to help
MacromatiX provide its customers with the service levels they were
demanding. “Number one, high availability is extremely important to our
customers. The second thing is performance,” explains Pasha. “When
you’re dealing with this amount of data, it needs to perform to a very
high standard.” In other words, MacromatiX customers wanted near
real-time access to transactional data, and they needed it all the time.
A trusted partner for comprehensive solutions
Pasha says he felt IBM was the only solution provider that he could trust
to guarantee continued success.
“We were a lot more confident with the IBM brand and the IBM tech-
nology in terms of innovation,” says Pasha. “We’re confident that with
IBM, we are investing in a reliable and innovative solution that we can
rely on for the long term.”
With the help of IBM Global Services, IBM Global Financing and
IBM Premier Business Partner Corus360, MacromatiX acquired a
solution that includes five IBM System x 3650 M3 and System x3550 M3
servers featuring powerful, efficient Intel Xeon processors, as well as a
BladeCenter H chassis with 12 HS22 and HS22V blade servers.
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3. IBM Systems and Technology Retail
Case Study
Pasha says working with IBM Global Financing was ideal, with IBM pro-
Solution components viding a three-year contract that was perfectly suited to the company’s
business model. And the implementation process was a smooth one
Hardware
thanks to Atlanta-based Corus360.
● IBM BladeCenter® H chassis
● IBM BladeCenter HS22 and HS22V
● IBM System x® 3650 M3 and “Corus360 is a great partner,” says Pasha. “Everything was delivered on
x3550 M3 time and it was pretty much a turnkey solution. From my perspective it
● Intel® Xeon® processors was a great success and a good, simple implementation process.”
Software
● VMware Empowering business with virtualization
● Microsoft Windows One of the main benefits of the new solution is how it has enabled and
● Microsoft SQL Server
empowered virtualization capabilities at MacromatiX. The company runs
Services Microsoft Windows and Microsoft SQL Server and uses VMware for
● IBM Global Financing virtualization. The overall solution has led to greater agility because of
● IBM Global Services
the flexibility and scalability of virtualization, and improved performance
Business Partner with Intel Xeon processors.
● Corus360
“It all goes back to doing things faster, scaling faster and being more
responsive. Now that we have this technology, we hope to increase our
availability and deliver world-class service to our customers.” says Pasha.
And with the IBM solution, MacromatiX now has the throughput to
handle even the busiest bursts of activity for its retail customers with ease.
In total, MacromatiX processes about three million transactions per day
and can now process these transactions about 20 percent faster. He says
tools like the BladeCenter H Advanced Management Module have
helped deliver further simplicity to the data center.
Counting on IBM now and in the future
Moving forward, Pasha expresses confidence that the IBM solutions will
provide the basis for future growth.
“We’re excited about the value that this technology will add to our
business,” says Pasha. “We believe that we’ve laid out the right
foundation to grow our business and to support our customers.”
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