STL Technology Solutions, the only IT provider developing modern integrated solutions for the cash & carry and delivered wholesale industry, has announced that new Today’s Group member Signature Beers & Wines Ltd has signed a contract to migrate its operations onto an innovative ‘virtual’ solution from STL. The company will also install two non-pay tills and one central cash till from STL. This solution will reduce its IT expenditure while gaining the company operational efficiencies.
Once fully implemented, Signature’s new Virtual Private Network (VPN) will comprise a secure STL Merchandise Management System (STL MMS) and STL Sales Order Processing system (STL SOP) hosted externally, at a 3MR data centre in London. Signature will access these systems via a secure Internet connection.
With its origins in beverages, Northampton-based Signature has embarked on plans to expand into a full-range cash & carry operator, and has already added a broad portfolio of confectionery to its range. Critical to its fast-expanding business is a system that will support its reputation for fast response rates, high stock availability and tight cash control. It selected STL for its superior stock and cash management solutions, and also its ability to deliver a cost-saving VPN-based solution.
Devshi Jadwa, Director, Signature, said, ‘This is a great offering from STL. Not only are we accessing the most sophisticated and sleek technology available for our industry, but by doing it virtually we are achieving great cost savings and performance, security and back-up advantages. It’s no bad thing these days to be doing our bit for the environment too.’
Saving by Going Virtual
Explaining the virtual solution from STL, Ivan Durkin, Managing Director of STL, said, ‘Because STL’s applications are all based on the latest .NET platform, they are very flexible, and easily adapt to a VPN environment. When Signature operators log on, they exclusively access their own software as if it is running on-site: there is no perceivable difference to the user.
‘The big upside of this set-up is that STL’s virtualisation technology enables you to consolidate all your operating systems and applications onto a single server at the data centre – or a virtual machine. Most operators have multiple servers running their different systems, but with each of them typically only running at a fifth of capacity. The consolidation you can achieve with STL represents a huge saving: you not only reduce your hardware and maintenance costs, but save on storage space, and also cooling and power which can cost up to £450 a year per server.
‘That also makes it good for the environment, which will become increasingly important as pending EU legislation forces smaller companies to reduce their carbon footprint.’
STL
Tel: 0844 472 4727
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