“We Were Back Up In 2 Hours.”
“Your tech Mark took the drives out of our test POWER 5 server with our complete system upgraded to V7R1 and swapped them in our production 9406-520. He then restored the data from our backup done the night before. We were back up after 2 hours. Very, very, very cool.”
Mytel International Background
Based in Culver City in Southern California, Mytel International, Inc. is a wholesale distributor of office products. Their application software is VAI’s S2K on a 9406-520 POWER5 iSeries with approximately 40 users.
Pam Tucker is the IT Director and Judy Fisher is Mytel’s IT Consultant.
Newsletters Intrigue Pam And Judy To Contact Source Data
Pam continues, “We had been receiving Source Data newsletters for about a year. We always found the topics interesting, relevant and helpful. So, we thought we would call this guy who was sending us these newsletters.”
Source Data Assesses Version Upgrade And Needed Features For Improved Performance
Pam and Judy asked Source Data to assess their server, the scope of work to upgrade from V5R4 to V7R1 and recommend how to improve the performance of their POWER5 iSeries.
In particular, Mytel had a large portfolio of custom programs that had been developed over the years using Cognos PowerHouse 4GL. They had been an HP3000 shop for 23 years. One of many reasons they were attracted to the IBM was that PowerHouse would run on it. IBM bought Cognos shortly after Mytel purchased their IBM 9406-520. They used PowerHouse 4GL to write all of their custom reports and to develop an auxiliary system that works in conjunction with VAI’s S2K.
Our Concern Was Would IBM Cognos PowerHouse Run On V7R1?
Judy explains, “We were really concerned about upgrading our IBM iSeries operating system from V5R4 to V7R1 because the folks we spoke to at the IBM help desk could not assure us that PowerHouse would work”.
Source Data Upgrade Testing Demonstrates Cognos PowerHouse Runs On V7R1
“Source Data told us that if PowerHouse ran on V5R4, it would probably run on V7R1. Better still, Source Data proposed that we give them a copy of our system to load on one of their test POWER i servers with V7R1 to verify everything would work fine. If it did, we could import that copy onto our server AND our V7R1 upgrade would be complete.”
Enthusiastically Pam added, “That was fantastic! It was brilliant! It was great! Because our biggest concern was PowerHouse would not work. PowerHouse is on vintage support with IBM. Except for one person, everyone at IBM told us, ‘PowerHouse won’t work. You are going to have to do something else.”
“For us,” Pam continues, “PowerHouse is our reporting and development tool. It worked on our HP before we went to IBM, and it works on the IBM POWER5 iSeries. With the Source Data remote upgrade and testing, we could test PowerHouse with our environment and real data. That’s why this upgrade approach was REALLY beneficial for us. We could test the heck out of it before we ever loaded it.”
Source Data Made The Whole Process Even Easier For Us With A Test Server At Our Office
“Source Data made the whole process even easier for us. Your tech Mark explained that he normally does this type of upgrade on a server at the SDP tech center and the customer can link to it for testing via VPN. In this case, Mark brought a test server to our office so we could test side-by-side. We could test PowerHouse on V7R1 with the most current PTFs and HYPERs on the test machine and continue to run production on our 9406-520.”
Uncommon Upgrade Approach – Drives From Test Server Placed In Production Server – Provides Seamless Transition
“Then when the Saturday came for the version upgrade to be applied to our 9406-520 production server, Mark took the drives out of the test server and swapped them with the ones in our 9406-520. He then restored the data from our backup done the night before. Very, very, very cool. We were up in no time!”
“Mark also added the extra memory and controllers. So all of our sluggishness went away. We were delighted.”
The Users Noticed Their Jobs Ran Faster – Nothing Else. Just What We Wanted
“On Monday, we asked our users if they noticed any change. They all said nothing other than everything was running a whole lot faster. Other than that, they saw nothing new, which is exactly what we wanted. Totally transparent.”
Judy adds, “We are thrilled. Now that we are on the most current version of V7R1, we don’t need to think about another major upgrade for a while – perhaps 2-3 years.”
Pam And Judy Are Excited About Source Data’s Technical Support
“Working with SDP has been exceptional. Your tech Mark was wonderful. He was accommodating, knowledgeable, and willing to work around our schedule. The day he was here he gave us tips and he was always available by phone or email.” Judy added, “He was GREAT! I would have to say he is one of the best technicians we have worked with.”
I Would Recommend Source Data In A Heartbeat
Pam concludes, “I would recommend Source Data Products as an IBM Business Partner in a heartbeat. They are innovative, fair, and accessible. They’re cost-effective, and professional. And they write a good newsletter.”
Judy adds, “Ditto. After having an unsatisfactory experience with our first IBM Business Partner, it was so nice to have such a great experience with SDP.”