The British Exel group is a global enterprise par excellence. With a turnover of 6.3 Billion British Pounds and 111,000 employees, the logistic giant operates 2.000 branches in 135 countries. Exel’s clients unify more than 75 percent of the worldwide largest enterprises outside the finance sector.

In August 2004 the Excel group acquired its competitor Tibett & Britten.  The merger comprised the leading pharmaceutical distributor of South Africa, Kinesis Logistics, which had been acquired by Tibett & Britten in 2001.

The merger of Exel and Kinesis presented a big information technological challenge to the IT department. Administrators were looking for a solution that could help them better support the increase in end users-- the user numbers jumped to 1500, and the number of branches increased to 32. 

The customer British Excel group 111.000 employees, 2.000 branches in 135 countries

Exel South Africa had already migrated to a Citrix MetaFrame environment and used IGEL-416 LX Winestra thin clients. The administrators were looking to standardize the entire company on thin client and server-based computing.

Implementing IGEL thin clients
Based on his positive experience in public administration, Ewan Shannon,  Exel’s IT infrastructure manager for Africa initiated the migration towards server based computing at Excel. “After the merger, we were happy to extend the flexible and low maintenance IT infrastructure across Exel,” explained Shannon. “We decided to expand the server-based computing model by way of a new data center in Medodale. The IGEL devices have proven to work well so far. IGEL and its distributor PFA have provided excellent service and the best support structure.”

Business Benefits
“We were able to install up to 30 thin client devices within a few hours,” recalled Shannon. “Setup and installation of a respective amount for workplace PCs, however, takes several days.”

To increase user acceptance even more, the IT team ordered the IGEL-416 LX Winestra with an optional black housing optionally offered by IGEL. Additionally, the workplaces are equipped with a black keyboard and mouse and thus convey a dynamic impression compared to the beige colored, bulky PCs. “In view of the current problems and work delays, PC users are demanding  IGEL thin clients,” reported Shannon. Exel arranges for workplace PCs to be given to schools. The IT team of the company provides maintenance at no cost via their own charity project.

The challenge Consolidation of the IT Infrastructure Control of hardware and software on a central management environment

Lowering the Costs via Central Administration
Exel so far has spent about one Million Euro for server consolidation and standardization of its thin client infrastructure. These investments and the central administration of end devices connected to it lead to a direct return on investment, according to Ewan Shannon. “The initial costs for PCs and thin clients are about the same,” said Shannon. “The follow up savings, however, will have a fast and long lasting effect. We can control not only the hardware but also the software sessions on a central management environment. Many costs such as virus scans on local computers are completely obsolete”.

IGEL Upgrade for IBM Terminals
The numerous IBM 2200 Netvista terminals at Exel at the time of the merger could not communicate with the Citrix MetaFrame. Furthermore, IBM had terminated the support of the devices. “While looking for a solution for our Netvista problem one IBM agent recommended  the IGEL-2200 NetVista upgrade kit,” recalled Shannon. “The ROM module with the integrated and updatable IGEL firmware via ftp makes an adequate thin client out of our devices that offers us all of the Firmware features of the IGEL Winestra model series. The upgrade only costs a fraction of the costs for a thin client and renders the IBM terminals administrable via the uniform Remote Management Software. The IBM terminals can also be comfortably administered remotely, configured and updated.”

The solution IGEL LX Compact and IGEL LX Winestra

Future Plans
After the planned expansion of the server based computing environment and the start up of operation of the new data center, Exel plans to further expand the thin client and server based computing environment. Shannon wants to continuously replace all PCs with IGEL thin clients in all production areas and storage places to further lower support costs. The first batch of units ordered that offer Smartcard functionality and many additional connection and communication possibilities will be installed successively at the sites. Ewan Shannon is especially happy about the short installation times and the increasingly fast user acceptance: “After the planned migration to the next data center we will have a stable, flexible and competitive IT infrastructure that will prepare us for future challenges,” concluded Shannon.