HP NetServer LP 2000r 8-way Systems Enable Enterprise Applications - Page 7

FXVWRPHUýXVDJHýJXLGH +3ý 1HW6HUYHUý /;Uýåèíí 'PVGTRTKUG"4GUQWTEG"2NCPPKPI"*'42+ ERP is a class of business management software that integrates many facets of a manufacturing business, including planning, inventory management, workflow on the manufacturing floor, financial reporting and other aspects of fast moving businesses. HP has partnered with most of the ERP vendors and supports the hardware needs of their software. (Several success stories about these installations are available on the HP web site.) Two trends are changing the nature of ERP Issues to Consider applications. Software suppliers continue to expand the breadth of functionality to areas such as human 9JCV"CTG"VJG"UGTXGT"OCPCIGOGPV resources, supply chain management and sales force KUUWGU"HQT"VJKU"QTICPK\CVKQP! automation. E-Commerce and intra-business Is the organization aware of the benefits of managing both NOS and applications with a convenient set of tools? Are there clustering management requirements? capabilities via the Internet, including Web-based user interfaces, are being added. These additional capabilities require more data processing power concentrated at database and application servers. Is this data center a heterogeneous environment that needs tools that can manage a variety of devices and platforms? Is it a distributed environment that can benefit from remote management options? ERP vendors are also downsizing their offerings, making them more attractive to companies requiring little or no customization. Companies may be already running their servers with Windows NT and are looking to improve their overall effectiveness by deploying ERP applications. In fact, ERP is one application area 9JCV"CDQWV"VJG"UGTXGT"XGPFQT! that is becoming more "NT-centric", due to the potential sales volume. The overall ERP software and Does the vendor have a proven track record of making customers successful with demanding enterprise environments and applications? Is the vendor capable equipment market is growing at approximately 25% per year, while the market for NT-based server systems is estimated to be growing at a 50% compounded annual growth rate. of consistently manufacturing highquality, tested, integrated products that minimize failure opportunities? Does the vendor have the necessary expertise and support capabilities that are required for the enterprise data center environment? ERP applications are large and complex, requiring server system resources adequate to process transactions from all points in the business value chain. Referring to table 1, we see that these applications need high CPU power and large memory configurations to support the community of users. Growth is also a significant factor, both in terms of volume of transactions as a business grows, but also in terms of additional application functions and the number of active users. Note that the users' community is now expanding to those outside a company (Extranet) as well as those inside (Intranet). Server systems need to be sized not only for today's needs, but also in anticipation of near future additional computing demands. HP's NetServer LXr 8500 is a wise choice given the capability to scale from one to eight processors and to grow the system memory. Furthermore, the advent of Microsoft Windows 2000 data center edition will bring larger memory access where the capability of the LXr 8500 to accommodate up to 32 GB of RAM will provide years of load carrying capacity. 7