Apparel Distributor’s Strategic Shift

Embracing ATS Power Cloud delivered a remarkable savings and efficiency in disaster recovery. With a directive to enhance disaster recovery preparedness while keeping a tight grip on costs, the ATS team conducted a comprehensive assessment for a client grappling with a dispersed, aging IT infrastructure. After meticulously weighing the benefits of transitioning to the cloud, the results were nothing short of remarkable.

By leveraging the ATS Power Cloud’s scalability and resource optimization capabilities, the client was able to achieve 45% monthly cost savings compared to replacing their aging on-premises servers. Over a span of three years, this translated to nearly $200,000 in financial gains.

This case study not only demonstrates the substantial advantages of the ATS Power Cloud but also underscores the ease of transitioning and its remarkable cost-efficiency, making it an insightful resource for organizations seeking a smarter approach to disaster recovery, technical debt, and IT cost management.

The Challenge

ATS was presented with a clear objective by a client with a dispersed IT infrastructure. The challenge was to evaluate the financial feasibility of replacing the aging disaster recovery servers, consisting of four IBM POWER7 and seven POWER8 servers located in eleven different geographical locations across the United States. The primary concern was that both the production and disaster recovery environments were housed in the same physical location, posing a significant risk in case of natural disasters. ATS needed to provide cost comparisons for replacing these servers with new IBM POWER10 entry-level servers and moving to the cloud while factoring in leasing as the client’s chosen financial model.

The Solution

ATS leveraged its extensive experience and expertise in IBM Power Systems to initiate a comprehensive assessment of both the on-premises and cloud solutions.

1. On-Premises Solution:
   ATS calculated the three-year costs for refreshing all eleven IBM servers using accurate and up-to-date prices for POWER10 Model 1014 hardware and software in each location. The sizing was based on the current server environment, where a four-core server with 32GB of memory and 500GB of disk space was deemed sufficient. ATS incorporated IBM’s Global Finance lease rate of 8% given to the customer and considered rack space and power usage costs based on pricing from their data center provider.
   
   
2. ATS Power Cloud Solution:
   For the ATS Power Cloud solution, ATS determined the monthly cost for eleven separate LPARs based on IBM relative performance (rPerf) data. The cloud usage was calculated for thirty-six months based on current pricing.  ATS also implemented Galileo Performance Explorer to optimize the cloud configuration accurately, ensuring that resources are right-sized for the workloads. Galileo allowed ATS to make informed decisions about the allocation of cores, memory, and disk space for each LPAR.

The Results

The comprehensive analysis established ATS Power Cloud as a compelling choice for the client’s refresh and disaster recovery needs.

The financial comparison, along with the ability to optimize resources, solidified the ATS Power Cloud as the preferred solution. The organization migrated to the cloud, paving the way for a more cost-efficient and scalable disaster recovery environment.

1. COST EFFICIENCY
   The ATS Power Cloud cost the organization nearly 45% less each month, resulting in $200,000 in savings over three years.
2. RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION
   ATS sized and configured each LPAR precisely, using the client’s own data, eliminating resource wastage and lowering monthly costs.
3. SCALABILITY
   The ATS Power Cloud provided the flexibility to add or remove resources as needed, ensuring they could quickly adapt to changing requirements.
4. FAMILIAR TECHNOLOGY
   The ATS Power Cloud employs the same POWER10 technology, allowing the client to modernize without risking compatibility and performance.