Disaster recovery assured for Mrs Crocket’s
A manufacturer of prepackaged foods in Australia facilitates business continuity and reduces risk when it engages IBM Global Technology Services to plan and deliver a new disaster recovery solution...
Established in 1983 by brothers John and Philip George, Mrs Crocket’s is an Australian owned and operated fresh chilled foods manufacturing & distribution company.
It produces some of Australia’s favorite prepackaged salads, prepared risottos, vegetable mashes and soups - selling through retail, food service and fastfood companies. The company had humble beginnings producing bulk salad mixes in a small factory on the Gold Coast.
Today, Mrs Crocket’s is one of Australia’s largest companies, employing more than 300 people with manufacturing plants in Brisbane, Melbourne & Perth.
Mrs Crocket’s is targeting turnover of $150 million by 2009. The company has long had its eye on improving its systems, recently investing over $100,000 to improve its water usage efficiency by 24%.
Business need
Like most modern manufacturers, Mrs Crocket’s relies heavily on IT for its day to day operations.
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system running on an IBM System i platform handles the entire process - receiving and processing customer orders as well as managing invoicing and financial planning tasks.
A variety of other critical services run on an IBM System x platform. Though this environment has performed exceptionally well, Mrs Crocket’s had no disaster recovery system in place.
Since the company relies heavily on electronic ordering and supply chain integration, it needed a solution that would recover its IT systems and call center in the event of a disaster.
IBM Global Technology Services had been working with Mrs Crocket’s for over seven years, and it recommended a disaster recovery solution to meet the company’s needs - without exceeding its budget.
Mrs Crocket’s signed a two-year agreement with IBM for Business Continuity and Recovery Services.
As part of the agreement, IBM would host Mrs Crocket’s vital business applications on the System i and System x platforms at its Brisbane data center and provide phones and workstations for 25 call center and management staff.
IBM’s recovery services were superior to those of any other competitor the company reviewed, making the choice easy for Mrs Crocket’s.
Rather than implementing a dedicated disaster recovery plan, Mrs Crocket’s management opted for the cost savings of a 24-hour recovery plan.
The Global Technology Services team worked with Mrs Crocket’s to help calculate how much per hour the company would lose if operations were shut down, and it used that figure to determine how much it should budget for a disaster recovery solution.
The resulting plan accommodates all of Mrs Crocket’s needs while remaining flexible enough to fit within its budget. The Global Technology Services team delivered a fully documented and tested plan that Mrs Crocket’s will be able to follow in the event of an outage.
Benefits of the solution
The disaster recovery solution gives Mrs Crocket’s the confidence of knowing that it can continue operations in the event of a disaster and minimise the financial and brand losses that could result from a serious systems outage.
It can also take advantage of the skills and experience of the IBM team. Regular testing has helped identify and resolve issues, and it has familiarised both companies with the processes required.
Thanks to the solid solution and direction provided by the Global Technology Services group, and the superior disaster recovery services of IBM, Mrs Crocket’s IT department is confident that it will have its office and call center staff up and running with Internet, file and e-mail access within four hours of initiating the disaster recovery process.
Its ERP application can be restored within 24 hours.
For more information
IBM
Andrew Fry
Business Continuity & Resiliency Services A/NZ
Service Product Line Leader
Global Technology Services
Mob: 0413-480-996
www-07.ibm.com/businesscenter/au/istart/index.html
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At a Glance
Although it possessed an upto- date and efficient ERP system, food manufacturer Mrs Crocket’s had no disaster recovery system in place.
Solution
After evaluating a range of alternatives, Mrs Crocket’s chose IBM to host its business applications on the System i and System x platforms at its Brisbane data center and provide phones and workstations for call center and management staff.
Business Benefits
Should disaster strike, Mrs Crockets can have its office and call center staff up and running with Internet, file and e-mail access within four hours of initiating the disaster recovery process and its ERP system can be restored within 24 hours.
