Intentia standardises on IBM WebSphere bundle

Swedish mid-market enterprise software developer Intentia has extended its 20-year partnership with IBM by standardising on IBM’s infrastructure technology for all ongoing development. The firm is also now offering pre-integrated bundled systems around WebSphere middleware, and application server hardware, the DB2 database, Linux and IBM’s ‘on-demand’ computing initiative, what the firm refers to as its ‘Blue Stack’. Intentia also says it will develop an optimised version of Movex for Linux, which is now gaining momentum at the server level, and the firm will promote IBM’s eServer iSeries, xSeries and pSeries hardware – while both companies expand their joint sales, marketing, development and consulting activities. According to Wim Jansen, Intentia’s president for north west Europe, the goal is to make it quicker, easier and cheaper for manufacturing users to integrate their systems and business processes both internally and into their supply chains. Jansen: “Customers want to mitigate risk, and the good thing about this packaged solution is that it takes away the hassle, cost and time factors of integration, and improves the quality of their ultimate systems.” He makes the point that as more SME manufacturers see the need to collaborate with suppliers, partners and customers, as well as with their own legacy systems and those of other sites, these factors can only grow in importance. “It also means you have no problems with upgrades and maintenance: everything is supported by us.” And there are benefits for Intentia too. “Standardising our enterprise applications on IBM’s infrastructure technology can help us reduce development costs, increase development productivity and take advantage of the growing opportunity created by the on-demand era,” says Jansen. Says Julian David, vice president Small to Medium Business, IBM: “ISVs are crucial to IBM’s strategy for supporting mid-market customers with on-demand solutions, but we work very closely with the best partners… 70% of mid market companies have more than one platform to connect to. “Putting in Movex with our middleware allows connection in a standard way both internally and with customers and suppliers. Together, IBM and Intentia can deliver the benefits of best-in-class application functionality on a secure, solid foundation in a convenient, user-friendly package to customers.” Early adopters confirm the strategy. For example, Dave Hoover, global IS director at roller and ice hockey skates firm Mission Hockey, says: “The ability to access data and view inventory quickly, while a customer is still on the phone, is a major improvement. We couldn’t do that before. “This alone has improved efficiency and customer service, in addition to reducing excess inventory, because customers now know what’s available and when, at the time they place their orders. “We see the joint IBM and Intentia solution helping us further increase efficiency in moving orders through the warehouse and out to customers.”