Showcases
“Reducing continuous investment in low value-added operation and maintenance to save more resources and power for facing future operational needs and development appropriately is the biggest benefit that the VCPP solution brought to us.”
─Jung-Hui Cheng, VP of Operational Support Center, Wowprime Corporation
Founded in 1993, Wowprime has accumulated rich experience in catering and service and is devoted to multi-brand operations and innovation to satisfy the picky taste buds of various connoisseur groups so consumers of all ages can enjoy Wowprime services. Jung-Hui Cheng, VP of Operational Support Center, Wowprime Corporation, feeling that for a long time more resources had to be invested in the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure than were invested in the future development, decided to implement thorough cloud reform.
After careful consideration, Wowprime selected the VMware Cloud Provider Program (VCPP) solution to realize total cloud migration. In the process of total cloud migration, whether it was VMware as the software supplier, FET as the partner for project implementation, or SYSAGE, currently the largest VCPP distributor in Taiwan, all were the hands that rocked the cradle.
Infrastructure operation and maintenance have become a “necessary evil”. Although they have no added value, we must accept them, hindering IT teams from focusing on future innovation and development. Hence, cloud operation is the only way to make a change.
In terms of business operations, the advantages of cloud operation such as making data centers disappear, reducing electricity bills significantly, creating a lean IT workforce (no need for an operation and maintenance workforce), and increasing office space were already good enough to convince senior management to implement the cloud service project, not to mention the benefits for IT.
Due to the unpredictable change in future demand, I suggested the cloud service architecture for its high scalability and future prospects, to avoid reliance on data centers by storing data in the environments of others. This could ensure that Wowprime would be able to respond to the needs of business operations, increase or reduce resources at will, and eliminate expenses for infrastructure management and maintenance. After thorough consideration, instead of the public clouds of world-leading providers, we decided to team up with domestic telecommunications companies. Aware that FET had signed up for VCPP during provider selection, we decided to choose FET because VCPP provides a wide variety of high-scalability solutions for IT teams to get rid of the confines of traditional infrastructure and move forward in full swing. With the help of FET, we have migrated systems to the cloud, including ERP, POS, and OA.
Before cloud migration, the IT team had 21 members. After migration, we only need 15. Except for one person taking charge of infrastructure-related work, all other 14 members are programmers.
In the past, it took us 10 days to close accounts every month. Now, we can do it within 3 days. This is because we used to accommodate both old and new equipment with differing performance in our own data center, giving rise to computing bottlenecks, and adding new high-performance models didn’t help. By contrast, after migrating all systems to the cloud, all resources including network and storage are consistent and optimized to ensure a persistent excellent state of processing.
The benefits of cloud migration are exactly as expected, including creating a lean IT workforce to reduce personnel expenses. In addition, though we still need some IT equipment on premises, it’s only some routers and hubs requiring only one cabinet without aircon. The round-the-clock operation of servers has become history, allowing us to save millions of dollars on our electricity bill. In addition, after removing the previous data center, we get about 100 square meters of extra space for the office.
Migrating the ERP system to the cloud was our first goal. By doing the most difficult thing first, we can make things smoother later. During ERP migration, we demanded absolute business continuity. Hence, maintaining uninterrupted profiling of the 200TB database was a big challenge for our partner. Also, we insisted on no change of IP. This meant that it was necessary to change the settings and comply with FET’s data center rules for nearly 1,000 routers formed by the headquarters, 300 shops, and internet nodes, which was undoubtedly a tough task.
During contractor and product selection, only FET and VMWare included the above tasks in the standard features and agreed to invest in the required R&D. That’s why we chose them. Then, Wowprime, FET, and VMWare started a careful six-month discussion and repeated rehearsal to generate the optimize model through continual trail and error. Eventually, the date for ERP migration was set.
From 17:00 on the migration day, FET and the VMWare team began the preparations, until all shops closed at 23:00. As the CIO of the client, I went home, because after months of stringent testing and rehearsal, I had confidence that it would simply be another rehearsal on the day when the system went live.
At 03:00, VMware sent me the first text message, reporting that 70% of the progress was completed. At 05:00, FET sent me another text message, informing me that 95% of the progress was completed. It was the executive VP who texted me. VMWare, who supposed to provide back-office support, went to the frontline, and FET’s top management also participated in the migration around the clock. Besides impressing me with their dedication, they made me feel no worries.
