Performance and scalability are essential to customers using Infor SX.e, and OpenEdge delivers on this expectation. “Because OpenEdge is a native online transaction processing engine, as opposed to a simple document or storage engine, it performs incredibly well and is very scalable,” said Ryerson. “That scalability and cost-effective performance are must-haves for our customers.”
Productivity among Ryerson’s team has increased, as well. “I think we probably gain close to 20-percent efficiency and productivity gains by using the Progress OpenEdge stack,” he said. “The Application Business Logic is closely tied into the database layer, and we get the web services basically for free, because we generate them automatically. Without OpenEdge, we would have to develop each one of those tiers, so it’s much faster the way we’re doing it now.”
Additionally, Ryerson said OpenEdge helps Infor reduce costs by providing a stable environment that runs with minimal administration. “Progress OpenEdge enables us to keep total cost of ownership down with a reliable application that requires minimal overhead and supervision,” he said.
OpenEdge adds value for Infor’s customers, as well. According to Power & Tel’s Dominioni, “Our distributors, as well as a lot of our customers and vendors, often talk about the overhead imposed from an IT perspective, from the platforms they’re using,” he said. “They simply cannot believe we operate so efficiently. From a total cost of ownership, we are very satisfied, and I think we’re at about the best price value point we could possibly reach.”
Dominioni added the reliability and availability of Infor’s OpenEdge-based platform provides the essentials to enable business continuity for customers. Their customers depend on Power & Tel’s software platforms and their availability throughout the entire transaction. “The Infor SX.e architecture lends itself to a replicated environment, which enables us to guarantee our customers have access to their data,” he said. “We’ve been using Progress OpenEdge and Infor since 1998, and so far we haven’t lost a single byte of data. We absolutely know it’s a sound, solid solution, and we take a lot of comfort in that.”
In this volatile market, Infor SX.e based on OpenEdge has enabled Power & Tel to keep up with changing market requirements and remain agile and responsive. “Our customer base is changing and the revenue per customer continues to decrease as technology is commoditized, so we must operate with smaller margins and, at the same time, serve a greater variety of customers,” said Dominioni. “We have to move faster while ensuring the quality of the consumer experience. So far, between Infor and Progress, we’ve been able to keep up, and we’re very proud of that.”
Ryerson said OpenEdge enables Infor to keep its platform up to date with the latest technologies and capabilities. “I’ve been impressed and grateful that Progress is providing the tools for us to stay current, because if they weren’t, we’d have to find another way,” he said. “But the reality is they’re making it very easy.”