Companies are flocking to cloud services to reduce risk and optimize their use of resources. For software providers, the pressure is on to adopt new delivery models to meet this growing demand. With customers demanding high quality in a convenient, software as a service (SaaS) package, providers must transform fast to protect and expand hard-won market share.
Antara Zenith, based in Barcelona, Spain, recognized a rising appetite for cloud services among its customer base. The company realized that it could combine its software and hardware expertise to build a compelling new offering.
Carolina Lucas, General Manager at Antara Zenith, explains: “Our customers want to use our software to grow their businesses without worrying about infrastructure or scalability. In today’s cloud world, it was a logical step for us to transition into a SaaS provider. We knew we had the knowledge, so we began looking for the technology to underpin our transformation.”
Increased revenue
Antara Zenith estimates that its new SaaS offering will lead to 15% revenue growth
Reduced time- to-market
The company brought new services to market in just 2 months thanks to IBM technology
As an ERP software provider, Antara Zenith is accustomed to customers relying on the company to support their critical business processes. As a result, stability and security were top priorities for the technology foundations for its new SaaS offering.
Albert Molero, Operations Manager at Antara Zenith, says: “Our customers want protection against interruptions to their IT services, whether that’s from external attack or server outages. The technology had to be easy to scale and simple to manage, so we could focus on bringing new features to users.”
With a long history of developing software to run on the IBM® i operating system, IBM technology was a natural choice for the company. To support its new portfolio of SaaS solutions, Antara Zenith selected IBM Power® S914 servers and IBM FlashSystem® 5015 storage.
Ernest Gisbert, New Business Manager at Antara Zenith, comments: “We know firsthand the security offered by the IBM i on IBM Power platform. IBM builds some of the highest-performing servers in the market, with each generation of IBM Power stepping it up a gear. By combining IBM Power with all-flash storage from IBM, we were confident we could create a SaaS offering that could deliver great services to our clients' businesses.”
As a result of this project, Antara Zenith became the first independent software vendor (ISV) in Spain to deliver its own software through a SaaS model supported by IBM Power running IBM i. The company worked with IBM Business Partner Arrow ECS to procure the solution.
“We’re breaking new ground with a new SaaS offering that ensures data sovereignty for companies in Spain,” says Lucas. “Arrow was the right partner for this journey: we’ve had a relationship with them for many years, and they are a strategic distributor for us. The Arrow team demonstrate professionalism, initiative and expertise during every interaction.”
Antara Zenith deployed the solutions within the expected timelines and budget. The company runs IBM i and Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® environments in parallel on the IBM Power platform.
“IBM servers and storage are very versatile,” adds Molero. “Our IBM i-based software runs seamlessly alongside our server virtualization layer based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. In the future, we're planning to create Linux-based web service environments. IBM Power offers us a single point of control for a diverse environment.”
With support from IBM and Arrow ECS, Antara Zenith brought its new portfolio of SaaS solutions to market quickly and efficiently. The company is moving fast on an opportunity to capture new market share.
“Based on IBM technology, our SaaS solutions include a complete set of ERP software in the cloud, backup, disaster recovery and development services,” explains Lucas. “Because the IBM technology was so fast to implement and supports rapid innovation, we were able to achieve a time to market of just two months.”
By transitioning to a SaaS provider, Antara Zenith anticipates a significant increase in revenues. Scalable, available technology from IBM will help the company meet demand for its new services while maintaining an exceptional quality of service.
Gisbert says: “We're expecting revenue growth of around 15% as a result of our SaaS solutions based on IBM technology. We estimate that we can expand our client base by 20% through our new delivery model. IBM solutions support availability of more than 95%, so we can provide high service continuity, and they scale easily, supporting ongoing expansion.”
Fresh from the success of its latest project with IBM, Antara Zenith is already considering the next stage in its evolution.
Lucas concludes: “Our plan for the future is to create, create and create some more. As an ISV, we’re a hub between customers, manufacturers, distributors and integrators. Our goal is to grow together with help from IBM, by accessing leading-edge technology and knowledge while we develop new business strategies and services.”
Founded 25 years ago, Antara Zenith (link resides outside of ibm.com) is a software provider specializing in ERP applications, a service provider, and a hardware and infrastructure expert. The company is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, and serves clients across every industry.
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