Phoenix OCP transforms its service delivery operations with IBM Power Virtual Server
Phoenix OCP, a leader in pharmaceutical distribution in France, needed a more flexible OPEX (Operational Expenditure) model to support its growing back-office application demands, including its data warehouse and warehouse management system (WMS). These applications were initially hosted on IBM Power7 servers through a third-party provider.
As Phoenix OCP’s needs evolved, the hosting provider was unable to offer an upgrade path to newer IBM Power9® servers. To ensure scalability, performance and continuity of service, Phoenix OCP sought a new partner that could deliver a modern, cloud-based infrastructure. The company required a robust and future-ready solution to support its global growth and ensure timely delivery of medications to pharmacies.
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IBM's offer met Phoenix OCP’s requirements: ease of implementation, pay-as-you-go billing, state-of-the-art servers and the option of having IBM Power® servers and x86-based cloud infrastructure on the same site, all close to their main data center located in the Frankfurt region. In addition, Phoenix OCP has applications running on AIX 5.3 and IBM's workload partition (WPAR) solution, compatible with the IBM Power Virtual Server cloud infrastructure, which enabled the company to migrate quickly without having to transform certain applications.
Phoenix OCP partnered with IBM and TeamWork, an IBM partner, to implement a comprehensive cloud solution. An IBM Cloud® customer since 2022, Phoenix OCP adopted IBM Power Virtual Server on IBM Cloud, along with bare metal x86, IBM Storage Protect and IBM Cloud Object Storage. TeamWork's expertise shone through in their creation of the robust Phoenix OCP landing zone solution in IBM Cloud, establishing a solid foundation for Phoenix OCP’s future growth. With their deep-rooted knowledge of IBM infrastructure, TeamWork skillfully managed the migration process, transitioning Phoenix OCP's workloads into the IBM Cloud landing zone. They also continued to efficiently maintain all IBM cloud components housed in the data center.
This transformation enabled Phoenix OCP to streamline its operations—from inventory management to order preparation and delivery, ensuring that pharmacies receive supplies within 24 hours under optimal safety and quality conditions. The flexibility of the Power Virtual Server offering, with features such as hourly billing, storage options and scaling, provided Phoenix OCP with the agility needed to meet market demands. Leveraging the rapid deployment capabilities of IBM Power Virtual Server, Phoenix OCP was able to spin up IBM AIX partitions in mere minutes across the multizone regions of IBM Cloud data centers. All this is backed by a stringent service-level agreement (SLA) of 99.95% availability in single-site configurations and an optimal 99.99% in dual-site setups. It has also been possible for Phoenix OCP to realize SD-WAN tests without endangering the production environment, thanks to easy setup of a test environment based on production copy.
By leveraging TeamWork and IBM's expertise in providing infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and cloud adoption technologies, Phoenix OCP could refocus its IT efforts on value-added tasks, such as integrating new products into its traceability project. This partnership not only addressed Phoenix OCP's immediate needs but also enabled it to explore future cloud services, such as containerization and AI technologies.
Jean-Yves Dumas, Director, Production IT and Infrastructure said, “IBM Cloud Migration offered three significant advantages. We achieved 99.99% system uptime post-migration. Secondly, faster onboarding of new services was possible from a few hours down to several minutes. Lastly, it was no longer necessary to acquire physical servers and manage hardware technical debt with a complex and lengthy purchasing process.”
After the transformation, Phoenix OCP has seen significant improvements in its operational and financial performance. The implementation of IBM Power Virtual Server on IBM Cloud has provided Phoenix OCP a secured and efficient Power architecture in the public cloud, enhancing the reliability and scalability of Phoenix OCP's services. The ability to meet new requests in real time thanks to cloud scalability has given Phoenix OCP an edge over its main competitors. The relationship of trust and synergy between Phoenix OCP, IBM and TeamWork has been crucial to this success. Phoenix OCP now benefits from a constantly evolving catalog of services through the IaaS model, which helps ensure the quality of services over time. Quantifiable outcomes include faster response times to pharmacy queries and optimized customer satisfaction. Phoenix OCP has also highlighted the clear visibility of costs obtained and the smoothing of costs over time. They can also now adapt their financial needs annually according to their strategy.
As active collaborators, IBM and TeamWork will continue to support Phoenix OCP in leveraging cloud computing advancements, ensuring that the company remains at the forefront of the pharmaceutical distribution sector industry. Lastly, given its commitment to sustainability, Phoenix OCP is keen on implementing Carbon Visibility solutions, guided by TeamWork’s and IBM's expertise in environmental regulations and reporting. These initiatives underscore Phoenix OCP's dedication to continuous innovation and responsible business practices.
Phoenix OCP, based in France, is a leading distributor of pharmaceutical products and health services. Phoenix OCP serves pharmacies and healthcare centers, contributing to better health every day. With a vast network of pharmacies and hospital centers, Phoenix OCP offers a wide range of products and services, including digital solutions, financing and training. The company's commitment to sustainable development is reflected in its pharmaceutical distribution solutions, new distribution models and services dedicated to pharmacies.
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Examples presented as illustrative only. Actual results will vary based on client configurations and conditions and, therefore, generally expected results cannot be provided.