CBW, a chain of wholesale food, liquor and merchandise stores in the Massmart Group, has selected Dimension Data to standardise the technology infrastructure at its head office in KwaZulu-Natal and 61 stores located across southern Africa.
The chain, which aims to expand by three to five stores per annum over the next five years, plans to migrate all stores to a common, standardised point of sale (POS) system. The POS system requires a new supporting infrastructure, as CBW`s current infrastructure is both disparate and outdated.
The solution deployed new servers at all stores, and virtualised the server environment at CBW`s head office. As a result of the virtualisation, CBW has been able to reduce its head office server count from more than 20 to five. This has resulted not only in the simplification of the server environment, but considerable cost savings in terms of maintenance and the infrastructure required to support the equipment, such as air-conditioning and uninterruptible power supplies.
"We operate in a cost conscious environment and follow a low cost, high turnover business model. We therefore required a single, future-proof solution that would be able to carry our business into the future without the need for further technology investments. Dimension Data has played a key role in helping us plan and deliver a solution that meets our business requirements," says Glenn McLean-Wilson, facilities manager at CBW.
In addition to the infrastructure consolidation, Dimension Data deployed an Internet Protocol telephony (IPT) solution at CBW`s head office. The IPT solution was also extended to CBW`s secondary head office site, which is in close proximity to the primary site, and resulted in further cost savings and simplified management.
"The infrastructure upgrade, coupled with the cost savings and productivity benefits of a converged communications solution, has enabled CBW to focus on its goals of sales growth, process improvement and margin enhancement," says Jay Reddy, managing director of Dimension Data in KwaZulu-Natal.
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