IBM has revealed that supermarket chain Kwik Save has opted for System i scalability to support future growth and System x iSCSI integration to keep server administration costs low and backup simple. The project was implemented by XKS and Life IT with a final stage set to go live in four months.

From the opening of its first store in 1965, Kwik Save has grown to become one of the most recognisable players in the UK high street supermarket sector. In 1998, the company merged with Somerfield but was bought back early in 2006 by the BTTF Group. Live running on System i was achieved in June.

The deal included the Kwik Save brand and 184 stores, with a further 45 following later in the year. But it didn’t include a head office or any centralised IT systems. To ensure profitability, the BTTF Group needed to get the Kwik Save store network up and running again as quickly as possible. Implementing a new hardware platform and software environment was key.

Roger Staines, head of IT at Kwik Save, says: “It was a big challenge to build a complete system from nothing with a very tight deadline -- but simultaneously, it was a dream scenario for someone in my position. It’s unusual for any IT manager to get a free choice of hardware and software, without having to worry about continuity with existing systems and licences.”

Kwik Save consulted business partner and retail specialist XKS, which was able to provide a complete solution, including merchandising, polling and replenishment systems.

“Kwik Save had been using the XKS XPOLL application before the merger with Somerfield, so we were confident it would meet our needs,” says Staines. “The solution is also designed to run on System i, which we consider to be an ideal platform for retail chains like ours.”

XKS worked with hardware specialist Life IT to implement the XPOLL software on System i 520. Life IT has specific expertise in a number of areas, including Linux and Windows application integration with System i.

“It’s a credit to XKS and Life IT the implementation progressed so smoothly,” says Staines. “In four months we went from nothing to a functional IT environment for a network of over 200 stores.”

The i520 solution is currently linked to reliable but aging IBM 4690 PoS systems, which were already installed at each Kwik Save store. The company is planning to move to a thin client architecture, using five System x model 336 servers linked by iSCSI to the i520 to support a browser-based system running under Windows.

“Using iSCSI to run our Windows environment from i520 storage has been a success,” says Staines. “It greatly simplifies storage management, since there’s only one physical system to maintain, and backups for the attached servers can all be performed in a single operation. iSCSI also gives us flexibility and scalability. If we need more processing power for Windows applications, we can simply buy more System x machines, mount them in the rack and plug them in.”

The System i 520 solution provides a stable, robust platform for the XPOLL application suite and for Kwik Save’s Windows environment, helping to ensure the high availability that’s vital for day-to-day operations of any large retail chain.

“We consider the System i platform is second-to-none in terms of reliability,” says Staines. “Because the architecture is so scalable, it can grow to meet the demands of the business. When we first deployed the system, there was no way of knowing how much data the stores would be sending in, but with the i520 we knew it would be easy to upgrade if needed.”

With this scalable System i architecture and the versatility of System x iSCSI integration, Kwik Save has an infrastructure which can grow in modularly without significantly increasing the administrative burden for IT staff. By keeping the number of physical servers to a minimum, Kwik Save is making optimal use of valuable server-room space, keeping electricity and air-conditioning bills low, adding up to a lower total cost of ownership than most non-integrated solutions.

“Most importantly, we got the system installed and running reliably within our deadline,” says Staines. “The reason retailers stress the importance of high availability is that it is all but impossible to keep a chain of stores stocked up and running smoothly without a central system that has a high level of accessibility. When we started out, we had no IT system at all -- effectively, zero percent availability.”

Frank Booty, industry reporter.