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Port De Barcelona
Maritime transport is the backbone of logistics, and the Port of Barcelona is the main infrastructure in the southern Mediterranean. There, 38,000 people work every day, handling 71 million tons, 3.5 million containers, and 3.9 million passengers a year. This entire logistics ecosystem, made up of more than 500 public and private companies, is managed through the Port of Barcelona. And, its IT infrastructure guarantees the correct daily operation of the port and its stakeholders.
These companies are interconnected through the Port Community System (PORTIC), an electronic platform for information exchange that is more than 10 years old. The Port of Barcelona needed to adapt to the current pace of work, with greater efficiency, agility, and a more sustainable software-based IT infrastructure. In addition, execution times needed to be fast and effective. As a public company, the Port of Barcelona carried out a bidding process to find a supplier to carry out this transformation, resulting in the collaboration with SEIDOR, an IBM Business Partner.
SEIDOR implemented IBM® LinuxONE, a highly scalable Linux and Kubernetes-based platform capable of supporting thousands of workloads in the space of a single system. This technology, which features a very powerful processor, has increased performance and agility to the levels that the Port of Barcelona required.
The project also included a transformation of the architecture and applications. So, it switched to a containerization model based on Red Hat® OpenShift®, including new software product accounting technology.
By implementing LinuxONE, it was also possible to increase the continuous messaging transaction capacity of PORTIC. To increase security, the platform upgrade resulted in a decrease in system times thanks to the incorporation of a disaster recovery site capable of absorbing the entire operation in less than two hours.
Finally, the processor performance of LinuxONE achieved a consolidation of loads that substantially reduced the licensing costs that make up the platform and impacted on the reduction of CO₂ emissions.
In 10 months—an almost record time—the Port of Barcelona, together with SEIDOR and IBM, designed an efficient, reliable, and security-rich platform that ensures the cluster of companies operating through the system are communicating correctly. This project optimized information flow and improved the port authority’s decision making.
The new IT platform is more scalable and prepared to work within current technological standards and models. From now on, the Port of Barcelona will be able to adapt to its growth without the need to expand its physical footprint or make an additional effort on the infrastructure level.
The platform will also allow the Port of Barcelona to reduce the carbon footprint generated by its own business by more than 175 metric tons of CO₂ emissions over the next 5 years.
As an additional value, the Port of Barcelona will be able to take advantage of the latest technological advances in areas such as AI, cloud, and 5G networks in its operations.
The Port of Barcelona (link resides outside of ibm.com) is the main infrastructure for transport and services in Catalonia, one of the four driving regions in Europe. The Port of Barcelona is a logistic port that links markets as distant as the Far East and Latin America. Its continuous increase in cargo and passengers has positioned it as a port of reference in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
SEIDOR (link resides outside of ibm.com) is a technology consulting firm that offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions and services covering the areas of AI, Edge, Customer Experience, Employee Experience, ERP, Data, Application Modernization, Cloud, Connectivity, and Cybersecurity. With a workforce of more than 9,000 highly qualified professionals, SEIDOR has a direct presence in 45 countries in Europe, Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
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Client examples are presented as illustrations of how those clients have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual performance, cost, savings or other results in other operating environments may vary.