LEGO win is child's play for IBM
LEGO win is child's play for IBM
IBM has beaten off rival HP to secure a deal with the LEGO Company to help the toy manufacturer more efficiently meet the seasonal peaks in demand for its products.
As part of the multi-year agreement, LEGO will be looking to lower costs and gain efficiencies by consolidating its existing global informational technology (IT) platform from over 220 Hewlett Packard servers to a fully integrated, open infrastructure using 34 of IBM's eServer and IBM Enterprise Storage Server systems.
The announcement represents a strategic decision by LEGO to work with IBM globally as a strategic IT partner. After a reassessment of its IT requirements based on the need for a closer alignment between business and IT, the company chose IBM for its ability to offer flexible costs, along with an innovative IT usage model that allows the company to pay only for the computing capacity it uses. As part of the agreement, IBM will make spare computing capacity available to LEGO to meet peak surges in customer demand.
"We are operating in a very competitive environment and need to respond to the dynamics of our market at a moment's notice," said Hal Yarbrough, senior director, Global IT, LEGO Company. "The IBM solution allows us to drastically reduce the number of servers and storage units we have across the business, which is clearly a positive benefit. However, the key reason for going with IBM was the flexibility their solution offered. IBM was able to provide an on-demand solution that matched our business needs for a cohesive, worldwide IT infrastructure, while also adapting itself to our very cyclical business and need for rapid introduction of new products."
Demand for LEGO's products fluctuates and is impacted by seasonal peaks such as the pre-Christmas purchasing rush and large scale marketing campaigns. The new IBM e-business on demand solution will enable the company to more easily set up new projects and test their viability without major investments in new systems.
"We are very excited to work with the LEGO Company and see this as a significant milestone in our mission to deliver the best e-business on demand solutions to our worldwide customers. Our commitment to the LEGO Company enables them to gain a competitive advantage in the market through an on demand computing infrastructure that permits new levels of integration and productivity. LEGO can now access computing power and capabilities when and wherever their business demands it" said Lars Stanley Nielsen, director of IBM eServer Systems Sales.
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